Drinking fountains and water pumps

Why does anyone want to create drinking fountains or horse troughs? They're a devil to keep clean, easy to spread disease, get misused, not pretty or necessary. Nearly every household had one (hand pump) in the twenties, cost the ratepayers a bomb to get rid of them. Looks like they will be used for flowers more than water. There was a detective book about horse troughs that was amusing.

People are buying a lot more bottled water, personally I have changed what I drink over the past 10 years from pop etc to mainly water and I think a lot of people have done the same. Firstly you have the plastic and waste. Secondly you have the added transport etc - bringing water from France in bottles to the UK. Thirdly the cost! Fourthly bringing these brilliant bits of local history back to working order. And finally being hydrated can never be a bad thing. It's nothing revolutionary, just seems like good common sense to me. Although I agree the horse troughs might not be the most practical solution.

We would love to hear about them, just for curiosity's sake if nothing else.

Purely as a member of this forum, I would like to know what your ultimate aim is. What is your involvement in installing "new ones across the city"? I wonder if you are actually intending a sales pitch to members and casual readers of the forum.

Hi Midland Red, No, no sales pitch. The aim was to get the water fountains about town turned back on again - like the one in Earlsdon. Then when I looked into it a bit more it seemed like a good idea to get involved with something called 'Refill' which is an app where people register taps that people can refill their water bottles, run by local councils. So the point of being on the board was to see how many fountains, public taps - and apparently troughs - used to supply water in Coventry. I've posted here before under a name I forget, and knew if anyone would know where they were it would be here. Never intending to ask for anything more than info. ** edit ** I forgot to say if we could get new water fountains installed I think that would be great too. Hope that helps

Thank you for your response.

Wow Neil, what a beauty!

rehydratecoventry, hi. There were scores of troughs and fountains in Coventry. But as horses were replaced by motor vehicles in the twenties and thirties the troughs became full of cigarette butts, and so were the drinking pump drains. I may be wrong but I seem to think that Hearsall Common used to hold horse fairs couple of times in summer - there would have to be many troughs to cater for that many horses. Main Farm had a beautiful cattle drinking trough, fed by a small pipe underground through two fields - this was destroyed when they built the new highway.

There used to be a drinking fountain outside the entrance to Holbrooks Park (Foleshill Park) next to the toilets. We used it during the 1950s.

There was a drinking fountain in Primrose Hill park.

Thanks for all of the responses! Kaga Simpson - It seems that there were troughs and pumps all over the city, it makes sense as you say that they would have fallen out of use as people's modes of transport started drinking petrol and not water! But it does show that we as a city are fully capable of providing clean water for free. I think times have changed enough so that they wouldn't be instantly filled with fag butts - I would guess constant use would be the only real way to keep them clean - but its definitely a concern! PhilipInCoventry - I forgot all about public toilets!

Back in 2010, I photographed this in Eastern Green

Drinking fountain on Top Green next to the War Memorial Park. A gift to the city by the Mayoress of Coventry (wife of Mayor Alick S. Hill). Google Maps (52