The Elan Valley is a place of childhood memories. As a family we visited often at the end of the school  holidays just as the trees were turning to shades of autumn. It has been on our wish list (Mr C and I) as a place to visit for over 20 years. On the occasion of Mr C’s birthday this year we finally made the trip.

On our arrival, we found that the cafe in the valley was closed for refurbishment so we had to venture back to the nearest town, Rhayader, for lunch. Mr C chose the cafe and as we entered I wondered why we weren’t going into the pretty tea shop we had noticed as we drove through the town. I didn’t say anything; it was his birthday.

We enjoyed sandwiches freshly made to order and there were some delicious cakes on offer although we chose not to indulge. After we left the cafe we went for a brief walk in the town and Mr C noticed the pretty tea shop and realised that we had eaten in a different place than he intended. Later in the day we found out that we had had a lucky lunchtime escape. The food and service was much better in the unassuming cafe where we had lunched.

After lunch we returned to the extremely windy Elan Valley to explore the various dams. I was reminded of a childhood memory of a family picnic on a Welsh hillside where it was so windy that our food blew off the plates!

I insisted that Mr C took a detour to see the Claerwen dam and reservoir. As a child I found the immense size of the damn breathtaking and due to the amounts of water a little scary too. Mr C was astounded by the dam in the same way that I was when I first saw it. The structure still amazes me to this day, as does the immense expanse of water behind the dam.

Next, as we drove from the valley towards the town of Rhayader we were treated to a wonderful sight; looking down on Red Kites gliding in flight rather than seeing them from below. It was amazing!

We stopped in Rhayader for a cup of tea in the pretty tea shop before we continued our journey homeward and found ourselves treated to another spectacle; I noticed a Hercules flying directly towards the car, at my eye level. Just as I started to point it out to Mr C, he jumped in his car seat as he noticed it for himself. In the blink of an eye the plane flew out of sight.

This incident reminded me of another childhood memory; a family picnic in the Elan Valley. My mum, dad, brother and I were sitting at a picnic bench underneath (i think) Pen-Y-Gareg. The water level was higher than on my recent visit so the water was cascading over the dam. The picnic had been unpacked and my dad (with his back to the dam) was pouring soup into a dish.

I pointed as I saw two planes emerging from just above the dam. The sound of them kicked in, causing my dad to jump and spill the hot soup. The view of the aircraft and their noise above the water was stunning!

Later in the day we enjoyed fine dining (chicken cordon bleu) on the patio as the sun went down.

Craig Goch

Craig Goch, the highest upstream of the series of dams in the Elan Valley, is often referred to as the ‘top dam’. It is located at a height of 1040 feet (317m) above sea level. As with all the dams, work started with the arrival of the railway line at the site. In the case of the top dam the line had the  farthest to go and a rocky outcrop had to be blasted and dug through on the route to the site.**

Gareg Ddu

Garreg Ddu Dam in the lower Elan Valley serves a dual role. It is a low, completely submerged dam which plays a vital role in maintaining a constant supply of water to Birmingham. It also supports masonry pillars carrying the access roadway to the neighbouring valley of the River Claerwen.**

Pen-Y-Gareg Reservoir

Total capacity 1.320,000,000 gallons. Top area 124 acres. Top water level 945 feet above ordnance datum. Height of dam above river be 123 feet. Depth of foundations below river bed 17 feet. Length of weir 417 feet 6 inches. Thickness of dam at base 115 feet 4 inches. Estimated quantity of masonry 90,372 cubic yards.*

Caban Coch Reservoir

Total capacity 8,000,000,000 gallons. Top water level 822 feet above ordnance datum. Height of dam above river bed 122 feet. Length of the weir 566 feet. Thickness of dam at base 122 feet 6 inches. Estimated quantity of masonry 144,800 cubic yards.

Total area of watershed 45,562 acres.*

Claerwen Reservoir

This mass concrete dam, 240 feet maximum height from foundation to roadway level with facings of masonry and blue brick, was built between September 1946 and October 1952 and forms a reservoir over four miles long with a top water area of 650 acres at 1.210 feet above ordnance datum. The total weight of materials used was 700.00 tons including 43,800 tons of gritstone, 173,000 tons of pit sand, 65,000 tons of cement and 18,000 tons of masonry. *

*info from signboard next to the dam

** info from the Elan Valley website

I revealed the first of those photographs as Pitchford Hall.

My next blog post will reveal the second location from that post. The photo above is a  second teaser to the second location…

I have just returned from a weekend mini break, meeting up with photographer friends, old and new

I have included a teaser photograph of our meet up location (it is a teaser for those not present at the meet up ).

I am currently in the middle of writing a detailed blog post which I hope to post in the next few days. The blog article is about a place I visited on one of my recent excursions.

But more importantly my mum is moving house and that is no small task, so I will be helping her with that over the next few days.

For now I will leave you with two teaser photographs of my most recent visits, including one that is the subject of the post I am in the process of writing.

No tags, I will add them later