Elan Valley Dams

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TJJ
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Elan Valley Dams

Post by TJJ »

I spent a very enjoyable day yesterday exploring the Elan Valley near Rhayader, where a series of dams and reservoirs were constructed in the 19th century to supply Birmingham with water. The dams all have car parks, so it is straightforward to visit them all. The water levels were low in the reservoirs.

Caban-coch Dam and Reservoir

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The bridge which separates Caban-coch Reservoir and Garreg-ddu Reservoir and separate tower structure

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The spectacularly rocky river bed at the end of this reservoir and stone road bridge

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The Pengarreg Dam and Reservoir

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The most northerly of the reservoir chain is the Craig Goch Dam and Reservoir

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Separate from Caban-coch Reservoir is the Claerwen Dam and Reservoir to the west

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The Cerrig Cwplau Farm at the base of the dam

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The stream of the Afon Arbon goes from Claerwen to Caban-coch and has some nice waterfalls too visit

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speedbird2639
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Re: Elan Valley Dams

Post by speedbird2639 »

Great shots from a lovely part of the country.

The bridge which separates Caban-coch Reservoir and Garreg-ddu Reservoir is actually a submerged dam to ensure there is always a sufficient water level in the reservoir for the water to be extracted. In very dry periods it can be seen.

Pre Covid Severn Trent did open days at Pengarreg Dam and you could walk through the 'gallery' in the top of the dam and visit the cupula type structure in the middle of the dam. There were photos from the '80s showing a pre H&S era when the local 'fun run' competitors ran along the top of the dam!

All the dams apart from Claerwen Dam were served by a small railway system during construction to move materials and these are now a cycle route so you can cycle without having to worry about traffic (although the roads in the are generally very quiet anyway).

Severn Trent have a web site with the water levels of all their reservoirs if you wish to check before you travel. Obviously the best time to see the dams over flowing is at the end of Winter. They get 1800mm of rain in the Elan valley per annum.

Andyph
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Re: Elan Valley Dams

Post by Andyph »

Used to get a lot of fast jet traffic - Probably more front line than the Loop in the Cold War.

Seen a Buccaneer formation kicking up spray!

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psquiddy
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Re: Elan Valley Dams

Post by psquiddy »

It certainly is a lovely quiet part of the country.

I believe that dam is where Top Gear winched Richard Hammond down the wall in a car some years ago.
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FarnboroJohn
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Re: Elan Valley Dams

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Isn't that the valley where an old dam was blown up in a pre-Dams Raid trial?

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speedbird2639
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Re: Elan Valley Dams

Post by speedbird2639 »

FarnboroJohn wrote:
Sun 12 Jun 2022, 8:52 pm
Isn't that the valley where an old dam was blown up in a pre-Dams Raid trial?
Yes - https://www.elanvalleypastandpresent.co ... GroDam.php

Zoom
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Re: Elan Valley Dams

Post by Zoom »

A very informative programme about the whole project here, been to the valley several times and knew about its purpose but never thought about how the water got to Brum


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