Owners of historic reservoir that served Corby steelworks considering its future
Corby tubeworks owners Tata Steel say the are in discussions to reopen the Eyebrook reservoir to anglers.
The beauty spot sits outside of the Corby boundary and is split down the middle between the Rutland and Harborough districts.
It was used for many years as a privately-run trout fishery, but that closed in 2024 after the owner died and heavy debts could not be sustained.
It has never reopened, and although there were rumours that Anglian Water would take over the reservoir, they said that if they did, trout fishing would not be viable there.
Now Tata Steel, which still owns the reservoir, has now confirmed to this newspaper that it is in talks with a potential operator to reopen the site to anglers, although a spokesman declined to elaborate during the negotiation stages.
The Eyebrook is credited with ensuring that steelmaking was viable in Corby and without it, the town would not be what it is now.
Back in the late 1920s. Messrs Lloyd Crescent Furnaces in Corby were in their infancy and employed around 600, but had been in the verge of being switched off because of a lack of water. All the water for the works came from one of two large clayholes off behind Stanion Lane.
But in 1932 Stewards and Lloyds decided to begin using Corby’s rich iron deposits to create steel in the town.
They bought a large piece of land in the Welland Valley and dammed the Eyebrook, creating the huge reservoir that would supply half a million gallons a day to run the steelworks. It was complete by 1940.
Although it stretches across 555 acres, not a single home or farm house had to be flooded.
Water was pumped from a station on Great Easton Road at Caldecott, up Rockingham Hill to a tower on the roundabout, which still exists in dereliction today, before flowing steadily downhill through water towers now situated along Phoenix Parkway, and on to the works.
The reservoir, which is 39 feet at its deepest, was also used during the war for the Dambusters to practise their skills.
And it was used for many years by steelworks bosses and their families for exclusive recreation.
The water was still used at the remaining tubeworks until recently, but modernisation means that the taps are now switched off as the volume of water is no longer needed.
There is no public access to the reservoir but that doesn’t deter locals from parking up along its banks and taking in its beauty, particularly during the summer months. It is a site of special scientific interest and is an important home to wintering wildfowl.