Pen-y-Gareg Dam,Elan Valley
© Karen Lee (view gallery)
Pen-Y-Gareg is the middle dam. The masonry pegs jutting out from the face of the dam wall were originally used to support the timbers carrying the railtrack, built to get the large stones to the top of the dam.
This dam is unusual in that it has an access tunnel to the central tower which is lit by apertures in the side of the dam running along the top Image cannot be loaded
Claerwen Dam, Elan Valley
© Karen Lee (view gallery)
Claerwen Dam is the largest of the dams. Building started at the end of the second world war, took six years to complete and a workforce of 470. It is 184 ft (56 m) high and 1167 ft (355 m) long. The dam was designed to look like the much older structures nearby, built in concrete; the huge dam was faced with dressed stone. Image cannot be loaded
Claerwen Dam, Elan Valley
© Karen Lee (view gallery)
Claerwen Dam is the largest of the dams. Building started at the end of the second world war, took six years to complete and a workforce of 470. It is 184 ft (56 m) high and 1167 ft (355 m) long. The dam was designed to look like the much older structures nearby, built in concrete; the huge dam was faced with dressed stone. Image cannot be loaded
Caban Coch Reservoir in the Elan Valley
© Karen Lee (view gallery)
The Elan Valley Reservoirs are lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers in Mid Wales . The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation water Department to provide clean drinking water for Birmingham in the West Midlands. The area of the 5 reservoirs measures 9 miles (14.5 km) from west to east and around 6.5 miles (10.5 km) from north to south. It was thirteen years from 1893 to 1906 to complete four of the dams and Over 50,000 men were employed on the construction sites. Image cannot be loaded
Garreg Ddu Dam, sunset
© David James (view gallery)
A low, completely submerged dam, the Garreg Ddu maintains a constant supply of water to Birmingham by retaining water on the upstream side so that water can be extracted at the Foel Tower to allow gravity feed. Construction started on the dam in 1895 and it was completed in 1904. Of note is the Victorian styling. 
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Shelley Sculpture, Elan Visitors Centre
© Karen Lee (view gallery)
On the bank of the River Elan, downstream from Caban Coch dam is a sculpture of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, he stayed in the Elan Valley for several weeks in 1811 and 1812 as a guest of his Uncle at Cwm Elan house. The sculpture is inspired by the drama, ‘Prometheus Unbound’ by Shelley. Image cannot be loaded
Careg-Ddu Dam and Foel Tower,Elan Valley
© Karen Lee (view gallery)
Careg-Ddu is in the lower Elan valley. It serves a dual purpose, it is a low, completely submerged dam and it also carries the road to the neighbouring valley when the original road was flooded. Cwm Elan House and its Ten thousand acres where the Poet Shelley was a house guest now lies at the bottom of the reservoir
The Foel Tower is the starting point of the 73 mile journey of the water from the Elan Valley to Birmingham. It was built in a Baroque style .
The Tower houses a system of valves and cylinders which can be raised and lowered hydraulically to draw water off from the reservoir, this water is then directed to pipes and is carried by gravity, pumping is not required because the network drops 52 metres (171 ft) along its 73 miles (117) km, a gradient of 1:2300 maintains a flow of less than 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h); water takes one-and-a-half days to reach Birmingham. Image cannot be loaded
Nantgwyllt church in the Elan Valley
© Karen Lee (view gallery)
On the bank of Gareg-Ddu reservoir the Victorian church built at the end of the 19th century by Birmingham Corporation to replace the small 16th century chapel that was flooded in the reservoir. Image cannot be loaded
Claerwen Dam, Elan Valley
© David James (view gallery)
The Claerwen dam is the highest of the Elan Valley dams. Outflow water runs along the valley to feed the Caban Coch reservoir, further down. The dam took six years to complete and is twice the size of any other of the dams in the Elan Valley. Although it was completed in 1952, it was designed in a Victorian style to blend in with the other dams in the valley. The expanse of upland between Rhayader and Pontrhydfendigaid is a designated National Nature Reserve. This viewpoint is looking down from the top of the dam. Image cannot be loaded
Pen y Garreg reservoir
© David James (view gallery)
A low, completely submerged dam, the Garreg Ddu maintains a constant supply of water to Birmingham by retaining water on the upstream side so that water can be extracted at the Foel Tower to allow gravity feed. Construction started on the dam in 1895 and it was completed in 1904. This is the reservoir above the dam. Image cannot be loaded
River Elan at Ar Elan bridge, sunset
© David James (view gallery)
The River Elan at Pont ar Elan at Ar Elan bridge, sunset. This viewpoint is at the junction of the reservoirs road and the mountain road to Aberystwyth. From here, the river flows into the first of the Elan Valley reservoirs, Craig Goch. Image cannot be loaded
Claerwen waterfall
© David James (view gallery)
The Claerwen reservoir is the highest of the Elan Valley lakes and was the last to be completed. Outflow water runs along the valley to feed the Caban Coch reservoir, further down. The dam took six years to complete and was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1952. It was designed in a Victorian style to blend in with the other dams in the Elan Valley. This viewpoint is looking up the valley in the direction of the dam. The expanse of upland between Rhayader and Pontrhydfendigaid is a designated National Nature Reserve. Image cannot be loaded
A Slideshow of Rhayader, in the county of Powys
