On Tue, August 10, 2010 8:06, Elizabeth Cook said: > That's very interesting. So presumably there were drains 1-12 at some > point. There still is a first public drain: it crosses Milton Road just south of the Science Park entrance and can be clearly seen from the road. It's also marked on the OS 1:25K map (and is visible, although unlabelled on the 1:50K map). As for 2-12 I asked SCDC's drain map that very question some years ago. He was vague but said they probably had existed in times past but had long since gone. > My next question is: What exactly was a public drain? I believe it's what's now called an "award drain", as opposed to a "riparian drain". The maintenance of the former is the responsibility of the local authority (SCDC in our case, which is why they come into the country park with a digger and clear it every so often). Maintenance of the latter is the responsibility of the riparian owners (the people who own the land on each side of the drain). The drain which runs from Tomkins Mead across Old School Lane and Fen Road before snaking around behind Goding Way and the hospice is a good example of a riparian drain as Hazel will tell you as she spent a lot of time getting that sorted out a few years ago. -- Paul