Parkgate village water pump restored
Sponsor – Members
Duration – 2 Weeks
The village water pump stood at the centre of rural life with most communities having a pump on the village green or in the village centre. Once piped water mains appeared the old style water pumps fell out of use and many were discarded.
Parkgate is fortunate that the village pump remains and the Parkgate and District Community Group last year refurbished the pump and provided a replacement terracotta trough, now used as a decorative planter.
The present cast iron pump would date from the early 20th century. A photograph, dated 1920, shows the pump, complete with trough, outside Jim McAuley’s blacksmith’s shop.
An apt inscription on a pump in Scotland reads:
“Here quench your thirst and mark in me, An emblem of pure charity Who while my bounty I bestow, Am neither heard nor seen to flow Repaid by fresh supplies from heaven, For every drop of water given.”