March 2011

Who are the Friends? Friends promote research, conservation and celebration of the Springs, Spouts, Fountains and Holy Wells of the Malvern Hills and of Great Malvern as a Spa Town.

Malvern Museum accesses unique Colwall bottling plant artefacts.

Last year we saw the bottling works at Colwall close, thus bringing to an end 160 years of Schweppes Malvern Water. Working closely with Coca Cola Enterprises, Cora and Bruce on behalf of the Friends of Malvern Springs and Wells were charged with the task of collecting, sorting and relocating the archives and artefacts that had been accumulated over the years at the bottling works. Such items are an essential part of the heritage of the Malvern Hills and needed to be relocated in a permanent home that not only reflected their historic importance, but also made them available for public scrutiny. In this way we would, we believe, be acting in the best interests of the majority of the people in and around the Malvern Hills.

Having collected and catalogued the material over the two months following the closure of the plant, the prime task was to find an appropriate permanent home for this irreplaceable treasure. Negotiations with suitable depositories commenced. Malvern Museum was an obvious candidate. We were therefore delighted when, with Coca Cola's approval, it was agreed that the bulk of the artefacts should be acquired by the museum. In addition, Malvern Museum has agreed to mount a special exhibition featuring the material to be run from 25 March 2011.  It is anticipated that bottled water from the last ever production run at Colwall will also be available for purchasing as souvenirs for the grandchildren.

There then came the matter of the archive material. Again with Coca Cola's approval, Cora and Bruce agreed that the material should be kept in archive conditions with maximum public access and that it should be kept as one collection and not dispersed. To us, Worcestershire County Record Office (WRO), rather than Herefordshire R.O, is the best repository because it already has Schweppes material and Schweppes began its local life in Worcestershire, not Herefordshire.

The task of relocating all the material from Colwall is now virtually complete. It is with great pleasure that we believe that our efforts will result in a permanent facility for the public at large. Such a facility will enable future generations to understand how bottled Malvern Water has not only contributed to the history of the local communities over 160 years but also to the evolution of the bottled mineral waters industry world wide.

In the pictures: 1. Cora grapples with the magnificent autoclave, in transit from the former reception at Colwall to Malvern Museum via her front hallway. In case you are wondering, an autoclave was a steriliser used in the process for making drinks and was invented in 1879 by Charles Chamberland. We think this must be one of the original surviving examples. It is destined to be on show at Malvern Museum as part of the specialist Colwall Bottling exhibition this coming summer. 2. You could mistake this for a picture taken at Schweppes Colwall early last century, but no, it's Brian Iles, curator of Malvern Museum, demonstrating just a small part of the bottling exhibition being prepared for summer 2011.

The Trust is non-profit making and seeks to make a major contribution to geo-conservation and public awareness of this rich local heritage. To achieve this objective, the Trust manages various projects to enhance understanding of the complex nature of the local geology with a view to making it interesting and fun. There are numerous opportunities for volunteers to take on a specific role.  These include guided walks, local exhibitions, site monitoring and feasibility studies etc. etc. Funding is from a variety of sources and membership gives you access to a wide range of experts in geology and associated subjects. There is even a specialist U3A sub group comprising 130 members just for Malvern. The Trust works in conjunction with the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage and the Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark. We are co-opting the expertise of the Earth Heritage Trust to help identify core samples from the Colwall Bottling Plant, believed to date back 100 years to when Schweppes drilled down for water. To find out more contact the Trust at the University of Worcester tel. 01905 855184 - eht@worc.ac.uk  or have a look at the web site www.EarthHeritageTrust.org.

Thieves galore - Some years ago some 'people' tried to steal the Elgar statue from Belle Vue Terrace. It ended up damaged at the bottom of the steps. We now hear of another incident supposedly involving Malvern's heritage and individuals who see it as something they can help themselves to. Just a few days before Christmas last year it seems that someone - possibly a resident of Warwick House, saw 'people' going in and out of the historic Tudor Hotel. So they called the police. A plain-clothes policeman sat on the wall outside & lo and behold a chap came along carrying loads of fish and chips and disappeared into the Tudor. The police officer apparently followed him in and found about 6 guys all eating fish and chips - and allegedly stealing radiators and copper. The Tudor is now under new ownership and so we await developments with interest.

Abbey Well, Northumberland is where Coca Cola now pack Schweppes bottled water. No longer are the Malvern Hills their prestigious source of water and the Colwall vintage factory is still and silent. Our strategy has been to look to salvaging what is practical from this disappointing end to 160 years of bottling Schweppes Malvern Water.

One project that we can report on that has now come to a satisfactory conclusion involves the Tank House at the bottling works at Colwall. This building is about 100 years old and is a replica of the Holy Well building, where Schweppes started bottling Malvern Water for the Great Exhibition of 1851. With the future of the Colwall site uncertain we were pleased to enter into discussions with English Heritage, alongside Coca Cola Enterprises. Cora was able to detail the history of the building with supporting evidence from the archive material from Colwall. As a result we are delighted to announce that the building became Grade II listed on the 17^th February this year.

Pictures - The Tank House, Colwall and Schweppes Abbey Well from Coca Cola, recently purchased in Asda.

Shakespeare and Shaw and Mulberry Trees

Interesting snippets of information are coming to light as a result of our scheme to re-establish a Shaw Mulberry Tree in Priory Park near the spring. Shaw saw himself as a second Shakespeare and this was personified in the Shakes and Shav puppet play; Shav being a modification of Shavian, ie Shaw.  Shakes had retired to New Place, Stratford where he had a mulberry tree. Not only did Shaw aspire to such a tree, he also had a statuette of Shakespeare on his mantelpiece.  When Shaw planted the mulberry tree in Priory Park, Malvern in 1936, this was in accordance with his aspirations and the question this raises is: was the sapling a cutting from the remnants of Shakes' tree at Stratford? Shaw's friend Edward Elgar also planted a mulberry tree sapling and it is thought that the spade that we have acquired for our forthcoming planting was used by both local personalities. It is now in Malvern Museum awaiting its next planting ceremony when the now budding saplings from Australia are ready.

New Hospital gets Old Fountain

After some discrete lobbying by Friends of Malvern Springs and Wells, we were delighted to learn that another of Malvern’s historic water artefacts has been saved for posterity. The drinking fountain illustrated started life in the entrance lobby at Malvern Community Hospital, Lansdowne Crescent. This charming water fountain dates from the time the hospital was built and the plaque above the fountain recorded the opening of the hospital on 29 May 1911.

The Department of Health and HM Treasury approved 19.3 million pounds of capital funding in December 2007 to construct a new community hospital in Malvern. It was agreed that a new 24-bed hospital would be build at Seaford Court, in Malvern Link, with a planned opening date to the public of autumn 2010. We were delighted when we learned that by July 2010 engineers had already been to inspect the fountain with a view to moving it to Malvern's new hospital. In February 2011 the historic drinking fountain was installed in the new hospital alongside other heritage artefacts from the earlier building. It can now be seen in all its glory in the heritage hallway on the first floor of Malvern Community Hospital, Malvern Link.

Roly Bayliss

A short climb from the Holy Well Road will bring you to the Goat Spring, which was named after the alleged illicit grazing of goats in the area in the 1990s. Roly Bayliss, a commoner, was the perpetrator of this so called offence and in 2011 is still tending his animals on the hills at the age of 85 years. Entering into conversation with him one day recently, we enjoyed his reminisces about his goat grazing. One detects a certain note of pride in his voice when telling visitors about the naming of the spring. The spring water is collected in an underground tank made of slate, and covered with stone slabs and old iron. The surplus water once flowed down the gullet to a road drain but there were complaints that water leaking out on to the road might damage property and be a serious road safety hazard. As a result, in the winter of 2000-1 the Highways Partnership of Malvern Hills District Council built an ugly raised manhole and brick structure at the side of the road. Perhaps now is the time to resurrect the idea of establishing a new roadside water feature rather than the raised manhole as at present?

If you have seen our mulberry web site at http://www.malvernspringsandwells.com/ you will have noted the September last year illustrations of the six mulberry tree cuttings being nurtured in secret locations. Bernard has not fared as well as the others and so Rachel, who is caring for Bernadette, has agreed to foster Bernard alongside Bernadette. Hopefully the caring of Rachel and the company of Bernadette will enable him to spring into action in 2011. Lucky old Bernard is all I can say, he has already started to bud in anticipation!

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