Elan Valley Wales

 Wednesday 12th May

After postponing this trip from a couple of weeks ago due to the dire weather forecast for torrential downpours, the weather this May has only picked up a little bit. 

After the dryest April on record, I wouldn't be suprised if we end up with the wettest May on record !

 

But never mind, whilst the weather forecast may not be up to much, so far today it's been quite dry and sunny with just a brief shower as we were leaving Powis Castle after a lunch stop.

Next stop was Tesco in Newtown for some pillows that someone had forgotten to load up.

After that it was up to Elan Valley in the heart of Wales, close Rhayader.

There are series of reservoirs here that supply fresh water to Birmingham.

Construction began in 1893 and the village of Elan was flooded with only the landowners receiving compensation. 

Most of the villagers lost their homes and received nothing.

In 1941/42 Barnes Wallace blew up a small dam here that had been built to suppy the village before it was destroyed for the reservoir.

Apparently it was an experiment to research how much explosive would be needed to blow a hole in a dam ! 

It's quite scenic with lots of wildlife, there were two Red Kites circling earlier and I'll try and get a photo if they return, edit - they didn't return unfortunately.

We're parked up on a free carpark carved into the rock face overlooking the reservoir, it's probably a hangover from when the dam was built but it's a great spot for a peaceful night, hopefully.

We had a walk earlier to the visitor centre, mostly closed but there's a small shop and cafe for takeaways. Hopefully things will begin to open up more next week.

We're spending our evening being entertained by sheep and their lambs surrounding us and what an spectacle it is.

Their energy is boundless and spend their time chasing each other and leaping in the air just for the fun of it. 

Lovely to watch but I do hope they shut up later and go to sleep so we can as well !

We`ve got a lovely sunset for this evening but the weather forecast tells us to expect rain by 10pm.