Elan Valley Reservoirs

The Elan Valley Reservoirs in mid-Wales are the source of Birmingham’s water supply, and seeing them so low was somewhat disturbing.

There are four main dams on the Elan estate, of which this is the one known as Craig Goch.

The picture above shows what the Craig Goch Reservoir is meant to look like, but when I arrived in May it was very different.

I discovered later that they had drained the reservoir for maintenance, but because it had been a very dry spring (the driest in 70 years), it hadn’t filled up again.

The building of the dams, which caused the reservoirs was started in 1893 to supply water to Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Water from the reservoirs is carried by gravity to the Frankley Reservoir in Birmingham via the Elan aqueduct. Pumping is not required because the flow drops 52 metres along its 73 mile length.

Elan Aquaduct

By Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13910820

Dam Busters
In 1942, the Nant-y-Gro dam, which had been originally built to provide water for the navvies’ village, was used by Barnes Wallis to prove his theory that an underwater explosion could collapse a dam wall

Model of Elan Valley Reservoirs

In Canon Hill Park, in Birmingham, tucked away in a corner behind a lake (near the MAC), there is a model of the Elan Reservoirs.
Sadly, it is in a poor state of repair, but it is still a good testament to the effort that has been made (and is still being made) to get a reliable water supply to Birmingham.

Rhayader

Elan village is near the market town of Rhayader.
A friend said I should visit The Triangle Inn however it didn’t open till 6.00 pm so I found The Eagle instead.
I had a very nice pie and chips for lunch and a pint of Butty Bach. After lunch I explored the picturesque River Wye which runs close to the pub.