Llyn Celyn
Encyclopedia
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
constructed between 1960 and 1965 in the valley of the River Tryweryn
Afon Tryweryn
For the flooding of the Tryweryn Valley, see Llyn Celyn.The Tryweryn is a river in north Wales which starts at Llyn Tryweryn in the Snowdonia National Park and after joins the river Dee at Bala. It is one of the main tributaries of the Dee and has been dammed to form Llyn Celyn...
in Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
, North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
. It measures roughly 2½ miles long by a mile wide, and has a maximum depth of 140 ft (42.7 m). It has the capacity to hold 71.2 mega litres of water.
It was originally to be named Llyn Tryweryn Mawr, but in September 1964 Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
Corporation agreed to the name change following a letter by the Tryweryn Defence Committee.
Construction and opposition
Construction of the reservoir involved flooding the village of Capel CelynCapel Celyn
Capel Celyn was a rural community to the north west of Bala in Gwynedd, north Wales, in the Afon Tryweryn valley. The village and other parts of the valley were flooded to create a reservoir, Llyn Celyn, in order to supply Liverpool and The Wirral with water for industry...
and adjacent farmland, a deeply controversial move. Much of the opposition was bought about because the village was a strong-hold of Welsh culture
Culture of Wales
Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music.Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek and daffodil. The Welsh words for leeks and daffodils Wales has a distinctive culture including...
and the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, whilst the reservoir was being built to supply Liverpool and parts of the Wirral
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 311,200, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, Heswall, Hoylake and West Kirby. The city of...
with water, rather than Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The legislation enabling the development was also passed despite the opposition of 35 out of 36 Welsh Members of Parliament, with the 36th not voting. This led to an increase in support for the Welsh nationalist
Welsh nationalism
Welsh nationalism emphasises the distinctiveness of Welsh language, culture, and history, and calls for more self-determination for Wales, which may include more Devolved powers for the Welsh Assembly or full independence from the United Kingdom.-Conquest:...
party, Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
, in the late 1950s and gave fresh impetus to Welsh devolution.
Although many doubted the need of having an official opening, this took place on 21 October, 1965. Representatives came from Liverpool council, and invitations were sent to all those with family links to the valley. In view of the anticipated protest, there was a strong police presence. The ceremony in fact lasted less than 3 minutes, for protesters had cut the microphone wires, and the chants of the hundreds of protesters made the speeches inaudible.
In October 2005, Liverpool City Council passed a public apology for the incident.
The full statement reads -
Operation of reservoir
River Dee, Wales
The River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries....
, so that drinking water could be abstracted further downstream as part of the regulation Scheme. These abstractions include one at Huntington water treatment works Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
operated by North West Water
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
, which supplies water to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and the Wirral.
The reservoir is contained behind a rock gravity dam and, at its upper end, it runs between Arenig Fawr
Arenig Fawr
Arenig Fawr is a mountain located in Snowdonia, North Wales. The mountain, which is the largest in the area, lies close to Llyn Celyn reservoir alongside the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala.-Location:...
and Arenig Fach
Arenig Fach
Arenig Fach is a mountain in southern Snowdonia, north Wales. It is a peak in the Arenig range and lies to the north of its parent peak Arenig Fawr.It lies close to Llyn Celyn alongside the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala...
, two of the mountains of south Snowdonia
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
.
Water is released from the reservoir into the River Tryweryn which flows into the River Dee. Most of the water passes through a small hydro-electricity plant to supply green electricity to the National Grid. The released water first flows into a stilling basin and then down the narrow and rocky valley of the River Tryweryn. This section of the river provides facilities for international level white-water canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
, and rafting
Rafting
Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...
at the Canolfan Tryweryn
Canolfan Tryweryn
Canolfan Tryweryn is the National White Water Centre for Wales, and is based near Bala in North Wales. It developed the first commercial white water rafting operation in the UK in 1986, and since then has grown to become the largest and most well-respected rafting organisation in the UK...
National White-water Centre. Some water in the reservoir is held in reserve to make special release down the river for specific white-water
Whitewater
Whitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...
events. Because the reservoir's principal purpose is to support low river flows in the main River Dee, the best conditions for white-water occur during long dry spells in summer when maximum releases are made. Usually the dam will release between 9 and 11 m³/s although releases as low as 2 m³/s and as high as 16 m³/s have been known. During wet weather the releases are throttled back to a minimal maintenance flow.
Diversions/closures of transport links
The building of the reservoir also contributed to the final closure of the GWRGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
branch line from Bala to Blaenau Ffestiniog
Bala Ffestiniog Line
The Bala and Ffestiniog Railway was a , standard gauge, railway backed by the Great Western Railway railway in North Wales which connected Bala with Blaenau Ffestiniog.- History :...
. Passenger trains had ceased running in 1960, and the last freight train ran in 1961. The line was subsequently flooded by the lake, and the base of the dam also crosses it. Liverpool Council had in fact planned a railway diversion, but this was never built as the British Transport Commission had decided to close the line. As a result of this, Liverpool Council decided to contribute towards the cost of the new main road (the A4212
A4212 road
The A4212 is a 17 mile road between Bala and Trawsfynydd in North Wales, by way of a 401m summit at Llyn Tryweryn. There are many straight sections on this road and only one short 40mph speed limit at Frongoch...
, which was built across the pass from Bala to Trawsfynydd
Trawsfynydd
Trawsfynydd is a village in Gwynedd, North Wales, adjacent to the A470 north of Dolgellau near Blaenau Ffestiniog....
around the north side of the lake), and also towards the cost of a line linking the two stations in Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It has a population of 5,000, including Llan Ffestiniog, which makes it the third largest town in Gwynedd, behind Caernarfon & Porthmadog. Although the population reached 12,000 at the peak of the slate industry, the population fell due to...
.