Llyn Celyn
Location	North Wales
Lake type	reservoir
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Max. North Wales (Gogledd Cymru is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales and to the east by England. A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the A reservoir is most broadly a place or hollow vessel where Fluid is kept in Reserve, for later use A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, length	2. 5 mi (4. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States 0 km)
Max. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand depth	140 ft (43 m)

Tryweryn memorial chapel at Llyn Celyn

Tree stumps exposed by low water level of reservoir

Remember Tryweryn - famous graffiti

Llyn Celyn is a large reservoir constructed between 1960 and 1965 in the valley of the River Tryweryn in North Wales. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A reservoir is most broadly a place or hollow vessel where Fluid is kept in Reserve, for later use For the flooding of the Tryweryn Valley see Llyn Celyn. The Tryweryn is a River in north Wales which starts at Llyn Tryweryn in North Wales (Gogledd Cymru is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales and to the east by England. It measures roughly 2½ miles long by a mile wide, and has a maximum depth of 140 ft. It has the capacity to hold 71. 2 billion litres of water. ^[1]

It was originally to be called Llyn Tryweryn Mawr, but in September 1964 Liverpool Corporation agreed to the name change following a letter by the Tryweryn Defence Committee. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary ^[2]

Construction and opposition

Construction of the reservoir involved flooding the village of Capel Celyn and adjacent farmland, a deeply controversial move. Capel Celyn (Holly Chapel was a rural community to the north west of Bala in north Wales, in the Afon Tryweryn Valley that was flooded to create a Much of the anger was occasioned because the village was a strong-hold of Welsh culture and the Welsh language, whilst the reservoir was being built to supply Liverpool and parts of the Wirral with water, rather than Wales. Wales has a distinctive Culture including its own language, customs Holidays and Music. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic Wirral or The Wirral (ˈwɪrəl is a Metropolitan borough in Merseyside, North West England, which occupies the northern 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. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. This led to an increase in support for the Welsh Nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, in the late 1950s and gave fresh impetus to Welsh devolution. Plaid Cymru (plaɪd ˈkəmri The Party of Wales often referred to simply as Plaid) is a Political party in Wales.

Although many doubted the wisdom of having an official opening, this took place on 21st 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 [1].

The full statement reads -

Operation of reservoir

The reservoir was constructed in order to support the water abstractions from the River Dee as part of the River Dee regulation system, including the abstraction by North West Water at Huntington water treatment works, Chester, from where water is supplied to Liverpool and the Wirral. The River Dee ( Welsh: Afon Dyfrdwy) is a 70-mile-long (110 km River. The water demands of North West England including Liverpool and the Wirral far exceed the locally available sources of clean water United Utilities (UU ( is a British utility company with its headquarters in Warrington which operates mainly in the North West England Chester is the County town of Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77040 Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Wirral or the Wirral (ˈwɪrəl is a Peninsula in the north west of England. The reservoir is contained behind a rock gravity dam and, at its upper end, it is squeezed between Arenig Fawr and Arenig Fach, two of the mountains of south Snowdonia. A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees Arenig Fawr is a Mountain in southern Snowdonia, north Wales. Snowdonia (Eryri is a region of North Wales and a National park of in area

Water is released from the reservoir into the River Tryweryn which then flows into the River Dee. For the flooding of the Tryweryn Valley see Llyn Celyn. The Tryweryn is a River in north Wales which starts at Llyn Tryweryn in Most releases pass through a small hydro-electricity plant to supply green electricity to the National grid. Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water The released water first flows into a stilling basin and then down the narrow and rocky valley of the River Tryweryn. This section of river provides facilities for international level white-water canoeing, and rafting at the Canolfan Tryweryn National White-water Centre. Canoeing is the activity of paddling a Canoe for the purpose of recreation (also called a float trip Sport, or transportation. Rafting or whitewater rafting is a challenging recreational activity utilizing a Raft to navigate a River or other bodies of water Canolfan Tryweryn ( is the National White Water Centre for Wales and is based near Bala in North Wales Some water in the reservoir is held in reserve to make special release down the river for specific white-water events. Whitewater is formed in a Rapid, when a River 's gradient drops enough to disturb its Laminar flow and create Turbulence, i 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 7 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 GWR branch line from Bala to Blaenau Ffestiniog [2]. The Great Western Railway ( GWR) was a British railway company and a notable example of Civil engineering, linking London with the West Passenger trains had ceased 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, which was built across the pass from Bala to Trawsfynydd around the north side of the lake), and also towards the cost of a line linking the two stations in Blaenau Ffestiniog. The A4212 is a 17 mile road between Bala (Y Bala and Trawsfynydd in North Wales, by way of a 401m (1316 ft Trawsfynydd ( Welsh: "across mountain") is a Village in North Wales, adjacent to the A470 north of Dolgellau Blaenau Ffestiniog is a small Town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales.

See also

• Capel Celyn
• Tryweryn Bill
• Afon Tryweryn
• Canolfan Tryweryn

References

1. ^ National Library of Wales page, "Celyn lake held a capacity of 71,200 mega litres of water, the biggest dam in Wales"
2. ^ Capel Celyn, Ten Years of Destruction: 1955 - 1965, by Einion Thomas, published by Cyhoeddiadau Barddas & Gwynedd Council, 2007, ISBN 978 1 900437 92 9

External links

• Abandoned communities ..... Llyn Celyn