A lovely example of how modern technology can be used to bring to life our industrial heritage. I just hope that, while acknowledging a great feat of engineering, it is remembered that it was designed by great engineers but actually built by the blood, sweat and tears of working class people.
Are you still interested in the Caretakers cottages? I too have noticed the same red brick design in cottages by valves and river crossings in Ludlow, Monaughty and Knighton. One in Knighton is still occupied by a retired Severn Trent employee although I am assuming many have now been sold as the occupants have passed away. I am an artist working on a project 'Walking the Pipe' all about aqueduct - http://kate-green.co.uk/ and also more information in the file attached. It would be great to hear if you found out any more information. KateI have asmall client base and back in 2005 I visited a client in Hagley and I lookedacross his land and there was a circular brick access vent and I asked what itwas for he said “the Elan Valley aqueduct/pipeline runs under our land”.
I have thoughtlittle about this experience until on the 14/1/13 another client named K, toldme that he was interested in the Elan Valley project to supply water toBirmingham and in particular the aqueduct that ran through Hagley. I said “Iwill try and find something out for you as it is my experience that you canfind anything out if you are in my trade”.
I knew that a wife of one of my customersnamed P, who lived in Hagley was in a History Society so I thought that thiswould be a good place to start. Two days later P, rang me and made anappointment for the 22/1/13 and while he was on the phone I asked if his wifeknew anything about the aqueduct. He said “I had a relative that worked on thedam as a stone mason and that he said that he had been paid well and that hehad to cut the large blocks of stone to within a quarter of an inch tolerance”.I spoke to his wife and she said that they had researched an article on the aqueductand that it was on the History Society web site and she gave me the webaddress. I passed the web address onto K, and we both spent three quarters ofan hour looking for the article but neither of us could find it. Theappointment to see P on the 22/1/13 duly came round. I was telling the client beforeP who also lived in Hagley the story of the aqueduct and that the next client’swife had some information for me (I hoped). He said “a friend’s son was awitness in the trial of the students that had blown up the aqueduct. The sonwas coming home from school when two men asked him where the pipeline was”. Hecontinued “sometime later the family were in bed and we were awoken by anenormous explosion at one thirty in the morning. I sat up in bed and I knewexactly what it was”. He told me that he got everyone out of bed and dressedand they all went to the pipeline. He said “we arrived a little after two am tosee a gaping hole in one of the pipes crossing the railway line and there waswater coming out of it under great pressure. The railway line was in a deepcutting and it was full to the top with water in both directions”. He said “itwas two students from a university that had done the deed and they belonged tothe Welsh Nationalist Party.
I then wentto see P and his wife and I told them that I and K had been on the History sitefor three quarters of an hour each and neither of us had found the article andhis wife said “perhaps it is not on there”. She left the room and returned witha photocopy from the Stourbridge Chronical newspaper dated 1965. And she gaveme a photocopy containing two photographs. I posted it in K’s letterbox and Ireceived a phone call sometime later thanking me and I told him what I hadlearned.
On the8/2/2013 I went to see another client of mine named M who had worked for a communicationscompany and I told him the story. He told me that he was responsible forconnecting all the red brick caretaker cottages along the local aqueduct andhad visited all of them. His area covered Ludlow, Cleobury Mortimer, Bewdley, Wolverley, Cookley, Hagley and Frankley. He told methe location of a couple of the cottages and that they were all built to thesame design and he even showed me one of them on Google Maps. The cottage was setback off the road on the A491 on the Hagley side of the Prince of Wales pub. Wecould follow its path up to the Hagley monument and across Wassell Grove and hesaid that there were some inspection points also in that area. The aqueductthen runs under the A456 on the Stourbridge side of the Badgers Set Pub. Youcan see its onward path as there is a swath cut through a wood on the Clentside of the A456. He did a computer search and it showed all of the mapreferences for our area. He did another search and came up with the fact thatthere had been two attempts at blowing up the aqueduct one of them was in Walesand the second was in Hagley.
A furthersearch on a different website showed that there had been an upgrade to the aqueductin 1957 from the 2 pipes that needed replacing to two new pipes that had a 60inch diameter.
I went tosee another client on 11/2/2013 and he told me that he had attended a talk by alady who had worked for the water company concerned with supplying Birminghamwho had written a book on this subject.
Thesynchronicity of this has been overwhelming in a short space of timeconsidering that I have known these people for up to 30 years and this subjecthas never come up before. It has awakened in me a thirst to know more and toshare that knowledge. I see the possibilities of this forum for achieving thisnew dream. From a member of the forum I have already received valuable informationabout the legalities of establishing the aqueduct dating from the 1890’s. I amwondering what else is out there.
I am in theprocess of obtaining a copy of the Stourbridge Chronicle article and will postit on this thread as soon as I can. I will also try to find out the name of thebook that one of my clients told me about.
The links tothe website pages for the route of the aqueduct are here.
[URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elan_aqueduct#RouteScroll"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elan_aqueduct#Route
Scroll[/URL] downto External links
Click on User generated map of the Route onGoogle maps.
A caretakers cottage at Hagley, they were all built to the same design. The blue line is the sunken aqueduct.
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I have spoken to David on the phone a few times in the past couple of years and he agreed to be an adviser on my current project http://kate-green.co.uk/the-pipe-chronicle/4594607516Hi. A long shot I know but does anyone know David Milton, or his family? As he retired in 1997, he may no longer be with us.
Many thanks
Thanks Kate. I just wondered whether we could get him down to the valley for when the LAPS boys rock up later this month (btw it's Stephanie from Elan Links here - hope all is good ) Will let you know if anything happens.I have spoken to David on the phone a few times in the past couple of years and he agreed to be an adviser on my current project http://kate-green.co.uk/the-pipe-chronicle/4594607516
However, I have not been able to make contact with him since earlier this year. I would be grateful if you could let me know if he is well. Kate
Mort, great photo & video of the Elan Valley, brought back great memories of going there on a school trip back in 1955 about 65 years ago! My how time flies.........