In late September we were lucky enough to have a visit from the well drilling legend himself, Herb Lang.  Herb has been providing water supply in the Peterborough area for over thirty years and it was great to have him drop by.  Most of our friends and family enjoy the luxury of municipal water supply so this story may seem a little pioneerish but because we are building in rural Ontario we need to find our own water source which almost always includes the drilling of a well.

Before drilling can start there is some craft to making sure you start in the right spot and this is called witching (divining or dousing if the art of black magic holds some superstitious fears).  Depending on the witch there are different tools used included wire rods, fruitwood or pendulums.  Herb prefers the wire rod and was happy to provide Heather with a little instruction. Something she’s been looking forward to ever since we started this house enterprise.

How does it work? One rod is held in each hand with the long extension held forward.   In almost no time at all first Herb and then my favourite Witch, were able to locate what they believed to be the best place to drill.

The proof will be in the drilling so stay tuned over the next month or so but we have great confidence that there will be water at the end of the day (technically year).  This confidence comes from knowing that family member Paul Dunford had already identified the best spot and it was only 6 feet from where Herb and Heather divined the new well’s location.