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Disgrifiadau
The newly rebuilt memorial commemorates the night of 2 November 1925,when Dolgarrog was devastated by the bursting of the Eigiau and Coedty dams which sent a torrent of water and boulders crashing down on the village. The ensuing flood killed ten adults and six children but many more watching a film in the Assembly Rooms survived; had the building not been on higher ground, the death toll could have been far greater. It is estimated that up to 350 million cubic metres of water were released which hit the village at about 9.30pm. There were 200 men working in the aluminium smelter at the time and they all escaped.
The new memorial names the sixteen lives lost and is greatly improved on the 60th anniversary plaque unveiled in 1985.
The new £60,000 trail was opened in 2004, explaining the tragic story to walkers visiting the area. It follows the route the water took down towards the village, past the boulders brought down from the damaged dams. The Eigiau dam which precipitated the landslide that destroyed the Coedty dam was never repaired, instead a tunnel was built connecting it to Llyn Cowlyd (completed in 1928) and its spillway was lowered reducing the water level. The Coedty dam and its pipeline washed away by the disaster was rebuilt by March 1927. The restarted smelter continued in operation until 1 March 1944, when supplies of Canadian metal became readily available to the Ministry of Aircraft Production making Dolgarrog's smelting operation obsolete. Rolling operations on the site continued for another 63 years until the aluminium plant closure in 2007.
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Cysylltwch â Ni
I wneud cais i dynnu i lawr neu riportio cynnwys hiliol, sarhaus neu niweidiol mewn unrhyw ffordd arall.
Sylwadau (2)
Submitted by Ruth Hancock on Sul, 15/09/2024 - 17:22
My grandfather (Henry Hancock, known to his friends as Jack) was given a silver cigarette case (now in my possession) by the directors of the Aluminium Corporation and the North Wales Power Company "in recognition of his heroic action in the power house on the occasion of the Eigiau Dam bursting at Dolgarrog on 2nd Nov 1925". I have a copy of a reference written for him in 1929 by the power house superintendent (L. Victor Lurring) in which he says of my grandfather "At the greatest possible risk to himself and his men he shut down the entire plant before attempting to leave the stations, which were then flooded to a depth of four to five feet". I have a dramatic account of the part he played on that night written later by my grandmother, Jack's wife. I also have some photos of her and Jack around that time, and a recording of my grandmother speaking about her early married life in that part of Wales, in which she also mentions the dam disaster. I am wondering whether any commemorations are planned for the 100th anniversary next year of the dam disaster and whether the material I have would be of interest.
Submitted by Ruth Hancock on Iau, 19/09/2024 - 13:40
I meant to say too, that I have a copy of a brochure produced by the North Wales Power Company Limited for the inauguration of the Hydro-Electric Works at Maentwrog, Merioneth, on Monday October 15th, 1928 at 12 o'clock noon. The inauguration was by Mrs Wilfred Ashley accompanied by Lt.-COL. the Rt. Hon. Wilfred Ashley, M.P., Minister of Transport. It contains lots of diagrams and descriptions of the works, and their development. It is contained in a leatherette case.
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