Making way for something new at Alderney

18th August 2022

Today, the 18^th August 2022, marks 45 years since Sir George Jessel passed away. He was a very important man for Bournemouth Water – so important we named a building after him!

 

1948 - A new era for the water company

George Jessel House was built for Bournemouth and District Water Company (which later joined West Hampshire Water Company to form Bournemouth Water).

The company had previously been part of the Bournemouth Gas and Water Company, but the two utilities split after the nationalisation of gas. As a result, the water company lost 90% of its income between 1948 and 1950.

So, when George Jessel House was built in 1952, it was “the most symbolic indication of the company’s renaissance” – the company had recovered.

A building to celebrate

The building was purpose-built to be the centre of all administrative activities, and continued to be until 2015. Everything from finance and regulations to customer services was undertaken there.

Not everybody was happy with the new facilities though! Nina Bishop, an employee at the time, recollected:

“Finally came the day that the offices were transferred out to Alderney which changed the lives of all the females who loved shopping. Instead of wandering around the posh shops such as Beales and Bobbies (Debenhams to you) in our lunch hour, we had to work on Saturday morning leaving only the afternoon for the shops, and as all the good shops shut at 1pm it was a great drawback.”

Alderney was harder to get to than the previous office in Old Christchurch Road. Nina continued: “Those of us without cars had to catch the only bus for Alderney via Bournemouth Square, walk from Wallisdown, or cycle all the way often in the rain with the wind against us.”

But it wasn’t all bad really! The new offices were a lot more spacious, covering three storeys and sporting a canteen. “Then, joy of joys, one Saturday off per month was celebrated with coffee in Beales or by organising a day out in Southampton by train – going shopping again of course,” Nina adds.

Who was Sir George Jessel?

It wasn’t until 1978 – 26 years later – that the building was named after Sir George Jessel. He was a very important man at Bournemouth and District Water Company, having been a Director for 48 years, and Chair for 28 of them. The changes he witnessed truly make him stand out from the crowd. Beginning as a Director at the end of the 1920s, he navigated the company through the split with the gas company, choosing to stay on the water side despite the insecurity this threatened to his career. He saw the 1962/3 Big Freeze – that year’s annual report saying: “Your directors are proud of the company’s achievements in this emergency and though the cost was high, the service was maintained despite the most adverse circumstances.”. He also saw the 1976 drought, of which Bournemouth and District, and its rival West Hampshire, were the only water companies in the south of England that were able to keep supplying customers with no restrictions. Sir George Jessel navigated strikes, new governments, regulations and massive refurbishments, inventions and investments in the water treatment process.

An end, and a new beginning for Alderney

We think Sir George would be fascinated with the new technology that’s going to be installed now at Alderney. The new treatment works introduces a brand new ceramic filtering system which is only the second in the country (the first being the South West Water Mayflower Water Treatment Works near Plymouth). The new process is a lot more efficient, meaning water can be treated much faster than the present system.

The building that bore his name has now been demolished to make way for this new Water Treatment Works. This was after extensive surveys found the building unstable, and it was not economically sound to repair it. Knocking it down was the only option.

All the changes and improvements Sir George saw in his time would have brought a lot of disruption and he’d know that for the new to come, sometimes the old must be replaced.