Asset of Torrs Park Waterfall -
Considered Action on Climate Change

It is generally accepted that people often fail to appreciate things of value that are on their doorstep.  This must be true in the case of our Torrs park – how else could you explain people being prepared to put industrial machinery at its centre?

When I was growing up in New Mills in the sixties, we would have laughed at the idea of New Mills being a tourist attraction.  The only notable thing about our town was a high crime rate.  The path of the rivers through the town centre went unnoticed or was regarded as a derelict and dangerous wilderness.

Forty years on and the demeanour of New Mills has been transformed, largely or solely through the careful and persistent reclamation of the Torrs and the extended network of paths along the valleys of the two rivers.  What was once the heart of industry in New Mills, has now returned to give heart to our town in an age of recreation.

How dearly would many other English towns wish for such a special and unique set of features as New Mills owns in the Torrs.  The potential value in it is tremendous – a truly unique selling point.

Unique and Special

"Things that are special need to be looked after. The Torrs gorge, its bridges, weirs and structures, Torr Vale Mill, these are unique and special” as Sir Martin Doughty wrote in his book 'The park under the town'. There is always a danger of messing things up. Great care is needed to strike the right balance between the natural beauty, the heritage and recreational development.  Subtlety and finesse are needed to avoid spoiling our key asset.

At the heart of the Torrs is the picnic area alongside the upper weir – the confluence of the two rivers and also of the many paths into and through the gorge.  This area is the essence of the appeal of the Torrs, with its mix of heritage and the natural – rock faces, mill ruins, trees, towering bridges, still and roaring water. 

Most iconic of all is the view that so many people stop to photograph, across the arcing weir, toward the arches of Queens bridge, flanked by the sandstone rocks and mature trees.

What a wonderful asset this is.  Yet there is more.  Where the old waterwheel sat in a trough, you can descend a few steps and experience at eye level the ten-foot fall of water as it torrents over the weir.  The thundering noise, the spay, and the mesmeric streaming of white water are unparalleled for such a close approach at any other location.  Children love it.  I am sure people leave this and the Torrs with an enhanced respect for nature and the environment.

If someone suggested digging this area out for a pit to contain a huge metal screw leading into a block house with a steel door, so that the access to the weir is lost, the flow substantially drained from the waterfall and the scenic view spoiled - well you would demand a pretty good reason!

Unreasoned and Unreasonable

You would want a good reason for the sake of the loss to our community of a precious amenity.  But even if you cared nothing for that, you would want a good reason if you considered only the revenue value of having this uniquely special feature in your town.

Well, there is a supposed reason – the hydroelectric scheme proposed for this site will offset the carbon emissions from 6 households – 0.1% of our town.  Of course there are other reasons, like the kudos of politicians who want a high-profile project with the pretence being green.  Then there are the ‘environmentalists’ (turned industrialists) who have to have a hobby project that they can brag about to their 'green' chums. Harsh, I know. However, most of these people probably never go down the Torrs recreationally, and so have no reason to care what happens to it. All that said, I recognise that there are some sincere-minded people who support the scheme out of good intentions, they just seem misguided in the light of the contrary arguments.

When I first heard about the Torrs hydro scheme I thought it was a great idea and was enthusiastic about the prospect of buying a share in it.  On casual inspection it is a neat idea – use the river to generate renewable energy as in times past. 

However, on closer inspection there is the dramatic downside – the detriment to the Torrs, so special to our town.  We might tolerate that loss if the scheme contributed significantly to reducing carbon emissions that are of such genuine concern.  But further analysis reveals this benefit to be very minor indeed – the reduction is just 0.1% of New Mills emissions.  Anyone of us could reduce our emissions by one part in a thousand without even noticing it – it is insignificant.

The balance of consideration leads us to see that the miniscule benefit does not warrant the detriment to the precious environment of the Torrs.

Think - then Act

So, what are we going to do about carbon emissions and global warming – are we just to do nothing, we have to start somewhere – this is the objection to abandoning the Torrs hydro scheme.  Well, sometimes it is better to do nothing for a while and instead think up a strategy that will actually be effective.

When I was young I got a brief summer job cleaning a factory yard in Birch Vale.  I and another lad collected all the debris into a huge heap, which we then set alight.  Soon the fire got out of hand.  My workmate found a bucket and relayed water from a standpipe.  I looked around and could only find a pint jug, so I used that to relay water!  The factory boss emerged.  Seeing me with by outstretched jug, he said “What!, couldn’t you find a cup?”  The conflagration was far bigger than New Mills bonfire, and in truth all our efforts were ineffectual.  However, the boss was thinking laterally – he saw a bulldozer working nearby and paid the driver £20 to bury the fire and debris in a hollow, covered with soil – thus solving two problems at a stroke.

My efforts with the jug of water seemed reasonable at the time – what else was I to do, it was better than doing nothing.  Well it wasn’t.  The situation needed some lateral thought - that is what I should have done.  Similarly with the conflagration of global warming, we are not going to get out of this mess without some serious thought and considered actions.  It is no use just doing the first easy thing that comes to mind, regardless of how ineffective and inappropriate it is.

Strategy is the Best Strategy

At this stage we need to develop a strategy.  Doubtless a national strategy will emerge, but there is also a requirement for local strategies at borough and town levels.  These will look at specific ways local initiatives can combat climate change.  But in order to assess the most effective and appropriate solutions we need to research the options and prioritise them for action.

Of course you can’t easily be photographed alongside a feasibility study, so local politicians will prefer the kudos of starting with a piece of mechanical action, even if it is a fairly meaningless gesture.

It is probably time to undertake the required strategic action directly within our community. A group of like-minded people should get together and start to examine the options to reduce carbon emissions through reduction of use and renewable generation of energy. 

The first step can probably be done without too much expense, by surveying the possibilities through common knowledge, with a little expert advice.  From there, funding would be needed to do professional analyses of the options.  These would then be prioritised and actioned.  The aim would be at a target of 5 to 10 per cent reduction (5 to 10 thousand Tonnes CO2 per year).

In the meantime there is a need to protect the Torrs from irrational enthusiasts.