Pode Hole
| Pode Hole | |
|---|---|
 Pode Hole post office The sluices at the pumping station in the distance This is one of the oldest buildings in Bourne Road, and two of the newest. Classic ribbon development. |
|
 Vernatt's Drain |
|
 Pode Hole
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| Pode Hole shown within Lincolnshire | |
| OS grid reference | TF213220 |
| • London | 85 mi (137 km) S |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SPALDING |
| Postcode district | PE11 |
| Dialling code | 01775 89 |
| Police | Lincolnshire |
| Fire | Lincolnshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Pode Hole is a small village 2 miles (3.2 km) to the west of the centre of Spalding in Lincolnshire, England, at the confluence of several drainage channels. Two pumping stations discharge water into Vernatt's Drain from land in Deeping Fen to the South and West. Water from Pinchbeck South Fen to the North is also lifted into Vernatt's Drain. The village arose to service the pumping stations.
The village is largely a Ribbon development stretching from the Pumping stations and the Fisherman's arms along Bourne Road toward Spalding. The village post office and small shop is now also a bed and breakfast, and an outside catering service.
No separate population statistic is available for Pode Hole. The best available report is for the whole Pinchbeck civil parish, which covers several settlements north and east of Spalding with a total of 5,153. At the 2011 census population details can be found under the civil parish of Pinchbeck.
The name may well be a reference to a marshy location, possibly with a population of frogs and toads.Pode Hole farm, near Thorney probably derives its name the same way.
Pode Hole falls within the drainage area of the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board, successors to the original Deeping Fen commissioners.
Pumping stations were installed because the cill at Vernatt's Sluice, where the drain discharges into the Welland above Spalding, was higher than the cill of the precursor sluices at Pode Hole. The fen drains could not naturally discharge into Vernatt's Drain. There was a history of windmill-driven pumps and later small steam engines across The Fens but the two engines at Pode Hole were the first of the large scale pumping efforts, and an encouragement to later schemes.
John Rennie was consulted in 1818, and he proposed diverting the upper reaches of Vernatt's Drain from the Welland to the Witham to improve the fall. It is unclear if this would have worked, but the funds were not available and a later proposal for steam engines at Pode Hole was interrupted by his death. In the end an engineer called Benjamin Bevan appointed by the commissioners placed orders for two beam engines from separate engineers, Fenton and Murray of Leeds, and Butterley of Derby. The first was 60hp, the second 80 hp. Butterley supplied both scoop wheels. The engines started work early in 1825, and continued in use until 1925.
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Wikipedia