Nidd Valley Light Railway

Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Traction Ltd of London obtained a Light Railway Order for the 6.5-mile (10.5 km) railway from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse in 1900, but these powers were taken over by Bradford Corporation. A contract to build Angram Reservoir was awarded to John Best & Son in 1903, and he also won the contract to build the public railway and a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) private extension to the reservoir site. This was initially built to 3 ft (914 mm) gauge but was converted to standard gauge by 1907, when the public railway opened. Best had his own locomotives, and Bradford Corporation equipped the public railway with second hand locomotives and carriages from the Metropolitan Railway. The Angram Reservoir project was completed in 1916. The corporation had obtained powers to build another reservoir at Scar House in 1913, and in 1920 decided to proceed, using direct labour rather than a contractor. The railway was upgraded, with the purchase of new and second hand locomotives, a railmotor for the public services, and second hand carriages for the workmen's trains. Curves on the line above Lofthouse were eased, and a short tunnel was built. At its height, the corporation were running fourteen locomotives, three steam navvies and 19 or 20 steam cranes. The work was essentially completed by 1931, but filling of the reservoir did not begin until 1935 and the official opening was the following year. With the work complete, the railway was lifted, and a sale was held at Pateley Bridge. Scar Village, which at its peak had housed 1,135 people, of whom 780 worked on the project, was reduced to eight occupied houses by 1936, with seven pupils at the school. The railway workers were not entitled to a pension, but pensions were awarded to four men who had served for many years.

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Angram Reservoir

Angram Reservoir is the first of three reservoirs on the River Nidd in Upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England, the others being Scar House Reservoir and finally the compensation reservoir Gouthwaite Reservoir. It is located at OS map reference SE040759. Between them they attract around 150,000 visitors a year. The reservoir takes its name from Angram, a settlement in the township of Stonebeck Up, submerged when the reservoir was completed in 1919. Little Whernside (604 metres [1,982 ft]) to the north and Great Whernside (704 metres [2,310 ft]) to the west of the reservoir are close by. The River Nidd flows for approximately 2 miles (3 km) from the flanks of Great Whernside before joining the reservoir.

Lodge, North Yorkshire

Lodge was a hamlet in upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England. The hamlet was dedicated to farming and was a monastic grange owned by the monks of Byland Abbey. Lodge was 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Kettlewell, 10 miles (16 km) south of Leyburn, and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Middlesmoor. The hamlet was depopulated after the Bradford Corporation, who were building the reservoirs in the area, bought the land and required the occupants to leave so that their farming activities would not pollute the water being gathered in Scar House Reservoir, which was built below the hamlet in the same valley.

Nidd Aqueduct

The Nidd Aqueduct is an aqueduct or man-made watercourse in North Yorkshire, England. It feeds water from Angram and Scar House reservoirs in upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire 32 mi (51 km) to Bradford in West Yorkshire. The aqueduct supplies 21,000,000 imp gal (95,000 m3) of water per day to Chellow Heights water treatment works. The aqueduct and the reservoirs it connects to are all maintained by Yorkshire Water.

Scar House Reservoir

Scar House Reservoir is the second of the three reservoirs in Upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England, the others are Angram Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir. Between them they attract around 150,000 visitors a year. Angram and Scar House were built to supply water to the Bradford area of West Yorkshire. Water from here is transferred to Chellow Heights via the Nidd Aqueduct using only gravity and no pumping. The dam contains more than a million tonnes of masonry, it rises to 55 metres (180 ft) above the river and is almost 600 m (2,000 ft) long. It was completed in 1936. The dam height is 71 m (233 ft). The reservoir is fed almost exclusively from Angram Reservoir, which in turn is fed predominantly from the flanks of Great Whernside.