In the filter-house Mr Wilcock looks at filters he helped to instal.

From an article by Richard Catlow:
The moors and dales about Hurstwood, the picturesque hamlet in the hills above Burnley, are home to water bailiff Mr Arthur Wilcock, who was born in the village and has spent his working life at the nearby reservoirs. Arthur's father preceded him as bailiff at Hurstwood reservoir and his brothers Ralph and Jim are employed by the Calder Water Board. At 64, and with only a year of work in front of him, Arthur views the area as an unofficial lord of the manor, knowing every fold in a landscape pitted by nature and man. Arthur said: "I helped to plant the woods below the embankment, and I saw the dam being built when I was a lad. After looking after somewhere for so long you feel that you own it".

Until recently when a new bailiff was appointed at Hurstwood, Arthur was on call every hour of the day and every day of the week. Each day there are meters to read and gauges to check, whatever the weather, and the weather on those bleak moors can be very severe indeed. "I've seen some bad snowstorms up here. In 1947 the village was cut off for nine weeks and we had to walk to get food and necessities," Arthur recalls. A countryman at heart, Arthur knows the creatures of his area - foxes, stoats, weasels and other animals in the valley. At the cottage in Hurstwood that he and his wife have recently moved to from their Water Board home, Arthur will continue his interest in the surrounding countryside after retirement.

Mr Wilcock's other love is machinery. He is a keen motor cycle fan and likes to tinker with engines and motors, and the care with which he keeps the Hurstwood filterhouse spotless would be a credit to a lighthouse. " I helped put those in" he says, indicating the lines of giant filter tanks, each holding thousands of gallons of water.

See images showing the construction of Hurstwood Reservoir on our Other Collections page: https://www.bcthic.org/Archive/Other_Collections/Hurstwood_Reservoir_Collection