A Solid Morning's Dowsing

This week presented an opportunity for an extensive experiment using rods to survey farmland for the route of an old fresh water pipe.

A 1945 ram pump had been confirmed from archives as providing fresh water from a millpond to a farm half a mile away cross country the other side of a hill. No plans or maps remain so this was a blind trial.

My dowsing partner for the day had initially been an extreme sceptic but experienced rod crosses in an earlier experiment. He had constructed his own aluminium wire rods held in hollowed bamboo tubes for the day which worked well. [Subject 5 (Jk) in post A Separate Experiment 06/01/2020]

Prior Knowledge

To make this honest commentary, I must acknowledge some prior knowledge and expectations.

I believed that the freshwater feed would not be simply to the farmhouse as the ram pump's financial justification would most likely be to water cattle as farming intensified.
Some mention had been made of "Whitesmead" as a destination, and though it wasn't apparent at first what this referred to I had found a field named "White Smyth" on an 1850 tithe map.
The highest feed point would have to be permanently open, otherwise the pump would stall. This also countered the farmhouse being the only destination as a household would require an interruptible supply.
In 2020 electronic tracking had set a direction from the ram pump though it faded after 5-10 metres. At the time I continued to follow that track with rods and appeared to trace uphill to the boundary wall of the NT property the pump is sited in.

I have seen several Ram Pump installations by Blake's Hydram and the brick enclosures are architecturally similar.

Survey

Farmhouse Area

Close to the farmhouse we found two items, a large modern cattle water trough and a largely buried square and decayed brick enclosure with a one-piece concrete cover. I was struck immediately by the similarity of the brick structure to enclosures involved in Blake Hydram ram pump installations elsewhere. This item may have been involved with fresh water supply to the farm buildings and will be examined further on a future visit.

The dowsing rods suggested several services in the area, one led to a water authority marker so probably a modern spur, others had visible plastic pipe. A further trace ran towards the house but two traces led uphill in the direction of Lyme and these were selected to follow on this day.

Both routes tracked uphill across the open fields crossing under walls at various points. As they diverged it became more difficult to follow both and by this time it was apparent that one was heading more in the direction the Millpond so the other was track was abandoned for another day.

A Sudden Turn

Crossing more fields and curving to pass the front of buildings, the trace suddenly disappeared as it ran alongside a wall after the buildings. I retraced my steps and repeated the track and again lost all trace suddenly.

It seems unlikely but I then walked along parallel the direction of the track and encountered a rod cross immediately to the left of where I had lost the trace. The trace continued the other side of the wall having made a ninety degree turn.

This is one of the best experiences I have had so far to convince me as I genuinely had no expectation and nothing about the land layout suggested it.

Summit Trough

As we followed the rod crosses uphill but we could see the tops of the trees of Lyme so knew we were heading in the direction of the pump. From research on Google maps I had expected to go to the highest point where there was a large modern trough, however the rods steered us along a wall over a lower point on the ridge.

At the summit point of the traced route we found a large metal trough and at one end a 1½ in pipe rises out of the ground and hooks over the tank with an open end. This arrangement fits perfectly with a ram pump feed as the feed supporting that we were actually following the pipe route.

The field in which the trough it sited is labelled “White Smyth” on 1850 tithe maps which it is reasonable to assume has turned into “Whitesmead” over time.

Connecting the Ends

On the far side of the trough, the trace continued over the brow and reached the boundary wall of Lyme Park just above the Crow Wood playscape; where I had tracked to from the other side 2 years ago.

Dowsing Experience on the Day

Both of us were experiencing good rod crosses and when we split apart or one went ahead, the tracks we independently marked out with canes always connected spot on.

We experimented with passing both ways over a target and agreed that the cross happened when the feet were over the target, not the rods.

I demonstrated the 360 degree tun over the target and my companion, still new to dowsing, encountered the same movements. We also demonstrated the rod tending to align with the target if not crossing at 90 degrees but this behaviour is not so clear as others.

Further detail on above at What I Have Leaned About Dowsing So Far