Months of dry weather has unveiled the ghostly remains of a Welsh village drowned to create a reservoir supplying England with water, including new harrowing graffiti. Capel Celyn, Gwynedd, was a village in the Tryweryn Valley, between Bala and Blaenau Ffestiniog, a small rural community where Welsh was the dominant language.
In 1965 it was flooded to create a freshwater reserve for Liverpool known as Llyn Celyn. As well as 12 homes lost, the flood wiped out farms, a post office, a church, a cemetery, and a school. In 1960, a private bill sponsored by Liverpool City Council was brought before Parliament hoping to develop a water reservoir in the Tryweryn Valley. The development would include the flooding of Capel Celyn.
Now, after the hot summer of 2022, the reservoir level has dropped, unveiling the remnants of the village. Stone structures that would have formed buildings can be seen, while last month when the level was even lower tree trunks and broken crockery could be found.
