Craig Goch - Elan Valley - Welsh Water

Elan Valley

Craig Goch

Dam

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Craig Goch


Height – 36m

Length – 156m

Volume – 9222 megalitres


Craig Goch, also known as the “top dam,” means Red Rock. It was the location of the opening ceremony, on the 21st of July 1904, where King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra officially opened the scheme. The menu for the ceremony included Medallions of Quails à la Royale, Cold Lamb and Galantine of Chicken Truffled.

There were plans in the 1970’s to vastly increase the Craig Goch dam, building another ‘high dam’, which would have created the largest man-made lake in Europe, with significant consequences to the ecology of the area. This would have been twice the height of the current dam, and would have covered the land all the way to the Aberystwyth mountain road. The plans were shelved in 1974 with a change of Government.



Nearby Activities


Elan Valley Trail

A three hour walk from the Visitor Centre to Craig Goch following the line of the old Birmingham Corporation Railway.

• GO TO ROUTE •

The Other Dams


OTHER WELSH WATER ADVENTURES

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