Gale Carr Drain, Scrooby

Graham Robbins

Gale Carr Drain cuts though the low-lying land to the east of Scrooby. The drain runs for around 3km from the back of Ranskill, passed Mattersey Wood, the railway level crossing and Scaftworth. The ditch drains the wet peaty land, taking water northward to the River Idle.

The surrounding land was a common until 1777, when it was abolished by Scrooby's Enclosure Act. The common was used by Scrooby's inhabitants for grazing animals, collecting fire wood and foraging for wild food. The area between Gale Carr Drain and the River Idle as it passes Scaftworth was called Ing's Meadow in the Eighteenth Century.

This land now feels disconnected from the village. It has been severed by the East Coast Mainline railway.

Water birds are often here. During February 2008 a group of around 20 swans camped for some weeks on the wet fields by the River Idle.