The Building of the Leeds Infrastructure

String o' beads · Post by **String o' beads** » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 11:12 am

Jogon wrote: Any yorks water S.L. folk who could put in a word for me?Thruscross DamConstruction of Archive Photos of Don't say I never give you owt.http://www.panoramio.com/photo/15902770 ... o/15902751

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 12:08 pm

Geordie-exile wrote: Jogon wrote: Any yorks water S.L. folk who could put in a word for me?Thruscross DamConstruction of Archive Photos of Don't say I never give you owt.http://www.panoramio.com/photo/15902770 ... o/15902751 Very dramatic pictures Geordie and thank you. There are two more thumbnails in Michael Prior's collection which are worth seeing. One shows the beautiful West End Church before flooding, and the other a cottage with a pack horse bridge in the foreground - this is the bridge I used to drive the small school special coach over until days before the permanent village closure, and I returned during the unexpected 1995 drought to see and photograph the bridge again - and nearly lost my life doing so, but that's another very long story not for here.

String o' beads · Post by **String o' beads** » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 12:21 pm

I want to know the long story please.

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 1:03 pm

Blakey waiting with baited breath...

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 11:17 pm

Walking up the outflow valley from Blubberhouses car park to Rocking Hall, I'd always thought the warning signs about 'caution fast flowing {leeds}water' were a bit pussy.I'd never thought of the regular dam release dates, worth a visit and here's onehttp://youtu.be/5y6_RUZ_HnY

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 11:29 pm

Jogon wrote: Walking up the outflow valley from Blubberhouses car park to Rocking Hall, I'd always thought the warning signs about 'caution fast flowing {leeds}water' were a bit pussy.I'd never thought of the regular dam release dates, worth a visit and here's onehttp://youtu.be/5y6_RUZ_HnY Here's a video of the outflow (not the spillway) at Thruscross in full flow: http://snipurl.com/21ldugrkayaking was taking place then , hence the flooding of the river - under normal circumstances I doubt there would have been much more than a trickle at this time of year. It shows just how much water can be released on demand. There are also a few photos in the same thread if you fancy a look.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Sun 08 Jan, 2012 12:02 am

I thought this photo of water flowing down the overflows of the dam may be of interest (I took it on March 20 2006).I like walking in the Thruscross area but since I stopped using a car nearly 3 years back now I have never been back as it is not an area that is easy to get to without a car. There is an X59 bus from Harrogate that stops at Blubberhouses but it is not a convenient service having to come from Leeds to Harrogate to get the X59. Unless things have changed recently the first Monday to Friday bus from Harrogate is too early and the next is too late to go for anything other than a very short walk before the bus back needs to be caught.

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Sun 08 Jan, 2012 10:30 am

Leodian wrote: I thought this photo of water flowing down the overflows of the dam may be of interest (I took it on March 20 2006).I like walking in the Thruscross area but since I stopped using a car nearly 3 years back now I have never been back as it is not an area that is easy to get to without a car. There is an X59 bus from Harrogate that stops at Blubberhouses but it is not a convenient service having to come from Leeds to Harrogate to get the X59. Unless things have changed recently the first Monday to Friday bus from Harrogate is too early and the next is too late to go for anything other than a very short walk before the bus back needs to be caught. Nice pic - and I agree that the area is pretty inaccessible unless you go by car. The buses, perhaps unsurprisingly, seem set up just to get people between Harrogate and Skipton, with no thought to leisure traffic inbetween.I was up at Swinsty Reservoir last weekend and as we left you can see Thruscross briefly in the distance up the valley. Water was flowing over the spillway but I didn't have the time to drive all the way up there to grab a couple of pics....maybe next time!

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Sun 08 Jan, 2012 10:45 am

Geordie-exile wrote: I want to know the long story please. OK Geordie and Jogon, but I must try to keep it short as its only incidental really to this "construction" thread.In the unexpected drought of 1995, when the village was totally exposed again - an event never envisaged - the empty reservoir became a massive tourist attraction to the extent that Yorkshire Water were obliged to institute a one way traffic system round the nearby narrow lanes. What I would call minimal notices were erected round the basin, warning of the dangers to be avoided. Well, I was determined to get a picture of my pack horse bridge that I'd driven small coaches across and so I parked on the high car park and set off down armed with video camera and stout wellington boots. It was a fine dry summer day and the photo, identical place to one showing my coach in the last few days of the live village, was obtained easily - but my boots became very muddy and so I decided to very carefully wash them off in the tiny stream (all that remained of the mighty Leeds water supply). Gingerly, step by step, I tested the grass to within inches of the water and all seemed solid enough - till I was about to put one wellington in and my foot went straight down in invisible soft mud. By then my next step, naturally, was committed and that foot went even further, almost to the knee. Still not realising the critical danger I tried to pull out both feet and retreat, but every movement made me sink deeper and the grip of the slime was terrifying and by now the wellingtons were filling up. Quite a crowd gathered and were enjoying the spectacle - not maliciously but just unaware at first how bad things were. Quickly however my cries for help changed the mood and several eventually formed a chain to pull me out backwards - I'll be forever grateful to those folks, whose own clothes were well soiled in the effort, and one or two shouted "drop the camera" but I held on to it. One wellington remains at the bottom of the reservoir, trapped in the slime, to this day. Someone gave me a small wellington, split and discarded by a lady or child, with which to limp along.In my own defence - not that it would have been much use - I didn't embark on the waterside wellington exercise lightly or carelessly - I really did think that I'd ensured that the ground was firm enough.After a while I recovered sufficiently from the shock to complete the video of the ghost village, and very safely sat on some stepping stones to rinse the boots. Then I squelched my way back to the car where luckily I had a stack of newspapers in the boot. My trousers were filled inside to above the knees with the filthy mud and I had to line the car with papers until I got home. The trousers and the boots were of course discarded !!This was, I think, the nearest I've ever been to "the end" - there were no lookout or rescue facilities whatsoever within miles, and if I'd been alone or those wonderful folks hadn't sprung into action I don't think I'd be writing this now. A further very sobering thought - as I have no relatives its vital that my will is always kept up to date and accurate, and that very morning I'd been at the solicitors drafting some most important alterations - the revisions of course were not yet signed and were not in force so would have been lost if ......................... Sorry I couldn't keep this account any shorter but I've done my best.

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Sun 08 Jan, 2012 11:23 am

BlakeyBet that was good for you.Sort 'o confessional, you'll sleep easier for sharing it.I like the mental image of you discarding trousers and boots then driving home and shocking the neighbours upon exiting car.Actually I can imagine that was horrific.Anyway - post the video now.