Woodhead Reservoir

Woodhead reservoir is a man-made lake near the hamlet of Woodhead in Longdendale in north Derbyshire, England. It was constructed by John Frederick Bateman between 1847 and June 1877 as part of the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs to supply water from the River Etherow to the urban areas of Greater Manchester. It is at the top of the chain of reservoirs and was the first to be started, though, due to construction problems, it was the last to be completed.

1. Act of Parliament

The Manchester Corporation Waterworks Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. cciii) gave permission for the construction of the Woodhead and Arnfield reservoirs and the aqueduct of the Mottram Tunnel. The Manchester Corporation Waterworks Act 1848 allowed the construction of Torside and Rhodeswood Reservoirs, and an aqueduct to convey the water from Rhodeswood to the Arnfield reservoir. These acts were important, as mill owners were reliant on water to power their mills and any potential reduction of supply was opposed. The acts guaranteed a flow of 121 million gallons a week.

1. Construction

The construction of the Woodhead Embankment was ambitious and fraught with difficulties. The embankment was to be about 90 feet (27 m) in height; it was sealed to the underlying impermeable rock by a central impermeable clay puddle core or curtain. This was supported on each side by selected strong earth material, and then gravel to form a slope of 1 in 1 upstream and 1 in 2 downstream. The upstream would be pitched, and faced in stone. The turnpike would pass over the crest. Drinking water would be extracted by means of a tunnel from several metres below the water level, while when full, excess water would pass over the overspill or waste weir.

1. = The first embankment =

Work started in 1848. The Heyden Viaduct, now known as the Woodhead Bridge, was completed in 1851, and turned over to the Salters Brook turnpike road that year. The Woodhead embankment was 20 feet (6 m) from completion. Discharge valves had been supplied by Messrs Armstrong and Co, of Newcastle upon Tyne. There was some leakage but on 10 May 1854 the Woodhead Reservoir was declared complete, with the exception of remedying the leak. To stop the leak, borings had been made, and ash injected under pressure in the hope it would act as a sealant. In 1858, it was concluded that this would not work; the Etherow valley was on multiple fissures relating to a fault that was causing movement in the soft beds of shale underlying the harder rock beneath the valley. This was the cause of the landslides at Rhodeswood, and the continual problems at Woodhead.

1. = The second embankment =

In 1862, a second embankment downstream of the first embankment was proposed. This took advantage of a continuous length of shale suitable for a seal. The space between the two embankments was infilled. The new puddle trench was sunk 160 ft (49 m) beneath the height of the first embankment, 60 ft (18 m) below the old riverbed, in the main through solid rock. It was filled with concrete as clay could not withstand a water head of 160 ft (49 m). The reservoir was filled in 1877.

1. Safety measures

It was stated in a statutory report, under the Reservoir Safety Act 1975, dated 12 June, that all five reservoirs could be over-topped during a Probable Maximum Flood. Woodhead as the fountainhead had the most extensive improvements, relieving the pressure on the other reservoirs. The work took place between 1989 and 1992 at a cost of £3m. The storage level of the reservoir remained the same but the embankment crest was raised by 6.7 m (22 ft), which meant replacing the B6105 road at a higher level and on a new course. An impervious clay membrane was laid in the upstream face to provide continuity with the 1877 embankment. This was protected with concrete matting faced in stone. The length of the overflow sill was reduced and a new concrete box section installed to throttle the flow, which was directed into the Etherow Pool. A replacement 1,400-millimetre (55 in) diameter guard valve was installed.

1. See also

List of dams and reservoirs in United Kingdom

1. References

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Longdendale Chain

The Longdendale Chain is a sequence of six reservoirs on the River Etherow in the Longdendale Valley, in northern Derbyshire. They were constructed between 1848 and 1884 to a design by John Frederick Bateman to supply the growing population of Manchester and Salford with fresh water. The top three reservoirs (Woodhead, Torside and Rhodeswood) and Arnfield are for drinking water, and the lower reservoirs (Valehouse and Bottoms) are used as compensation reservoirs to maintain the downstream flow of the river. There was originally a seventh – Hollingworth Reservoir – which was abandoned in 1990, and has become part of the Swallows Wood nature reserve. Water flowed by gravity through the Mottram Tunnel to the Godley covered reservoir where it drops to the service reservoirs at Denton, Audenshaw, Gorton and Prestwich.

Site remarquable Maritime

Crowden railway station

Crowden railway station served the hamlet of Crowden, in Derbyshire, England, between 1861 and 1957. It was a stop on the Woodhead Line between Manchester London Road and Sheffield Victoria.

Train

Woodhead, Derbyshire

Woodhead is a small and scattered settlement at the head of the Longdendale valley in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the trans-Pennine A628 road connecting Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, 6 miles (10 km) north of Glossop, 19 miles (31 km) east of Manchester and 18 miles (29 km) west of Barnsley. It is close to the River Etherow and the Trans Pennine Trail. Although part of Derbyshire since 1974, like nearby Tintwistle and Crowden the hamlet was in the historic county of Cheshire. Woodhead is the location of the western portals of the Woodhead Tunnels, three former railway tunnels on the electrified Woodhead Line between Manchester and Sheffield. There was formerly a railway station and signal box at Woodhead. The Woodhead railway line closed in 1981; the trackbed between Woodhead and Hadfield now forms the Longdendale Trail. The platforms are still intact, although the track has been removed. Among the remains in the graveyard of St James Church, a small 18th-century chapel, are the unmarked graves of navvies who died during the construction of the tunnels. Adjoining the church is Bleak House, a Grade-II-listed 19th-century dwelling. Two miles to the east, the Lady Cross marks the highest point of the former packhorse road from Longdendale to Rotherham. Only its base and the bottom of the shaft survive. The hamlet gives its name to Woodhead Reservoir, the highest in the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs. On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France, from York to Sheffield, passed through the hamlet.

Site historique Site remarquable

Crowden, Derbyshire

Crowden (also known as Crowden-in-Longdendale) is a hamlet in the High Peak borough of Derbyshire, England. Historically a part of Cheshire, Crowden was incorporated into Derbyshire for administrative and ceremonial purposes in 1974 and is now Derbyshire's most northerly settlement. It lies in the Longdendale valley, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) north-east of Glossop and 5.7 miles (9.2 km) south-west of Holme in West Yorkshire. It lies on the trans-Pennine A628 road connecting Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire. It also lies very close to the Pennine Way long distance footpath, on which it is traditionally the first-night stop after Edale. A youth hostel, previously operated under a joint management agreement by the Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales) and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, was transferred to the sole management of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and closed (except for use by large groups) in 2014. The Torside Reservoir is to the south of Crowden. An army rifle range was situated at Crowden in the 1950s and 1960s. The hamlet was previously served by Crowden railway station on the Woodhead Line between the cities of Manchester and Sheffield, but the station closed on 4 February 1957.

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