haweswater & mardale
mardale green in 1820
The haweswater reservoir is about 5 miles from shap and is probably best known because of the village of mardale which was "drowned" to sate the needs of Manchester's thirst for water.
In 1919 an application was made to parliament for the acquisition of haweswater and the surrounding lands,the relevant powers were granted in December 1919 and the first preliminary work commenced in 1929.
The reservoir was expected to hold 19,000 million gallons and the plan was for an aqueduct to carry the water from the new reservoir 73 miles to a reservoir at heaton park near Manchester,it was expected that 72 million gallons a day would pass through this aqueduct.
The first work undertaken was a road to enable materials and workers to be transported from the l.m.s railway line at Shap to haweswater ,(the road which is known locally as the "concrete road" is still in exsistence today)
a village to house the workers was constructed at burnbanks and a road was built along the south east side of the lake, a plant to generate electricity was also constructed at this time.
Work on the dam was suspended in 1931 due to the depression, only the work on part of the aqueduct was proceeded with .
Work was restarted on the foundations of the dam in 1934
In 1919 an application was made to parliament for the acquisition of haweswater and the surrounding lands,the relevant powers were granted in December 1919 and the first preliminary work commenced in 1929.
The reservoir was expected to hold 19,000 million gallons and the plan was for an aqueduct to carry the water from the new reservoir 73 miles to a reservoir at heaton park near Manchester,it was expected that 72 million gallons a day would pass through this aqueduct.
The first work undertaken was a road to enable materials and workers to be transported from the l.m.s railway line at Shap to haweswater ,(the road which is known locally as the "concrete road" is still in exsistence today)
a village to house the workers was constructed at burnbanks and a road was built along the south east side of the lake, a plant to generate electricity was also constructed at this time.
Work on the dam was suspended in 1931 due to the depression, only the work on part of the aqueduct was proceeded with .
Work was restarted on the foundations of the dam in 1934
the dun bull inn 1920s
THE MARDALIANS LAMENT
The farmsteads are empty,their roof-trees are gone,
he strong hardy dalesmen have left one by one.
there's nothing to show where their old dwellings stood,
save whitening stones fathoms deep 'neath the flood.
Dear was the forest where we wandered so free,
or rested a while on some fallen tree,
dear were the meadows reaching down to the shore,
but the fair maids of mardale will tread them no more.
The quaint little church,nestling neath the old yews,
has been plundered of altar ,and pulpit and pews,
the sacred dead laid to rest there for aye ,
will hear the last trump in some place faraway,.
The dun bull has gone-no more shall we rest there,
its larders are empty,its cupboards are bare,
no more shall we feast ,little recking the cost,
the rooms where we revelled for ever are lost.
So mardale farewell,the strangers have robbed thee,
of all that was dear to my comrades and me,
of forest and church,and dun bull we're bereft,
high whelters gaunt gables are all they have left.
isaac hinchcliffe 1921
(he goes on to say that the above lines are anticipatory ,as he may not be around when these things come to pass)
The farmsteads are empty,their roof-trees are gone,
he strong hardy dalesmen have left one by one.
there's nothing to show where their old dwellings stood,
save whitening stones fathoms deep 'neath the flood.
Dear was the forest where we wandered so free,
or rested a while on some fallen tree,
dear were the meadows reaching down to the shore,
but the fair maids of mardale will tread them no more.
The quaint little church,nestling neath the old yews,
has been plundered of altar ,and pulpit and pews,
the sacred dead laid to rest there for aye ,
will hear the last trump in some place faraway,.
The dun bull has gone-no more shall we rest there,
its larders are empty,its cupboards are bare,
no more shall we feast ,little recking the cost,
the rooms where we revelled for ever are lost.
So mardale farewell,the strangers have robbed thee,
of all that was dear to my comrades and me,
of forest and church,and dun bull we're bereft,
high whelters gaunt gables are all they have left.
isaac hinchcliffe 1921
(he goes on to say that the above lines are anticipatory ,as he may not be around when these things come to pass)
mardale church interior
The bones of people laid to rest in the churchyard at mardale were removed and transfered to shap cemetery where a special memorial area was set aside .
the mardale burial ground at shap cemetary
mardale church
Stone and windows from the church were used to build the draw off tower which can be seen in some of the newer pictures below.
haweswater
The Manchester corporation act was an application made for the acquisition of haweswater ,despite 76 petitions against it the act was passed in parliament on Dec 23rd 1919 and was the beginning of the end for the village of mardale
drawing the net at haweswater. a painting by jacob thompson .1867
Haweswater hotel
This picture and the ones below were taken on 8th july 2010,as you can see the water level is down but nowhere near as bad as it has been in the past
The draw off tower on haweswater was built from stone from mardale church and also has the church windows
.
all creatures great and small
The schelly (coregonus stigmaticus) is an endangered species of fish found in only 4 places in britain, red tarn,brotherswater,ullswater and haweswater .a fitfh of the population inhabit haweswater but levels are dropping due to water extraction and predation by the increasing cormorant population. Concern for the future of the fish is such that it has been placed on the red list of endangered species. The record catch for the species was 2lb 1oz in haweswater by shap man stuart barrie in 1986.
In j m wilsons imperial gazatteer of 1870 he describes haweswater as abounding in trout ,perch ,char,skellies and eels. Obviously the raising of the dam and water extraction has had a major impact on fish stocks over the years as few people catch anything of note in haweswater anymore.
In j m wilsons imperial gazatteer of 1870 he describes haweswater as abounding in trout ,perch ,char,skellies and eels. Obviously the raising of the dam and water extraction has had a major impact on fish stocks over the years as few people catch anything of note in haweswater anymore.
The golden eagle ,Englands only golden eagle can be found on riggindale crag above haweswater, a pair of eagles started breeding at haweswater in the 1960s but now sadly only one remains
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/h/haweswater/
A variety of butterflies and moths can be seen in the area.
Buzzards and other birds of prey such as peregrines can also be seen,(people often mistake the buzzard for the golden eagle)
red deer ,red squirrels,hares, and a lot more wildlife can also be seen in the area
more pictures of the haweswater area
haweswater looking down from branstreet
The following two pictures are stills from british pathe news films ,to view a fuller preview of the films just click on the picture to be taken to british pathe, depending on your browser the films can take a while to load.
