Baitings Reservoir, Ripponden was one of 3 – Baitings, Ryburn, and Booth Wood – to be built for Wakefield & District Water Works.
Baitings and Ryburn are on the river Ryburn above Ripponden. Booth Wood is on Booth Dean Clough.
Baitings was built upstream of Ryburn reservoir in order to catch the water that was going to waste. A 6-mile long catchwater drain brings water to the dam from Cragg Vale.
It was begun in 1948, and officially opened on 3rd May 1957 by the A. Guy Webster, the Mayor of Wakefield, and Henry Brooke, Minister of Housing and Local Government.
The cost was £1,420,000. During construction, it was known as New Top Reservoir.
Three men died during the construction of the reservoir:
It covers 64 acres, and has a capacity of 775 million gallons, and supplies 1½ million gallons per day. The dam is 1550 ft across and 255 ft high, and when opened, it was said to be the highest in England. The water has a maximum depth of 155 ft.
After work began, it was decided to make the dam 20 ft higher than originally planned, doubling the capacity.
In 1962, the Manshead Tunnel was constructed to carry water from Withens Clough Reservoir and Turvin Clough to the reservoir.
When the water level falls low, the old road and the bridge across the Ryburn Valley are exposed.
Question: Can anyone explain or identify the landscape features and/or the stone structures which are visible when the water-level is low?
There are photographs of some of these in the Photo Gallery
See
Baitings Bridge and
Charles Albert Mitchell
Page Ref: Y42
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