Ivy and its removal

These first two images show the rear of the tower in late summer 2010. Trees are crowding in on the tower and, because of the lie of the land are actually growing over the top of the tank at the north end. Ivy has grown right up the east wall and disappears into the tank. The middle window bay is almost covered in ivy, which was growing through broken panes and into the tower.

By contrast, these pictures were taken on 26 January 2011, when the last bit of ivy was removed, revealing the centre window bay and the east side of the tank. The ivy had in fact done almost no damage at all, so good is the pointing. It was almost dark by the time the north end was totally clear of ivy so pictures of that will appear later.
The unevenly spaced square holes are ventillators that go right through to the inside of the tower. Perhaps these were fitted after the tower was built in an effort to lessen the condensation that afflicts all water towers of this type. They do little for the otherwise fine details of the walls and windows and should be needed no longer.