Events held to mark 120th anniversary of Elan Valley dams

Elan Valley has arranged an event this Bank Holiday to celebrate the 120th Anniversary of the official opening of the dams – as many around Wales remember their clearances to provide water for Birmingham.

Elan Valley is a renowned area in mid Wales known for its stunning landscapes, rich history, and remarkable engineering heritage.

The valley is home to a series of dams and reservoirs that have provided water to Birmingham for over a century, making it a vital part of the region’s history and development.

Events

On Saturday 24 August, guided coach tours uncover the history and breathtaking landscapes of the stunning mid Wales estate.

The first tour departs at 10:00am and concludes at midday, with a second tour running from 1:30pm to 3:30pm. Each tour includes a knowledgeable guide, a special viewing inside Pen y Garreg Dam, a cream tea, free parking, and a complimentary cupcake for the first 120 visitors.

This opportunity to explore one of mid Wales’ most iconic landmarks costs £20 per person and is perfect for history enthusiasts, nature lovers, or simply those looking for a fun and enriching weekend activity.

The ‘celebration’ continues throughout the weekend with Bank Holiday pop-up stalls on both Saturday, 24 August, and Sunday, 25 August from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

This array of stalls will feature Welsh artisans proudly showcasing their creativity in food, drink, arts and crafts.

Further information about the tour and pop-up market may be found here.

Elan Valley offers a range of activities for the whole family. Visitors can hire bikes (or bring their own) to explore nine scenic trails, take walks in historic landscapes or enjoy a drink and cake at the café.

Brutal history

Whilst offering breathtaking views for visitors today, the Elan valley is an area with a controversial place in Welsh history owing to its formation, most notably the clearances that occurred in order to create the dams that supply water to Birmingham.

Jon Gower reviewed a landmark book titled The Elan Valley Clearance back in 2020 which goes into painstaking detail into the lost places and communities that, to this day, remain largely forgotten – with Tryweryn becoming an often sole-remembered figurehead of a process of Welsh resource extraction that continues to this day.

Jon wrote at the time: “The fate of Tryweryn, and the inundation of the Welsh speaking community at Capel Celyn to slake the city of Liverpool’s thirst for water is well known and the name reverberates even today.

“But the dispossessions in the catchments of the rivers Elan and Claerwen in mid Wales are much less known, or remarked upon, or mourned.

“David Lewis Brown in chronicling – as the cover blurb has it – “The fate of the people and places flooded by the 1892 Elan Valley Reservoir Scheme” reveals those tight threads of community which were frazzled or sometimes cut entirely when the rapidly-expanding city of Birmingham managed to get an Act of Parliament passed.

“It allowed it to tap the waters of the rivers Elan and Claerwen, flooding parts of their watersheds.

“The city swiftly bought over 45,000 acres of land and set about clearing remote, upland valleys where almost 300 men and women and children lived before the engineers moved in.”

Read more about David Lewis Brown’s book, The Elan Valley Clearance here.