For six consecutive days, heavy rain had battered the hills surrounding Holmfirth, sending hundreds of tons of water streaming through the narrow gorges and several valleys down into the lowlands where it would be collected.

Normally, plenty of rainfall wouldn't be a problem and in fact would benefit the many large mills and cottages that were dotted alongside the hillside whose businesses were reliant on fast flowing water, and in the summertime, the true benefit of having such large amounts of water would become apparent as, when any prolonged dry spells occurred, it would often render many operational businesses redundant due to the lack of rain.

To solve such issues, a group of businessmen and mill owners formed the Holmfirth Reservoir Commissioners, which would ultimately construct a series of reservoirs - one being the Bilberry Reservoir that was situated around three and-a-half miles above Holmfirth.

Unfortunately, during the early house of Thursday, October 5th, 1852 - the embankment, after withstanding days of severe rainfall, suddenly breached, sending an estimated 86 million gallons of water thundering down the Holme Valley, along the River Holme and towards the small picturesque town of Holmfirth, and the decision to plug the discovered spring would prove to be a fateful one.

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