Watergrove 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 ...
close to
Wardle in the
Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Rochdale, The borough covers other outlying towns and villages with a population of 206,500 at the ...
, within
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
, England.
Rochdale Corporation chose Watergrove as a suitable site to build a large reservoir largely to a prolonged drought in the 1930s, resulting in water regularly being bought from
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...
. The ruins of the old village of Watergrove submerged under the large expanse of water in 1938, and dotted around the landscape above the reservoir there are several ruins originally belonging to the village.
The book ''Watergrove: A History of the Valley and its Drowned Village'' by Allen Holt gives a personal view of the transition as the author grew up in Wardle, a mile to the south of Watergrove. Several photographs in the book show people walking along roads that have resurfaced during times of extreme drought.
In July 2008, a 13-year-old boy, Joseph Thomas, was found dead in the reservoir after he had gone swimming with friends.
A free, weekly, 5 km parkrun takes place every Saturday morning. The event is hosted by local volunteers and was first held on Saturday 7 June 2014.
References
External links
Abandoned Communities ... Watergrove and other reservoirs near Rochdale
Reservoirs in Greater Manchester
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