Anglian (Great Ouse) Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, which I sit on, met to review its response in January. The Old West Internal Drainage Board pumps water out of low-lying land into the Old West at Queenholme and Chear Fen, with pumps at Smithy Fen Engine kept in reserve. They worked flat out over Christmas and well into the new year. We were also fortunate to have had most of the gullies and road drains jetted in the last week of November, so that water cleared quickly out of what we call around here the “highland” on which the village sits. South Cambridgeshire District Council is responsible for some “Award Drains” as a result of various nineteenth-century enclosure acts. The rest of the ordinary watercourses are the responsibility of the landowners along their length. The county council owns hardly any of the land designated as “highway”. This means that ditches alongside roads are almost always the responsibility of the adjacent landowner. One of the challenges we face is that those buying houses in new estates are often not aware that they have an obligation to keep the ditch the other side of the fence
at the back of their garden clear of obstructions, so that water can flow freely. These are called “riparian responsibilities”, and there are powers under the Land Drainage Act 1991 to require landowners to fulfil them. We want to capture the latest “flood memories” before they fade, and encourage everyone – for example those out walking – to report blocked or poorly maintained ditches to us at floodandwater@cambridgeshire. gov.uk. Send either a map, such as a Google Maps screenshot, showing an identifiable place or road with the ditch clearly marked, or a location code using the “what3words” app. If you can also send photographs so much the better. Tim Wotherspoon
ROTARY CLUB OF CAMBRIDGE SOUTH – SUPPORTING LOCAL GOOD CAUSES Club members accepted various challenges (Sue and I walked 40 miles) during December with a view to raising sponsorship of £5000 or more to help reduce the impact on local charities from the loss of grants from our usual Christmas car parking in Cambridge due to Covid restrictions. Many thanks for your kind generosity – we raised over £7,000 and with club monies from reserves we have made this up to £12,000! Local Good Causes we are supporting include: Jimmy’s Night Shelter The Salvation Army The Arthur Rank Hospice Cambridge Foodbank Camsight The Samaritans Emmaus and Crisis homeless charity We continue to meet weekly on Mondays using Zoom, with fascinating speakers, often from overseas and sometimes from former international students that we have hosted. We have also been able to contribute to some good causes locally, including Kids Out Christmas box appeal and Food bank. Hopefully, we will be able to restart our
direct activities (like Memory café at Girton and Peace debate) by this Autumn. Rotary has 1.2 million members across 200 countries and at an international level, Rotary’s effort continues to progress the eradication of Polio worldwide. Working with the WHO and thousands of volunteers, Rotary are getting ever nearer worldwide eradication with the whole of Africa being declared Polio (wild virus) free in August. This just leaves Pakistan/Afghanistan. Immunisation must continue around the world until it is eradicated (like Smallpox which is the only one to date). Rotary describes the activities as “polio plus” and it has given, and will give, the infrastructure for many medical benefits including Coronavirus Covid 19 immunisation in many countries. Our club had planted purple (purple is the symbol for polio plus) crocuses on Queen’s Green, Cambridge as a reminder and has raised funds and contributed to Rotary’s charity for this cause. Do think of the Polio Plus campaign when you see them in flower. If you just want to know more about Rotary or our club (which has members from Waterbeach, Cottenham, Cambridge and beyond) and its Activities, or to consider joining, do get in touch. We are a welcoming club that has fun putting “service above self”. Mike Smith, Rotary Club of Cambridge South smithmichaelstanley@hotmail.com Issue Number 178 • page 5