Site Visits – Tryweryn

Reconnecting with the space at Tryweryn was always going to be an interesting time. Although I have visited this location many times already to take site photography, each time has been different and we have found more signs of the history of the location.

This time was no exception, the water level being extremely low has exposed much more along the shoreline and new perspectives were gained from visiting the site and being able to walk where we had been uable to previously – below the previous water line.

Our first stop was to visit the beach where we first took photographs, the water line had dropped roughly 50 feet or more and it was very eerie walking across the rocks that had previously been underwater.

We walked across the dam to the other side where we were able to walk below the overflow for the reservoir, along the shoreline there were signs of a previous life with what looked like farmers fencing drifting off into the water – previously we had not been able to see this.

At the top end of the reservoir nature had begun to reclaim the land, unlike Thruscross which was very sparse and muddy, vegitation had begun to grow on the land below the waterline near to the church at Tryweryn. The water line was so low that what I believe to be remain of a bridge was somewhat visible though not quite as much as pictures I had seen when the water level dropped in the drought of 1996.

At Thruscross it was very clear that deforestation had taken place to make way for the reservoir, yet at Tryweryn there were only a few trees that had been cut down leaving the tree stumps to remain underwater, only to become visible when the water line dropped.

What was very noticable at both Thruscross and Tryweryn was the absense of wildlife below the water line, almost like the creatures of the area knew to stay away