The reservoir built in the 1880s by the Liverpool Corporation Waterworks to supply Liverpool with fresh water. Today the land that surrounds the reservoir is managed jointly by the RSPB, and Severn Trent Water. The reserve management is ongoing with areas of broad-leaf woodland being developed, and fields and surrounding wall being restored to the way they were.
We arrived on the road that drives over the dam. Pulling into the car park it was clear that everything was closed, so we parked and went for a walk to the dam to view the reservoir.
The dam was the first stone built dam in the United Kingdom, and is built partly out of great blocks of Welsh slate. The dam itself is 45 metres high, and 37 metres metres thick at the base. The road bridge on the top of the dam is 355 ,metres long. It is decorated with over 25 arches and has two small towers.
Looking down stream from the dam the river Vyrnwy trickles slowly from the base of the dam, with pools forming in places. The flow of water being managed by the amount allowed over the top of the dam.
Vyrnwy was the first dam to carry water over its crest
instead of in a channel at the side. At the bottom of the dam is a body of
water known as a stilling basin; this is necessary to absorb the energy
when the water flows over the crest and into the valley, and to stop the water
eroding the foundations of the dam.
Looking across the reservoir from the other side of the dam you can see the reservoir's straining tower.
I think it was this feature shown in many photographs of the reservoir that attracted me to the place. The straining tower's function is to filter or strain out material in the water with a fine metal mesh, before the water flows along the aqueduct to Liverpool. Its architecture represents Gothic revival, built at the same time as the dam. The tower as a whole is 47 metres tall, 32 metres of which is above top water level and is topped with a pointed copper-clad roof, coloured light green.
The water from Lake Vyrnwy is carried 68 miles to Liverpool
in the Vyrnwy Large Diameter Trunk Main aqueduct. The original aqueducts were constructed
between 1881-92. It crosses the valley floor near Penybontfawr and then runs
north of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant and Efail-rhyd on the north-east of
the Tanat Valley. The aqueducts are largely underground although there are
some visible surface features including air valves.
After a cup of coffee and a tea cake we set off to walk some of the trails. To say the walk was bird less as we had been warned the day before was not strickly true. A Dipper called from somewhere along the river, and Willow Warbler sang in the trees. I managed to see a female Pied Flycatcher, and there was the call of a distant Cuckoo, but aside from that we saw little in the way of birds.
What we did get though was some lovely views of the reservoir and dam as we climbed the sides of the valley.
In the second photograph you can see that the flow form the reservoir has increased from when we first arrived.
Sheep were everywhere, and where there are sheep at this time of year then there has to be lambs, and we came across this group of lambs that were having a wonderful time running around together and jumping in the bales of hay and straw.
A little further on and another view of the reservoir.
The reservoir is Severn Trent Water's largest. When full, it
is 26 metres (84 ft) deep and covers an area of 4.54 square kilometres
(1,121 acres), the equivalent of around 600 football pitches. It’s
perimeter is of 19 kilometres or 12 miles with a road that goes all
the way around it.
The reservoir was created when the constructed dam flooded
the head of the Vyrnwy valley and submerged the village of Llanwddyn.
Pictures of before the flooding and the construction of the dam can be seen in
the cafe in the upper car park
The valley was chosen because of its size, favourable geology
and its source, the River Vyrnwy, has a large water catchment area.
The river is 63.9 kilometres (39.7 mi). It now flows from the dam
into Shropshire where it converges with the River Severn near
the village of Melverley on the Welsh border. The final ouflow is
into the Bristol Channel.
In order to create the reservoir The Liverpool Corporation had
to purchase about ten farms and the village of Llanwddyn. A place called
Llanwddyn exists today, just below the dam. It comprises some of the houses
into which residents of the original village were moved. The old village,
however, lay a couple of hundred yards south of the point where the river Cedig
now enters the lake. The village consisted of a church and two chapels, three
pubs, at least two shops, one of which contained a post office, and about 37
houses.
It appears that no formal consultation was carried out among
the people of Llanwddyn, but the presence of engineers, surveyors and other
visitors would have left them in no doubt about the intentions of the Liverpool
corporation. A petition expressing opposition was organised. 331 signatures
were collected, and the petition was submitted to the local member of
parliament. In addition, 31 objections to the bill were lodged in parliament by
various organisations and landowners. These objections, however, were not on
behalf of the people who would have to leave their homes, but related to the
anticipated reduction in water flowing down the Vyrnwy and the Severn or to the
effects of the construction of the aqueduct. Regardless the reservoir and dam was built, and somewhere beneath the inky black water lies the buildings that were once the village of Llanwddyn.
My hope was that by taking an unclassified road off the perimeter road towards Dinas Mawddwy that goes through the Bwlch y Goes pass would deliver some mmorland birds. The road a single track wound upwards, and a Wheatear on the fence just past the farm buildings where the recommended viewing point is led us to pull over and have lunch. However in the whole time here a single Meadow Pipit was all we had to show for the time.
Bwlch y Groes (the Pass of the Cross) is the second
highest public road mountain pass in Wales, with a summit
altitude of 545 metres about 1,788 ft.
A cross, just below the summit at the junction of the roads from Vyrnwy
and from Dinas Mawddwy, commemorates the place of the pass on a pilgrim route
from north Wales to Sta David’s in Pembrokeshire.
In between the wars the road was used by Austin and Triumph to test motor cars, as well as the British world beating motor cycle companies. Several motor bikes passed us, and we came across several cyclists emulating the route of the old Milk Race.
Despite the overcast conditions the view at the top was quite spectacular, if a little bird less
Coming back down we circumnavigated Lake Bala before heading back to Aberystwyth. Like Vyrnwy, the lake was empty of birds.
Back at the apartment we decided to take the walk into Aberystwyth, Helen wanted an ice cream and as a seaside town it seemed the best place to go to get one. We headed down to the beach where almost immediately we came across a male Wheatear on the beach.
As is usually the case with Wheatear, you try to get a little closer and they fly off, not too far, but far enough to make you try and get as close again. The next stop for this one was in amongst the thrift and grass leaves, with the sea in the background. The bird ever watchful for anything threatening from above
I followed it again, and my efforts in trying to catch it in amongst the pink thrift resulted in this.
A little further on it sat up again on another boulder on the beach.
From the beach we followed the river as it flowed on to the sea. Movement on the rocks by the edge of the water made me think of possibly Dipper again, but when I managed to find the bird it was a Common Sandpiper. I had missed the opportunity to photograph the only other one I had seen this weekend on Friday, so it was good to finally get the chance here.
Locally we see them on the muddy fringes of pools, lakes and lagoons, and it is always a challenge to remember that they also in habitat the fast flowing rivers and streams in the mountainous areas much like the Dipper.
There was in fact two birds present.
We made it into Aberystwyth, and aside from the ice cream it was a little depressing, dark welsh slate buildings on an overcast day is not very uplifting at the best of times but I do think it would take a lot more than sunshine to lift this place.
We made our way back the way we had come, disturbing not just one Wheatear this time but two, a pair in fact. Back at the apartment we decided to walk down the path to the bridge once again. We stood waiting on the bridge, but only had the fleeting of glimpses as one Dipper flew fast into what can only be a nest site under the bride. I searched but despite finding several suitable spots there was no sign of the bird.
We walked back to the apartment with the sunshine returning, this delivered yet another spectacular sunset. This brought our visit to an end, we had been very lucky with the weather with plenty of sunshine and dry conditions despite the cold air. The scenery has been wonderful, and even though I missed out on the opportunity to photograph all the birds I wanted to see it has been a lovely trip. We set off early the next morning home, another four hour drive
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