Somewhere in your daydreams you probably have places you’d like to call home? Your very own ivory tower. We’ve all looked at places and thought “Wow, I’d like to live there.” Well, this is one of those places for me.
Surrounded by the foothills of the Berwyn and Snowdonia Mountains in Wales, is Lake Vyrnwy (Llyn Efyrnwy in Welsh). What makes this lake one of the most enchanting places in Wales for me is the knowledge that under these still waters lies much of the village of Llanwddyn. The residents of Llanwddyn were relocated and in 1881 the Corporation of Liverpool began work on the huge masonry dam. It took nearly seven years to complete and two years to fill.
Llanwddyn was reclaimed back in the 1870s to make way for the formation of the lake which was to supply water to the booming English port of Liverpool. While the dam was being built the villagers went about their daily routines in its growing shadow. Their village was made up of two chapels, three inns, ten farmhouses, and 37 houses, much of which was knocked down shortly before the lake was filled, but some buildings, including the church, were simply left to the mercy of the water.
The Tower of Vyrnwy would be my home, though as beautiful and awesome as it is, it would probably be a lonesome abode. Like something from a fairytale, the iconic building is set out on the lake in solitary magnificence and linked to the shore by an arched bridge. Though this is no home, it is instead the old victorian watch-tower where guards and engineers would watch over the lake and the machinery hidden below the tower which filters the water and sends it on its way to Liverpool, even to this day.
Of course, no one uses the tower anymore. The machinery has been updated and automated and is now controlled from a computer terminal in South Wales. But such facts, though interesting, matter little when one lets the mind wander. This place would be such an interesting home, or maybe just a retreat from a busy life that could afford such a luxury? And maybe one day I’d go diving. Diving to the old homes of the village that’s been underwater for more than 100 years. I wonder what is left of it. What secrets it holds, what tales it could tell?
I took these pictures yesterday when Posh and I put the roof down on the car and went out for a drive, enjoying the crisp February air and the welcome blue sky. Afterward, we had dinner in the converted stables of former Bishop’s Palace, Soughton Hall. As a huge open fire burned and the sunset, we drank local wine and ate the seasonal local cuisine. I had the wood pigeon and Posh had the duck. I can honestly say I’ve never had wood pigeon before, but it was one of those things I felt I had to try once, like frogs legs in France, or Raki in Greece.
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The history of Lake Vyrnwy
Visit Wales
Soughton Hall
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2006 at 12:04 pm
One more comment. Sorry. That first picture? Magnificent. I’m spellbound by it.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Ahhh. Fascinating. I’m really struggling here to get some sense of perspective ie its size. My mind sees it as either gigantic (one could walk into to through that ‘door’) or tiny – more of a symbolic thing, not really useful. I can’t get a handle on it! How big is it?
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2006 at 4:25 pm
That place is absolutely beautiful, ethereal and otherwordly even. I’m right there with you; would be quite the place to retreat to.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2006 at 4:59 pm
My boyfriend is from Wales. He lives in England at the moment but his family is still there. I’ve never been there, but now I have no idea why he would move here instead of going back home when he’s done in England.:(
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Aye, that is a magnificent place! If not for residence, certainly for weekend retreats and getting away from day-to-day pressures and mundanities.Lovely, that. My imagination is inspired…Quick question: what is the red door or? It looks like its in the rockface of some mainland…
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Wow, beautiful place ~ beautiful shots.
Haven’t yet made it to Wales, but can clearly see that I must during my next trip to the UK.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 20, 2006 at 7:05 am
What a nice day you had – and the pictures are lovely, as always. I am particularly partial to the red door in the side of the hill (oops, I mean mail box – I just read the previous comments about it.)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 20, 2006 at 7:33 am
*sigh* That place is gorgeous. If I had a million dollars… ;-)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 20, 2006 at 8:59 pm
I think I’ve seen some of these before; did you show me them when you were here? Looks like you should think about getting some info together on the owners so you can blackmail them into giving it to you. :-D
Wrote the following comment on Feb 21, 2006 at 6:43 am
I did indeed show you other pictures I’ve taken of this place Christine. However the tower is still used as the filtration building as most of it is actually under water. The control and look out parts of it are no longer in operation as that is all done remotely.