Beside the infant river Torridge at Kismeldon Bridge

on the Bideford-Bradworthy road stands this small building, a pump house, from which water is sent from the river through the pipe up and down the roadside to augment, as required, Melbury reservoir, Parkham, from which Northam Urban District draws its supply.

It is a delightful setting with the Torridge emerging from a stream into a river as it flows past forestry plantations through tree-lined banks and trout rise to snap at flies dancing just above the surface of the water.

This system of augmenting the reservoir supply was introduced during the last war to meet the growing needs and now comes under review.

Yesterday at Northam Urban Council offices an engineering inspector of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government held a public local inquiry into the Council’s application for a water abstraction Order which will permit them to take water not exceeding a quarter of a million gallons in any one day from the river at Kismeldon Bridge by means of existing works, and into the Council’s application to borrow £10,000 to meet the cost of relaying and renewing the pipeline from the river intake to the Council’s reservoir at Melbury.

Article dated 1 June 1956