THIS WAS the moment when the brine started flowing again in Droitwich for the first time in almost 100 years.
Coun Bob Brookes headed down to Tower Hill on Monday with officers from Wychavon District Council to test out the new pipe-work which has recently been installed at the site.
Tower Hill houses the last remaining ‘active’ brine well in Droitwich, which is already used to supply brine to the town’s Lido.
The well is over 100ft deep and is filled with the concentrated brine for which Droitwich is famous.
It was 900 years ago when Droitwich was fortunate to have St Richard de Wyche to give an episcopal blessing to make the brine flow again.
Today the town has had to resort to modern engineering techniques and a pump submerged about 30ft down the well.
The test was a resounding success, the system worked perfectly first time and samples of brine were drawn off for analysis.
They will then be tested to ensure they are pure and fit for human consumption.
Coun Brookes said: “I am very grateful to Wychavon District Council for making this possible – the first step along the path to resuming small-scale salt production in the town.
“However there is much to do before the possibility to sprinkle Droitwich salt on fish and chips.”
If the brine passes the test, a modern version of the traditional open pan method used in Droitwich for thousands of years will be tried out.
