New sign at the Sutton Mill Dam entrance in Mill Lane
(photographed 07/07/08)

If there's been one blot on Sutton's landscape in recent years, it has to be the Sutton Mill Dam. It was opened in 1987 as a wildlife park by Prince Charles after community pressure prevented it from being turned into a dumping ground for industrial waste. However, over the last few years it's been allowed to considerably deteriorate. All types of rubbish have been deposited in the Dam's waters & woodland and vandals have burnt some of the fishing 'pegs' and attacked the wildlife. Over the last three years since Sutton Beauty & Heritage has been photographing the dam, I've been inundated with locals complaining about its decline. One elderly gentleman told me:

"Prince Charles wouldn't recognise it today if he returned ".

Another explained how he'd challenged a man disassembling the Dam's railings so he could construct a garden swing for his kids out of them! The water in the lake has also not been looking so good over the past couple of years, seemingly enduring some discharges and it certainly did suffer from the bridge construction work in Walkers Lane last Spring, which badly affected the flow of the Pendlebury / Sutton Brook.

Wildfowl in abundance at the Sutton Mill Dam (photographed 07/07/08)

I think in total there were four letters of complaint to the St.Helens Star during 2007. One said:

"I went for a walk around Mill Dam in Sutton the other day and I can honestly say I would rather have walked in a sewer. The place is a disgrace."

Another correspondent wrote:

"Over the last five years, Sutton Mill Dam has gone from a place to be proud of to a place that is anything but."

However, if you've visited the dam over the last few weeks you'll have noticed how much it's improved. A large-scale tree pruning exercise has taken place, the damaged fishing pegs have been repaired, footpaths have been resurfaced and the steps rebuilt. Plus a new sign has very recently been installed at the Mill Lane Fish Bar entrance replacing the vandalised one. Wildlife seems to be returning too. Standing on the west bridge a few days ago, I counted over fifty ducks, ducklings and moorhens.

A widescale tree pruning and removal programme took place earlier
this year at Sutton Mill Dam (photographed 22/02/08)

Over the last twelve months I've sent a dozen letters and emails to St.Helens Council's Parks & Gardens and the Sutton Ward Committee about Sutton Mill Dam, which have all largely been ignored. Or I've been made promises of responses that haven't been kept. However, Sutton councillor Brian Spencer, whose also the Leader of St.Helens Council, has found the time to respond to one of my letters to himself. He writes:

"The latest work of pruning and making good the footpaths is partly funded by the Woodland Trust and a contribution from the ward committee Environmental Fund which I set up after I became Leader. Further pruning work is scheduled for the future and comments have been nothing but positive up to now. People feel safer and more sunlight can get into the area which helps to keep it dry and walkable."

Rex watches the ducks in the lake before walking up
some of the new steps (photographed 18/05/08)

It's certainly much nicer at the Mill Dam now although it's a shame that the railings have not been replaced and that there's been rubbish dumped in the lake for some five months that's still waiting to be removed.
           
It's also disappointing that the Council can't be more open about the work that they're doing in our community and responsive to requests for information. A vociferous letter to the St. Helens Star last December complained rather unjustly about the work that was being undertaken at the Mill Dam. The programme had only just begun and it had left the place in rather a mess, albeit a temporary one. The author of the angry letter wasn't to know that, however, as there were no notices of the work programme on the site or elsewhere and I've discovered that writing or emailing the local authority is not a particularly rewarding experience. We really should be able to raise points of concern with council officials without being expected to attend regular two hour ward committee meetings. I raised this in a letter in May but that's also been ignored! There's a couple of lines about the work at the Sutton Mill Dam in this month's edition of St.Helens First magazine, but it's rather belated.

However, this website was not created to criticise or for personal rants. The Mill Dam has been considerably improved and ultimately that's all that matters. So congratulations to all concerned and hopefully St.Helens Council and its partners will be able to maintain and improve Sutton Mill Dam's present condition for the future benefit of all in our community.  SRW

Click any image above for a new 2008 Photo-album
(10 pictures)