Modern Pilates wash their hands over water pollution

Russell Spring, in the north Cotswold village of Blockley, is a grade II-listed stone fountain dating from around 1850, donated by Lucy Russell, a mill owner and master silk thrower who was concerned about outbreaks of cholera and typhoid.

- ALAN RUSBRIDGER

It bears the inscription “Water from the Living Rock/ God’s Precious Gift to Man”, and it was the primary source of clean water for one end of the village for many years.

The water was considered so pure that, in 1994, a local family formed the Cotswold Water Company, intending to siphon off 750 gallons a day to market as bottled water. The village rose up in protest, and the scheme was quietly shelved.

Jeremy Bourne, a retired teacher, now 87, reckons he’s been drinking from the spring since 1947. People drive from far and wide to stock up. Bourne recently met someone who'd driven more than 40 miles from Malvern because they considered the water far superior to their own.

Fast forward to September 2025, and the shock announcement from local county councillor Tom Bradley that Thames Water had found high levels of nitrates, along with Cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that can exist in animal waste, at levels that could pose a danger to human health. A red plastic cordon appeared in front of the spring: Do not drink. Dismay in the village followed.

And then the confusion and the questions began. Who was responsible for the pollution? Who would investigate it? Whose duty is it to monitor the purity of spring water? In short, what could be done?