On Sun, 30 Nov 2014 08:52:34 +0000, Tim Lamb
wrote:

In message ,
writes
On Sat, 29 Nov 2014 22:47:37 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:




luke warm and carefully applied. Water straight form the cold tap
would proably work just as well. When it's getting close to or below
the ground frost point they water football pitches to keep 'em warm
and unfrozen.

That's how water meadows used to work,it wasn't to make the grass grow
like rice in paddy fields. A thin layer of water was trickled over the
meadows by the "Drowners" and this warmed the ground enough to make
the grass grow earlier in the season .

Oh!

Not entirely sure I agree with that. Long before my time but, the
ancient water bailiff who taught me to shoot, showed me where the
temporary dams were located to flood our meadows. The river side
grassland here is not dead flat so a considerable depth was needed to
cover all.

There were local variations.
There were long unused water meadows where I grew up near the river
Torridge and I just assumed they were flooded paddy field style.

It wasn't till I joined a walking lecture tour around the remains of
some given by a hydrographer who works for Wiltshire CC amongst
others that the system as a described was described to me. This was
on the Hampshire Avon which has a fairly broad flood plain.

Up the road towards Salisbury English Heritage were going to make some
operable as a demonstration site but the rainfall of recent springs
seems to have delayed the project.

Probably more than you want know here.
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/...meadow-iha.pdf

G.Harman