This is Llyn Celyn, photographed in August, which has been in the UK news recently. The reservoir, constructed in the early 1960s, was built to regulate the flow of the River Dee so that water could be extracted for drinking water for the City of Liverpool. The construction involved flooding the village of Capel Celyn, which unsurprisingly resulted in protests, but nevertheless the resevoie was opened on 21st October 1965, 50 years ago. When we visited we were not aware of the history, and certainly didn’t see any information about the story at the dam. To us it was just a peaceful beauty spot. Maybe we missed an information board in the dusk.
Beautiful setting and light. Progress? It has happened like that in NZ when the town of Cromwell and surrounding gorge orchard got flooded as Clyde dam was built.
I think there's a small info board at the chapel built to replace the one drowned with the village and to provide a home for its graves, and I suppose to provide a kind of memorial to the village itself.
It's impossible to overstate the importance of this place in the Welsh national(ist) consciousness, but not many outside Wales know the story -- though it was part of the plot of the 2010 film "Patagonia".
It's impossible to overstate the importance of this place in the Welsh national(ist) consciousness, but not many outside Wales know the story -- though it was part of the plot of the 2010 film "Patagonia".
It also has a place in the history of Quakerism. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capel_Celyn