16 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

I can't see much difference - a couple of inches maybe.

 

When the CRT says "..the prolonged period of dry weather has now ended and rainfall so far this month is above average, [but] there has been little to no recovery in reservoir water levels since the closure" they're right (at least at Bonnington).

Thanks - that's very interesting, and (as you'd hope) consistent with the figures in the CRT position statement.

 

I guess it's because we've had (relatively) gentle rain falling onto dessicated ground, which is what all the important water users need. Reservoirs like Boddington will benefit from torrential downpours that run straight off the land, but otherwise won't get much inflow until the surrounding land has recovered.

A month later, I'm relieved. I am over the Fenny Compton Summit (which didn't strike me as being particularly shallow) and safe in winter moorings.

 

I thought I'd drop by Bonnington to check how it's recovering.

 

The  answer is: slowly.

 

There was much less uncovered bed, but from this picture, it can only have risen just a few inches:

 

On 06/11/2025 at 16:52, Gordon Comstock said:

I thought I'd drop by Bonnington to check how it's recovering.

 

The  answer is: slowly.

 

There was much less uncovered bed, but from this picture, it can only have risen just a few inches:

I've been doing some walking just South of Banbury (similar rainfall patterns and geology) in the last few days; whilst most of the streams have water in them it's pretty much stationary, which is unusual even most Summers. I think what rain that has fallen in the last month or so must have soaked straight into the ground. The soil is muddy though, and the crops seem to be doing better, so there'll hopefully be more runoff into the reservoirs soon. The Cherwell is flowing, but I suspect most of that is coming from Banbury's sewage treatment works.

16 minutes ago, Wafi said:

I think what rain that has fallen in the last month or so must have soaked straight into the ground.

 

To confirm that. I have been planting a blackberry and raspberry canes in Reading, and the soil is only damp to about 3/4 of a spit (say 6 to 9 inches) the rest is still dry and hard. We will need a lot more rain before it saturates the soil and can flow into aquifers.

Braunston today and no back pumping at Hillmorton when we left there yesterday morning 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Braunston today and no back pumping at Hillmorton when we left there yesterday morning 

 

 

 

Visited Napton Reservoir this afternoon and that looks the same as a month ago. With the level in the Braunston pound being so good I am surprised they havent taken 6" and put it into storage.

13 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Visited Napton Reservoir this afternoon and that looks the same as a month ago. With the level in the Braunston pound being so good I am surprised they havent taken 6" and put it into storage.

I think they've taken a bit (or maybe the leak has done it for them). At one point there was pretty much a causeway under the bridge between the two reservoirs, that's now submerged (though possibly not by much).

In the last 3 days the Cherwell South of Banbury has gone from very low and barely moving to bursting its banks. It's not uncommon for the flood plain to be inundated, but this must be the first time since at least February. I wandered down to Aynho Weir lock, where there's a substantial flow over the weir and the water's half way up the red part of the level marker. Can't be often that a stretch of canal is closed due to low water levels whilst being unsafe to navigate because the water's too high. I'm sure it'll sort itself out soon, and water was flowing over the weir at Nell Bridge Lock, so hopefully they'll be able to reopen at least as far as Banbury.

On 15/11/2025 at 18:07, Wafi said:

In the last 3 days the Cherwell South of Banbury has gone from very low and barely moving to bursting its banks. It's not uncommon for the flood plain to be inundated, but this must be the first time since at least February. I wandered down to Aynho Weir lock, where there's a substantial flow over the weir and the water's half way up the red part of the level marker. Can't be often that a stretch of canal is closed due to low water levels whilst being unsafe to navigate because the water's too high. I'm sure it'll sort itself out soon, and water was flowing over the weir at Nell Bridge Lock, so hopefully they'll be able to reopen at least as far as Banbury.

Reopened today, according to the CRT stoppages list, all the way from Marston Doles to Aynho Weir (apart from a tree down between locks 22 & 23, which is apparently being dealt with).

19 minutes ago, Wafi said:

Reopened today, according to the CRT stoppages list, all the way from Marston Doles to Aynho Weir (apart from a tree down between locks 22 & 23, which is apparently being dealt with).

With the same warning as Foxton had. Could close at short notice 

Storm Claudia has been helpful.

 

Big improvement in the last three weeks. Before this summer I'd never visited Bonnington, but to me this looks like the level is back to what it should be. So that's all over then...

7 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

but to me this looks like the level is back to what it should be.

 

 

I reckon the water level would normally be up to where the grass starts in your photo.

 

So I reckon it is probably about half full in your pic. 

 

 

Naïve question:  Is Bonnington filled up by just the rain falling on its surface area, or are there feeder streams and drains connected in from land around it? 

 

 

It was about 4' down when I visited the opposite end last weekend. I think the structure in the photo is an overflow (the watermark suggests it's spent a lot of time at that exact level in the past), in which case it's very nearly there.

 

Napton reservoirs were also full last weekend.

 

One thing I think this illustrates is that these reservoirs can fill quite quickly when there's rainfall onto wet ground, so they'd be kept topped-up, at least to some extent, in a normal Summer.

55 minutes ago, MtB said:

Naïve question:  Is Bonnington filled up by just the rain falling on its surface area, or are there feeder streams and drains connected in from land around it? 

Walking around it, it's not obvious how it gets filled so quickly. On three sides it is contained by embankments which are above the surrounding countryside. On the east side there's a natural bit of marshland that collects run-off from the surrounding fields* and from a couple of springs. There is a very small weir/sluice that drains this into the reservoir. So there must be a spring or springs at the bottom of it.

In cutting and pasting this bit of map below, I discover that I've been calling it the wrong name from the start. It's Boddington. What a fool I've been!

 

* There are signs all around about the dangers of blue/green algae. I presume that is the result of nutrient rich run-off.

 

Edited December 12, 2025Dec 12 by Gordon Comstock
To show origin and direction of the photos

11 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

In cutting and pasting this bit of map below, I discover that I've been calling it the wrong name from the start. It's Boddington.

 

 

Lol, I was wondering where it was, and if it was anywhere near Boddington!!! 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2025Dec 12 by MtB
Speeling

There are two feeder streams on the north side of Boddington - a bigger one that flows in by gravity int he north east corner, plus a smaller one that is pumped up from the other side of the road 

 

I think the pumped one is the original stream that flowed through the valley and on into the Cherwell (and is now the overflow channel downstream), and the one that flows in under the road bridge is a man-made channel to bring in more water from elsewhere

Edited December 12, 2025Dec 12 by phantom_iv

20 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

Walking around it, it's not obvious how it gets filled so quickly. On three sides it is contained by embankments which are above the surrounding countryside. On the east side there's a natural bit of marshland that collects run-off from the surrounding fields* and from a couple of springs. There is a very small weir/sluice that drains this into the reservoir. So there must be a spring or springs at the bottom of it.

In cutting and pasting this bit of map below, I discover that I've been calling it the wrong name from the start. It's Boddington. What a fool I've been!

We all knew what you meant, which is all that matters.

 

Counting squares on the OS map and estimating the line of the watershed, I reckon there's about 20km^2 of land draining into the reservoir, which I reckon is around 1/3 km^2 in area (ie 1/60th of the catchment). November 2025 rainfall in the area was around 100mm, so if nothing evaporated or soaked into the ground the runoff would have raised the reservoir level by 6m.

22 hours ago, phantom_iv said:

There are two feeder streams on the north side of Boddington - a bigger one that flows in by gravity int he north east corner, plus a smaller one that is pumped up from the other side of the road 

Yes you are quite right.  On the OS map the one in the NE corner is even marked as a canal feeder. When you're there it's not as obvious as you'd think it would be. I didn't notice it!

On 12/12/2025 at 19:57, Gordon Comstock said:

I discover that I've been calling it the wrong name from the start. It's Boddington. What a fool I've been!

 

 

I think this might have been caused by that mountaineer bod, Chris Bonington! 

 

(With just one 'n' - I checked!)

On 12/12/2025 at 19:18, MtB said:

 

 

I reckon the water level would normally be up to where the grass starts in your photo.

 

So I reckon it is probably about half full in your pic. 

 

 

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "a glass half empty".   💊

Latest state of play - 

Looks like Boddington's pretty close to full, but Clattercote is still a couple of metres down. Not too surprising given the difference in catchment areas, Wormleighton doing ok too although too small to make much difference compared to the other two.

 

 

Now definitely full. Rather gloomy afternoon today, but the water is now running over the overflow.

And on a related note I think there is still a hose-pipe ban here in Wiltshire, despite all the floods.