The communal water pump is a feature still to be seen in rural villages around the country. Recent years have seen an interest in restoring these old cast iron pumps for purposes of Tidy Towns etc. They were typically installed by county councils over a communal well supply and served the needs of dwellings that would have had no running water installed. To operate, you swing the long ‘cow handle’ up and down a few times until water reaches the spout and fills your containers. Sadly many have been removed either deliberately due to safety concerns or by thieving gangs who sell them on as garden ornaments and scrap. Where space allows, they are marked on EastWest Mapping maps with a heritage symbol and the word ‘Pump’.