Forecasting the Future: Financing the Elan Valley Water Scheme, 1893-1955
Dr Justine Pick
Online via Zoom [apologies unforeseen circumstances prevent hybrid format].
Thursday 15 May 2025 7:00-8:00pm
In 1904 the first phase of the Elan Valley Water Scheme was completed at a cost of just under £6 million. Birmingham’s new water supply was delivered via a 73-mile aqueduct to the city’s Frankley works. It had taken eleven years for the construction of the first dams and reservoirs with the second phase of the scheme not fully completed until the early 1950s, bringing the total costs to £12 million. It was one of the most ambitious civil engineering schemes of the late nineteenth century and celebrated as a major civic achievement for Birmingham council with a royal opening, but how was it financed? The council’s original financial proposal was based upon a 50-year water demand forecast by the chief engineer, James Mansergh. For this talk, Justine Pick takes a closer look at that proposal and explores the scheme’s financial challenges and the accuracy of the forecast.
Justine Pick is an Honorary Research Fellow in School of History & Cultures, University of Birmingham. She is historian of sanitation and public health in Britain during the 19th and early 20th centuries, with interests in how local government systems developed to meet these challenges. Other research interests include the social and political history of Birmingham and the wider Midlands region. Justine also works on local history projects that engage communities with archives and is currently research lead for Unlocking the Vaults, exploring the history and legacy of Birmingham Municipal Bank (a project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the University of Birmingham).
Zoom meeting link:
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https://bham-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/86579319156?pwd=FB4uii8IGJ3ZXTkPjNpU5Ucqgh8kct.1
Meeting ID: 865 7931 9156
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