In winter of 2000 Confluence set out to demonstrate that the world of taps and tubes, pipes and plumbers can be extremely versatile and fascinating. Karen Wimhurst brought together a number of local plumbers with wind players from the Shaftesbury and Sturminster Newton area to design and build brand new musical instruments out of the washers, pipes and gromits that are the plumber's stock in trade.

The invention and construction of new musical instruments was something the Confluence team had been waiting for an opportunity to explore, once appropriate framework and collaborators became clear. The Cowleys, a family of exceptional plumbers based in Sturminster Newton, provided the latter, and linked well with our desire to raise awareness of water conservation issues from the perspective of professional water-system engineers, and to bring to a wider audience the 'magic and mystery' of the plumbing world, further to demonstrate the intertwining of the river with a taken-for-granted part of our lives.

The resulting instruments were the Bog Horn, the Cool Calorifier, the Water Pipe, and the Down Pipes made by musicians Nick Crump and Duncan Sears as well as Karen, Sturminster Newton plumbers Peter and Robert Cowley and Tim Lacey, along with the Immersion beater, and a plumbing drum-kit devised by percussionist Andy Bennett with plumber Richard Brocklehurst. Common Ground offered ideas towards some of the instruments - Angela King and Sue Clifford devised maracas made from ballcocks...

Karen created a music theatre piece and composed the music for these new instruments, which was first performed at Sturminster Newton in March 2000, by Karen, Nick, Duncan, Andy and a saxophone quartet drawn from Young Blood, the Dorset youth jazz ensemble (John Henry Harris, Alam Nathoo, Elspeth Vine and Emma Wilkins) directed by Neill Crawford. The performance was framed by a tape track of gurgles, water drops and toilet flushes and readings inspired by James Joyce, Italo Calvino and others.

Further to reinforce the plumbing theme, a collection of plumbing artefacts lent by F.Cowley & Sons of Sturminster Newton were presented as part of the stage set designed by artist Peter Ursem. It was obvious that the 16 and 17 year old saxophonists enjoyed the challenge, Neill Crawford observed that the music which Karen had written challenged them to cross boundaries between jazz and classical music which they had not attempted before and says: "Congratulations for the Pipeworks concert. The students and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the event and the music was a total contrast to the style that we normally perform. I was particularly impressed with the professionalism of the administration team, whose promotion of the event was first class. I only wish that the Young Blood jazz orchestra had that level of expertise behind them".

Nick Crump comments: "There is no way I would have made a 'boghorn', a 'cylindriphone' or a set of tuned 'downpipes', if it wasn't for Confluence. I am proud of these achievements and they definitely have a use in entertainment and in education beyond the life of the project".Over a hundred people made themselves at home in the informal cabaret-style setting of Sturminster Hall to enjoy an evening described by the Blackmore Vale Magazine as 'a refreshingly witty musical reminder of how little we all know about how the water gets from the stream into our kitchen tap and back again'.The concert was given a rousing welcome by an audience of over 110 at its first performance in Sturminster Newton, described by Classic FM's Natalie Wheen as "the best piece of new music I have heard in my career".

The concert was also given as part of the day of activities in Blandford Forum gathering around Common Ground's Water Market on August 18th 2000. Andy Bennett was not available, so his percussion role was taken over with skill and professionalism by music student Emily Morris. The group came together on several more occasions to profile the instruments - in cabaret at the Wimborne and East Dorset Festival; in the courtyard of Stourhead gardens as part of Music at the Source; and in the final Confluence concert in Christchurch Priory.Whether appearing in the full show, or in musical excerpts, the Pipeworks ensemble never fails to enchant and entertain; in Christchurch Priory, the catchy All Cisterns Go, driven by a jaunty theme on the Down Pipes, spontaneously generated audience participation, as over 500 people joined in clapping to the beat.The ever inventive Nick Crump continues to develop new ideas for instruments to expand the ensemble, for example, the bottles used to bring tributary water to Christchurch Priory for The Confluence are being turned into an instrument using the bottles differentially filled with water. It is likely that Pipeworks will have a busy life after Confluence.