DIG Article for HNews Spring 2023
It had seemed a wet autumn and winter leading up to Christmas, to the extent that the stream had risen in the park. In late January it was rising and flowing from Church Farm and below the pumping station there were the beginnings of the spring rising there in the large field depression. When the stream is looking like it will run through the village, there is a chance that the sewerage system will become overloaded. So it was around this time that I opened the inspection cover at the front of our property, but am glad to…
Keep readingDIG Article for Winter 2022 HNews
Pumping Station The pumping station is not the prettiest of buildings, but it’s been a part of the village since the sixties serving an essential function and we must all pass it regularly without giving it a second thought. The building houses a large borehole some 250 feet deep and for many years pumped drinking water from deep in the chalk. It no longer does, but the whine of machinery can still be heard close to the building. It is understood that the pumping equipment serves to pump drinking water from the direction of Prestwood up the hill…
Keep readingDIG Update End May
Transport for Bucks Actions There had been reports of water seeping through the road surface near the foot of Cryers Hill, and about 50 metres along towards High Wycombe. On a very wet day, we eventually spotted water bubbling up in the hedge on the pumping station side of the road, behind the bus stop. On closer inspection this turned out to be a sizeable culvert, but which was almost entirely blocked up and clearly had not been cleaned out for years. We reported this via FixMyStreet and this is now completely resolved. See pic. At the last…
Keep readingDIG Article for Hughenden News Spring issue
HVRA Drainage Improvement Group The Dew Pond Along the footpath between Valley Road and Boss Lane, in the field on the right is a concrete lined pond shaded by a pretty Weeping Ash (albeit leafless at present). Locals will know this as the Dew Pond, put there for the watering of livestock. The origins of dew ponds lie in pre-history, but are generally regarded as shallow depressions in grazing areas traditionally lined with puddling clay or chalk and allowed to fill themselves from moisture in the air. In practice it is generally considered that traditional dew ponds are…
Keep readingDIG Report End January 2022
Affinity During September the DIG met with Chris King of Affinity to get agreement on surveying the drainage pipes under the pumping station. This was agreed to but we have had no further contact from Chris on the subject, we assume due to pressure of work. To try and get something done on this we have issued a complaint to the Affinity Estate Management team and asked them to find out what will be done and when about this work. Fortunately, mild and relatively dry weather this winter has meant that the drainage there has not been tested.…
Keep readingFlood Resilience Training
Although we don’t associate Hughenden Valley with being in a flood risk area, there have been plenty of occasions across the years when roads and properties have been tested by high water table, prolonged rain and so on. As such, the council, Environment Agency and other organisations monitor us for flood risk. It can therefore make sense to at least be aware of how to deal with flooding when it happens. The DIG website contains some useful advice regarding flooding on the Advice page. On a practical front, Community Impact Bucks are offering free flooding training during March,…
Keep readingDIG Article for HNews Winter Issue
Pumping Station Ditches and Culverts During September Jerry Morley and Paul Woodford met with Chris King of Affinity in connection with the drainage issue we have at the pumping station at Hughenden Valley. Chris is a Surveyor with responsibilities for maintenance of infrastructure at Affinity properties. Chris has agreed to organise a complete site survey at the pumping station, which will involve CCTV checks and, if appropriate, clearance on the two principal culverts under the site which carry the Hughenden stream. It will also involve checking boundaries and cutting back of trees and hedges which have become overgrown.…
Keep readingDIG Report End September 2021
The transition of HVDIG into the HVRA is now complete. The final part was the closing down of the DIG email addresses, which means that we can now fully close down the old HVDIG website and email system run through TSOHOST. Email addresses for the DIG committee are now: Peter Cannon: chairman@hughendenresidents.org Paul Woodford: treasurer@hughendenresidents.org Matt Hopkins: digdeputychair@hughendenresidents.org Debs Lemon: digdeputysecretary@hughendenresidents.org Sarah Mustapha: digsecretary@hughendenresidents.org During September Jerry Morley and Paul Woodford met with Chris King of Affinity in connection with the drainage issue we have at the pumping station at Hughenden Valley. Chris is a Surveyor with responsibilities…
Keep readingDIG Report End July 2021
DIG AGM The DIG AGM was held during July. The main points were that the accounts for 2020/2021 were audited and signed off by Bob Hawkins, the bank accounts is now closed and funds transferred to HVRA. In addition, the new constitution was approved and officers agreed to continue. Drainage Issues Trees Rd suffered from a heavy day’s rain with the road grills overflowing and a large amount of puddling at the foot. The Trees Rd team cleared the grills a day or two after. We reviewed this with Jonathan Roberts the drainage engineer from Bucks CC. He…
Keep readingDrainage Works in the Valley
Thames Water are currently carrying out drainage works up in Warrendene Road for a serious amount of work. We understand that the sewage inspection pits in the road are being re-rendered around the tops and the lids will then be sealed. The purpose of this is to prevent the entry of surface water into the sewage system, which contributes significantly to the overloading of the system in Hughenden Valley. We understand this work will be carried out over several weeks and go right down Valley Road as well as Warrendene. There may be disruption to road users as…
Keep readingDIG Report End April 2021
Sewer Status Just when we all assumed that the sewer problems in the Valley had gone away, we found out that they haven’t. After the recent dry weather, inspection pit levels had pretty much returned to normal levels and it was largely assumed that the problems had gone away. However, late in the month it was discovered that the ‘back of houses’ sewer run that is opposite the Village Hall was full and close to overflowing. The Boss Lane sewer, which it joins, is also dangerously full. TW have visited a few times, but other than pumping out…
Keep readingSpotted in the Valley
After months of requesting the road drains to be jetted and cleaned, something seems to be happening. A team from TfB was spotted mid-week cleaning in Valley Road. We hope the work continues because a recent audit by a DIG team found that roughly 70 of the 100 or so road drains from Church Farm up to the end of Warrendene were partially or totally blocked.
Keep readingApril Update
Audit of Drains A small group of 4 within the DIG spent a busy couple of days in March carrying out an audit of the road drains from Church Farm right up through the village to the end of Warrendene Road. The result was that some 70 drains were blocked or partially blocked out of 100 or so. These were reported (individually) via the FixMyStreet website to TfB, and to their credit, the tops of all of them have been brushed since then. Actual cleaning/jetting may take a little longer – it’s only been a year so far.…
Keep readingPhilip Dunne MP Sewage Bill
The Ludlow MP Philip Dunne has introduced a Private Members Bill to Parliament to help reduce sewage pollution and improve water quality in our rivers and streams. This is supported by many charities and organisations. The DIG supports this also. Read more and consider supporting the Bill by writing to your MP using the tool provided on the link below. https://www.philipdunne.com/sewagebill
Keep readingSewage Leak at Corner of Pumping Station
On 17th February, a leak was spotted from the sewage inspection hatch at the corner of the pumping station site in the village. This hatch, which lies in the National Trust field (and hence open to all), is sited where the sewage pipe from Naphill comes down to join the main sewer heading to Wycombe. The leak has tended to be intermittent and not a great flow, but nevertheless has been allowing sewage to get into the watercourse. The DIG alerted Thames Water on 18th and the site was visited by engineers, but they advised that the leak…
Keep readingArticle for Hughenden News Spring Edition
The Stream, Water Table and the Sewers The winterbourne stream flows again this year in the village, and that makes it two years in a row, in itself a bit of a rarity. Although the stream dried up in the upper reaches last summer, it kept flowing all the way through from Church Farm. Since January, the source of the stream has gradually worked its way back up the Valley and through the village. At the time of writing, the stream is flowing from the ditch opposite the Harrow and down through the village. Strangely, it does not…
Keep readingNew Name for HVDIG
Special Meeting The planned DIG Special Meeting took place at the end of January via Zoom and we are now a part of the Hughenden Residents Association and officially known as the HVRA Drainage Improvement Group. Peter Cannon was elected Chairman and the meeting discussed matters such as future finances, the constitution, financing and the website. In addition we discussed how the DIG will proceed in future. Changes will take place slowly, starting with the website. The meeting minutes have been placed on the Docs page. The Stream, Water Table and the Sewers The winterbourne stream has…
Keep readingNew Year Update
Happy New Year. HVDIG Special Meeting The Special DIG meeting planned for this month will take place on Thursday 28th January at 7.30pm. This will be held using Zoom, and we have decided that we will restrict attendance to the Committee members only. In part this is because of the quality issues that happen when more than one person speaks at a time, but also in part because of our lack of experience with running such a meeting. If you would have liked to attend and wanted to offer an opinion on our way forward, or ask a…
Keep readingDecember Update
A note from the Acting Chairman. There seems to have been a lot happening of late, and this will get you bang up to date with what’s been happening. Joining the HVRA This is still planned to go ahead, but I shan’t be able to get anything underway until the New Year. At that point I will call a Zoom meeting for us to get together and decide things. As you know, we will invite Peter Cannon, HVRA Chair to become the Chairman of HVDIG too. He has already taken a strong level of interest in our little…
Keep readingArticle Submitted for Hugh News Winter edition
The Hughenden Stream The stream dried up quite quickly in its upper reaches during the course of this year. Despite this, it continues to flow merrily from Church Farm downwards and in the accompanying photograph is showing its face above the farm. A much earlier photograph taken in the same area is a nostalgic reminder of years gone by. With the winter season approaching, who knows, it may continue to flow all winter. Drainage and Other Stuff The roadworks in the Village Hall area are complete. The final Valley Road section was carried out several weeks back when…
Keep readingAGM News & Update
AGM We finally managed to hold the AGM on 30th September. As it was, the meeting was restricted to committee members only because of Covid, so not ideal. With no successor to the retiring Chairman, and membership small in the last few years it was decided to investigate whether our future would be better served as part of the HVRA rather than a standalone (very small) organisation. We are currently looking into that. Minutes of the AGM are on the Documents page. Road Works et al The final part of the ongoing roadworks in the Village Hall area…
Keep readingThunderstorm hits the Valley
Following the very hot and humid weather, we have been hit by the inevitable storms over the last week. On Wednesday last, 12th August, we experienced a nasty storm in the late afternoon which produced a massive downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning. This proved to be a test for the drainage improvements recently carried out in Valley Road near the village hall. In fairness, the works aren’t yet complete as Valley Road itself has to be re-laid with an altered camber to assist the drainage. In many respects the road drainage coped well. However, as the pictures…
Keep readingRoad Works Nearing End
The Valley Road drainage works are nearing completion, with the Coombe Lane section only to be finished. During last week there were concerns that Valley Road (with its new drains) became awash at one point – see pics below. However, we are assured by TfB that the gullies were likely working OK and that once the Coombe Lane section is completed and all new gullies jetted, that the whole system will perform well. The final part of the roadworks will happen late July or August when the Valley Road will be resurfaced. This will alter the road camber…
Keep readingRoad Works Continuing
The road works providing the extra road drainage near the village hall are now about two weeks in and progressing well. On Valley Road itself this work is largely finished with extra drains inserted on the eastern side of the road and further drains being dug up Coombe Lane. On Coombe Lane at the junction with Coombe Gardens an extra large soakaway has been created and this is still to be linked to the road drains.
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Hughenden Valley Residents Association 