Descriptions, Impressions, Feelings and Words evoked by Exploring the Rooms of the Pump House

Compiled at the Waterworks Workshop 1 on 16th May 2009 led by Jonathan Petherbridge

Group 1
Electrical wiring
Copper/iron pipes
Machines
Steel/plastic
Air/space
Brick/girders
String – Sellotape – Natural materials – Wood – String cotton streamers – Curves – Softness – Small rabbit warren – Look down into the space – Intimacy – Tunnels – Dusty – Damp – Earthen – Chemicals – Echoey – Flat – Different – Open – Tunnelled over – Princess – Wheelchair user – Bible – Very tall person – Swimmers – Airplane – Table tennis – Snooker – Brats feeding

Water borehole brings water into the plant for the people of Wimborne, when not needed but ready to go
Young couples – Secret meetings – Nightclub venue – Secret planning in the War – Large table with big maps
Smugglers down the tunnels
Questioning of German pilot shot down at Pamphill

An Art Gallery
Dance Group
Screen covers the top with swimming pool projected onto it and it opens
Actors using water in rituals

Controlling serpent beast sleeps in the tunnel and slithers up the stairs at night
Lonely beast – loved it when the waterworks were active
Worried that the waters of the world are drying up

Group 2
Concrete floor
Industrial iron brick was part painted yellow, remains of creepers
Grass carpeting; spongy soft materials; velvet; red coral; aperture; mirror; black box; green wooden boards ceiling – domed
Cotton wool; Christmas decorations; domed PVC; colourful rainbow; black hole; blue and chrome pipe works and machines; snakes
Radiators; cushions; musty; damp; dusty; organic; chemicals – lime; churchy sounds; echoey

Traditional costumes;
Gym; Art Gallery; Cinema; Zoo – Giraffe House; Troll’s Playground; Water Tank in Sea Life Centre;

Makes us feel small; proportionality; ethereal; functional yet resonant – ready to be used;
Trapped between past and future;
Emptiness; lack of intimacy; lack of focus – eyes keep wondering – distraction

Group 3
Cold still constant hum;
Possible half circle use of space or between internal entrance and exit

Made of brick; galvanised trucking with electrical pipes; concrete slabs on steel beams; steel plate tank; square with design and green rivets; ductile iron pipes; cement covered indented arches cream; grey concrete floor; rectangle shaped wall; cream dividers; skimmed wall;
2 different sources of power – electrical and water; metal ladder with rings at upper level; dirt; opulence; with UV pipes held back; was water in tank 2 only used for disinfecting; storage; sampling labs were on 2 floors; first floor – blocked up door/window

Room square; 16m x 10m x 10m; tank 16ft cube; piping about half room with gaps in between;

Acoustics good for instruments and good for whispering; insect noises; bird songs; echoes;
Valued; cleansing water therefore very valuable but undervalued by uninitiated;

Room with large green tanks; concrete floor; brick walls from Victorian to recent; ceiling low arched vault; lined with wood planks and iron support work – light vent in centre, Perspex rib;
Doors aluminium roller, entrance large; 6 very large cylindrical metal dark dark green; piping with pressure joints; blue/black/silver; aluminium staging over pipes;
4 entrances; piping and wire conduits on wall; silver walkway over pipes and cylinders; dusty;

Background noise – hum, whirring, plenty of natural reverberations for singing, query speech;

Hard dressing; harsh lighting; pumps; accidents; building flooded by rain; night patrols; heat – men stoking fires; noise;
Somebody bricked up; water diviners; bombing in the war; parties;
Leyline links; part of a system; water cycle; weirs; rivers; locks and springs; way markers; standing stones; the Minster; settlements; water grotto, e.g. Stour Head; waterfalls.