As part of the 'You oughta see the water' series of caches you
will visit lakes and water features that are all interconnected and
together, drain over 60 square kilometres of land to provide water
for consumption and water for production of electricity!
It is the dam (remains of) that burst in 1925 sending a deluge
of water down to the town of Dolgarrog causing a loss of 17 lives.
The dam was built to store water for the power station down in
Dolgarrog. The lake receives water from the back of the cwm (Welsh
for a valley with a dead-end) and from a tunnel that carries water
from Dulyn. Water then leaves Eigiau via another tunnel to Llyn
Cowlyd. The cache is actually located close to a ventilation tower
for this tunnel. You can hear the water rushing through, far below.
In times of excess rain, the water can also go down its original
natural water course, the Afon Porth-Llwyd.
There were complaints of shoddy building practices for the dam
and weak foundations. The foundations were not deep enough and
indeed, it was the foundations that failed with water going through
the peat and under the dam and literally washing the dam away from
under itself. The big gap in the dam wall with the remains of the
brick lined outflow tunnel clear visible is the site of the main
dam failure.
When re hiding the cache with the rocks, please place the lichen
and moss on the outside to make it look more natural. One last
request, please place the cache upside down so if water gets in, it
can drain out again.
Parking is available at N53 10.717 W3 53.970.
Ignore the blurb on the front page of the book about
providing you with co-ords for the next cache. You Oughta See the
Water was originally being planned out as pyramid scheme. But I
changed my mind.
The caches in the entire series are below.
You Oughta See the Water - Ffynnon Llugwy
You Oughta See the Water - Dolgarrog Dam Disaster
You Oughta See the Water - Cowlyd - Rear View
You Oughta See the Water - Cowlyd - Front View
You Oughta See the Water - Coedty Reservoir
You Oughta See the Water - Llyn Melyn
You Oughta See the Water - Llyn Eigiau
You Oughta See the Water - Dulyn
You Oughta See the Water - Ffynnon Llyfant