Baitings Reservoir

Baitings Reservoir is a large water supply reservoir operated by Yorkshire Water close to Ripponden in the West Yorkshire Pennines. It lies in the valley of the River Ryburn and is the higher of two reservoirs built to supply Wakefield with water and was completed in 1956.[1] The lower reservoir is Ryburn Reservoir.

Baitings Reservoir

Baitings Reservoir

Baitings Reservoir

Ryburn Reservoir

12 Comments CherryPie on Mar 12th 2019

12 Responses to “Baitings Reservoir”

  1. Hels says:

    I don’t suppose adequate rainfall is normally a problem in the UK, but drought seems to be rampant in large parts of the world. Baitings Reservoir looks as though it has plenty of water, thankfully.

    Glad you mentioned Wakefield. I was not familiar with the town until, as an undergraduate, we were introduced to the medieval mystery plays. Wakefield was one of only 4 British towns where the mystery play survived!

    • CherryPie says:

      The water level was quite scary, you can see the partly submerged trees. Standing on top of the dam with the water overflowing and the wind howling puts in to perspective how we are at the mercy of nature.

  2. lisl says:

    It looks bleak there this time of year, Cherie. Perhaps you didn’t linger?

  3. Astrid says:

    I agree with “Hels”. Nowadays we need to have these reservoirs. Also in the Netherlands they are also designing new places to make big reservoirs. Our ground-water-level is till 10 inches short of what it should be and a longer period without rain is about to start next week again :( …..

    • CherryPie says:

      This dam was overflowing unlike the ones we visited in the Elan Valley last year. There the water levels were very low due to the long hot summer we were experiencing.

  4. He he… Interesting place name!
    Tell us more about this place.

  5. Andrew Scott says:

    The end of the poignant plaque is what caught my attention most; plus the nice image of the very full reservoir immediately below it.

    • CherryPie says:

      The memoriam part of the plaque caught my attention too. That is why I shared the image of the plaque even though as a photograph it is not inspiring.

  6. It looks a bleak day but love your photos of the dam and reservoir. The words on the plaque are poignant.

    • CherryPie says:

      Yes the words are poignant. Seeing the water at that high level caused me to think of the power of nature and caused me to feel a vulnerable even though I knew the dam was sound and sturdy.