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John Baker
We have about nine professional water diviners in the U.K. and you would think that we all do the same work, i.e. finding water for people, but the U.K. is a geological mixture and the further north and west you go, the greater the complexity in finding underground streams .
These parts are less populated than the south and east which means that demands are different, mainly water supplies for farmers, and industry. As I operate in the S.E. and London, I can’t speak at first hand for others, but my own patch seems very different. Applying the Bishop’s rule is something I’ve never done to find depth because every few yards I find hedges, walls, roads, etc block my path.
Interestingly, this year we - I have an assistant - have been asked to find possible ‘lost’ wells that belonged to 15th, 16th, century properties.The count is 12 so far and there are two more to be dowsed. Trying to find a company to dig out and refurbish old wells shows there is a gap in the market for this work. So far, we’ve found one in the West Country and one in Suffolk. They are both very busy.
We get more than our fair share of leaks, and the client often doesn’t even know where their pipes run, so we have to dowse pipes, stop cocks etc. With input from others in this group, the success rate in finding leaks has improved greatly. As for bore holes, there is a moratorium in the S.E. which is running short of water, so, no commercial work but just for some growers who need a small flow rate.
Another first this year was to find a leak in a full swimming pool which is still ongoing due to certain difficulties. A basement which flooded was another unusual job which has been sorted out.
So the words ‘water diviner’ covers a great area of learned knowledge, from local geology to knowing different types of pipe work, keeping water out and knowing about tanking and floor membranes. There are no books about most of this. You have to learn it ‘on the hoof’ and we need more people to learn the business. Strangely, there is a dearth of professional dowsers down the middle of England. It would be good to rectify this, so, if you want to give it a go, get in touch, but it needs dedication and accepting that we all go wrong from time to time. But if you can master it, it is the most fascinating and rewarding job with sometimes, visits to places out of bounds to the average person.
John Baker is on the Professional Dowsers Register.
Insurance –
The Gnomes of the Rose
“I knew I could give it up any time I wanted. It was all so easy then, the odd lost puppy, fixing that weird bit of geo in the back garden. I began to like it and the money was handy.
I was good at it, and even got myself a professional insurance certificate I used to keep in the Quattro’s glove compartment together with a couple of rods, if you know what I mean.
Me and the lads mostly worked out of town, and the policy even covered them as long as they did what I told ‘em. What went wrong was when
‘The Vic’
organised a fete on that spare bit of land between the reservoir and the old munitions works next to the electrical sub-station, and asked us
‘to teach people how to be divine’.
Well we did that all right. You’ve read the papers. Biggest peacetime disaster since the last one. My insurance people just laughed at me. If only we’d had that Tennyson cover
“.. specialists in charity insurance and we sell every type of cover that charities, community groups, faith groups, social enterprises, clubs, and other voluntary groups might need. All of our policies are underwritten by Zurich and 98% of our 5,000 customers say they would recommend us to a fellow charity.”
Zurich took over Tennyson and now do the work in-house. I know a local group that thinks they’d really Suits You.
Late News
The Local Dowsing Groups website at
www.LocalDowsingGroups.UK
has been live for some time. Today it has been updated with live links to the websites of all those groups who have websites - except South Herefordshire Dowsers, and London and Thameside Dowsers (West), whose sites for some technical reason continue to resist my advances. Please check for accuracy.
Local Dowsing Groups News
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