The Lagoons of Arlesey

I moved to Co-operative Terrace,  Arlesey in 1979 I also gained employment at the local Hospital on the  Maintenance staff. It was about this time I took a little more interest in the two pits that were at the back of the Hospital I had swam in the Blue Lagoon on those hot summer days, I even spent a whole weekend camping by the Blue lagoon. Then in later years Arthur the local fish bailiff told me some of the history, some I may add was just a fisherman's story.

Some people say that Arlesey sprung-up around the brickworks, this could be true as a brickworks along with Arlesey being three mills long were recorded in the Domesday Book of 1085. So what do we know of the village of  Arlesey. Its a growing town situated in the the county of Bedfordshire and extending for about 3 miles along the River Hiz valley. In historic times, Arlesey was a Royal Manor (Manor of Arleseybury) and also a market town, once known as the most prosperous parish in the area. St Peters Church, situated at Church End of the town was built over 900 years ago by the monks of Waltham Abbey. Within the Domesday Book it is written 'Arlesey Alricesei: Bishop of Durham; Bernard from William d'Eu; Herfast from Nigel d'Aubigny; Wulfsi. 3 mills. Large, straggling brickworks.'

In 1850 the Great Northern Railway opened linking London to the North via York. The railway development encouraged the growth of the brick making industry in Arlesey. It is recorded In 1852 a brickworks was opened in the south of the parish by Robert Beart of Godmanchester who revolutionised brick making by using a mechanical presses to shape the bricks. Previously the clay was puddled (usually with bare feet) and thrown into the brick mould. The wet brick was then carefully stacked into sheds to dry out the excess water before they were fired. This could be days or weeks depending on the weather before a brick was finished. Robert Bearts' method enabled a brick to be pressed and then fired much more quickly. By 1852 Arlesey is recorded as having immense brick works By 1858 the annual production was estimated to be 8,000,000 bricks plus 1,000,000 agricultural drainage pipes. By the late 1860s Beart's had been joined at Arlesey by three other brickworks all ranged alongside the railway. At its height Arlesey had six operational brickworks in the village.

The brick factories of Arlesey had many children working long hours. Dr Barnardo along with friends such as Earl of Shaftsbury and Lord Cairns became responsible for some of the Acts that were put before Parliament to save the lives of children and give them a better life along with giving them an education, such as the Factories Act (Brick and Tile Yards) Extension providing for child and female labour to be regulated. According to a press report of that day, ' on the first day of 1872, 10,000 young children were sent from the brick sheds to school'. This was a big labour loss for the owners. I could not find any information if this had affected the Arlesey Brick and Lime Company. Adult workers left their  jobs on a farm and went to work in the brickworks, their wages almost trebled overnight.

The clay works directly behind Fairfield Hospital was dug by hand and is triangular in shape covering some 3 acres in total. The northern end has a shear chalk cliff dropping away to a maximum depth of about 10mtr and is the deepest part of the old clay works. The eastern side is the shallowest at around 3.5Mtr deep, the western side is a little deeper at 4Mtr. I have dived all around this old clay works which had some time been used as a dump for the asylum. The chalk that had been dug out by hand was then transported down the hill by gravity on narrow gauge tramway to the brick works on the Hitchin road of Arlesey. In 1857 a second tramway was laid from The Three Counties Asylum to the GNR Line to carry the construction material needed to build the Asylum.

After completion of the Asylum the tram line was used for the transport of goods and passengers to the Asylum, most of the track was removed in 1953 leaving small remnants by Hospital boiler house.

The green lagoon continued to be one source of clay till about 1901 when the clay works was abandoned and the works moved to what is known today as the Blue Lagoon which was nearer the brick-works. Records show that in 1903 1,500 tons of lime and cement was produced weekly. The chalk filled wagons were hauled up from the bottom of the quarry by a steel cable powered by a stationary steam engine. They were then let down to the works by gravity, a man rode down on the wagons and stopped them just before the Hitchin Road by spragging the wheels. A small steam engine then took them over the road and shunted them up an incline to empty them into the slurry pits. The empty wagons were then hauled back up to the pit by the cable. The road crossing was controlled by a man who signalled to the winding house by a system of bells.

For many years the skyline of Arlesey was marked with three chimneys to the back of The old Three Counties Railway station. When they were brought down they were one of the last remnants of the old Brickworks of Arlesey, most of the village turned out to watch them being removed from the skyline. Today all that is left are the two clay pits and a land fill site were the clay was removed. The last brickworks in Arlesey The Butterley Brick Ltd stopped production from its Arlesey plant on the 1st October. 1992.

Note: In 1959 The Three Counties railway station and Arlesey station  were closed Under the "Beeching Plan" for passenger traffic on the 5th January and goods traffic on the 28th November 1960. Arlesey station Old Oak Close at Church End  re-opened on the 3rd October 1988

In about 1925 the steam pump that was used to keep the pit dry was coming to the end of its working life and with the cost of a new diesel pump it was decided uneconomical to keep running which marked the end of these clay works in Arlesey,  by 1930 the pit was closed and allowed to fill with water. Most of the working machinery was left where it stood including an old steam power excavator which had its jib protruding out of the water for many years until it was salvaged in 1977 and was the subject of a Bygones Television programme. As part of the programme the Steam Shovel was fully restored to working order but on its first working pressure test the boiler cracked so was given to a museum of Lincolnshire Life as a static exhibit.

Prior to the crane being removed the top of the jib had been used as a diving platform for all the people who spent their summer days swimming in the Blue Lagoon. The Hitchin road used to be packed both sides of the Hitchin Road with cars until parking restrictions were put in place. The death rate over the years could be counted on the fingers of your hands, but a tragedy of three children trapped in a car 28th July 2001 made the authorities sit up and take notice of the problem. Sadly a lot of noise was made at the time like all the other deaths, but not much has happened. In 2007 another young life was lost.

During the war years 1938 - 1945 Arlesey was used for the storage of munitions which ran alongside the GNR railway lines. The Army unit that was responsible for the storage also found themselves responsible for all the Un-exploded Bombs in the area as well. The UXBs that were made safe were taken to the Lagoons to be destroyed, frequent explosions could be heard in the surrounding villages and towns. It took three months to make the area safe after the war. The site was developed for industrial units and was called the Portland Industrial Estate. The area where the Portland silo stood has since been renamed The Crossways Estate. When the silo was removed some old ammunition and hand grenades were found and had to be made safe by way of exploding them by the blue Lagoon. The Bomb disposal squad stayed for quite some time clearing old ordinance.

I had been one of many who used to spend my summer days swimming and diving off the old steam crane who's jib protruded from the water. The photo below while not clear shows quite a few lads diving off the crane head and the waters edge packed with swimmers. Some years later I joined the Stevenage Sub Aqua Club in 1984  and spent many hours diving in the Blue Lagoon from my first on 29th May 1985 and other pits in and around Bedfordshire.

There are many stories to how the Blue Lagoon came to be filled with water, one of the few stories I had started was Fred the Forman was filling in the weekly times sheets in the hut when he got trapped. In truth the pit filled with water over many years from about 1930.

The depth of the Lagoon is normally about 12Mtrs at its deepest point which is at the top of the well head by the side of the hut. One year I did record 13.5Mtrs this was the year when McDonalds was being built in Letchworth and a manikin had been left in the skip. I with one other took the said manikin we had named Fred for a dive down to the hut where we were going to sit him at the table filling in the time sheets as per the story, but some person had removed the table and chair so with the rope I had taken down I made a noose and hung Fred from the rafters. There he hung and from the doorway it looked quite spooky.

This was on a Monday afternoon of the 23rd June 1986. On the next Sunday the local BSAC from Hatfield used to use the lagoon for training, asking a novice diver to enter the hut as part of their qualifying dive. On this occasion they were a little confused if Fred had drowned or died from hanging, apparently Fred was well hung!

Click here to view a map of the blue Lagoon Arlesey. Please note this was drawn in 1989 so some marks may have rusted away or been removed.

Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.

Last updated 07/03/2009 09:53:51