Lamaload Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

near

Rainow Rainow is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, in the valley of the River Dean and next to the B5470 road between Macclesfield and Kettleshulme. It straddles the eastern side of the Peak District border of Derbyshire and Cheshire, and ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England (). It lies in the South West Peak within the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

National Park, to the west of the

Goyt Valley The River Goyt is a tributary of the River Mersey in North West England. Etymology The name ''Goyt'' may be derived from the Middle English ''gote'', meaning "a watercourse, a stream". Derivation from the Welsh ''gwyth'' meaning "vein" has b ...

, and is fed by the

River Dean The River Dean rises at Longclough in Macclesfield Forest on the western edge of the Peak District foothills above the village of Rainow in north east Cheshire, England. Together with a number of tributary streams it is impounded by the dam at L ...

. It serves

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, which lies to its west. The reservoir and associated

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the Water quality, quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking water, drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recrea ...

works are owned by

United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU), the United Kingdom's largest listed water company, was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West Englan ...

. Built between 1958 and 1964 by Costain Construction Company, Lamaload was the first concrete reservoir in England.Revisiting Lamaload, 41 years on. ''Blueprint: the News Magazine of Costain Group'' 26 (Spring 2004)
At 308 metres above sea level, the dam is of a round-headed buttress type construction and can contain 420,000,000

imperial gallon The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: *the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austral ...

s (1,910,000 m³) of water forming the reservoir. The public car park was built on the location of the pre-existing Lamaload Farm buildings, some of which are now used to house the public amenities at the site. Among the most popular locations for tourists in the South West Peak, Lamaload is used for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, b ...

, and also forms an important access point for walkers to the surrounding moorland.

Shining Tor Shining Tor is the highest hill in Cheshire, England. The summit has a maximum elevation of above sea level. It is in the Peak District, between the towns of Macclesfield in Cheshire and Buxton in Derbyshire, and is on the administrative boundar ...

, the highest point in Cheshire, and

Windgather Rocks The Windgather Rocks ( a.s.l.) is a gritstone crag on the Derbyshire– Cheshire border in England. It is in the Peak District National Park and is a popular site for learning the rudiments of rock climbing. As the name suggests the area is expo ...

, lie within a few miles. The reservoir is surrounded by moorland, broad-leaved woodland and plantations of larch and pine. Facilities include a car park (not open all year) and picnic tables.

References

External links

United UtilitiesWalking Britain: Shining Tor & Windgather Rocks from Lamaload
{{authority control Reservoirs of the Peak District Tourist attractions in Cheshire Reservoirs in Cheshire

See also

References

External links