Water under the bridge? Nature, memory and hydropolitics

Abstract

Memories are not confined to those who experience them firsthand. Rather, they can be transmitted and repeated by subsequent generations as prosthetic and moral memories, not linked solely to specific geographic locations but extending to affect and inform contemporary political debates. This paper investigates how and why the 1965 flooding of the village of Capel Celyn in the Tryweryn valley, north Wales is remembered through textual analysis of Welsh literature and popular music. It also highlights the profound impact that struggles over resources can have on social, cultural and political landscapes. The flooding, arguably the most dramatic hydropolitical event in the history of the United Kingdom, created tension between the need to protect cultural identity on the one hand and on the other, the need to provide essential natural resources for industry and urban development. The memory of this event has been sustained in Wales in a number of ways. Visually, graffiti calling on the public to ?remember Tryweryn? has become a tangible symbol of Welsh nationalism, and a potent part of the Welsh landscape. In Welsh literature (poems and songs) the memory of Tryweryn has been expressed in terms of loss and shame and the defilement of nature. Politically, Tryweryn provided the context for the rise of Welsh nationalism and devolution and has become a regularly used symbol of a culture under threat. Crucially, the memories now influence and inform contemporary debates around precipitation, drought and any forced removal justified in the name of progress

By-standing memories of curious observations: children’s storied landscapes of ecological encounter

“…Memory is central to this process of situating ourselves. The geographies of memory emerge from physical landscape experiences 39 , whilst individual identities are also 'tangled up in our relations with the things we surround ourselves with' 40 . The 'topography of childhood' 41 therefore hosts powerful spatial memories, as childhood emotions become 'imprinted onto whatever landscape they are acted out in' 42 .…”

“…Central to our notion of by-standing memories is a child-centred approach that recognises that 'memories are often invested with emotional and moral meanings' 28 . Ecological awareness is therefore less likely to be nurtured through 'nature experiences' given that their contrived character may work against emotional encounters and thus the laying down of memories.…”

Building a Dam, Constructing a Nation: The ‘drowning’ of Capel Celyn

“…This paper explores the event behind the words Cofiwch Dryweryn , focusing on the damming of the Tryweryn river ‐ resulting in the flooding of the Welsh village of the Capel Celyn (creating the Llyn Celyn reservoir, closed in 1965) ‐ to provide the English city of Liverpool with water. It follows recent scholarship by asserting that the flooding of this small village, made up of little more than a dozen dwellings and a local chapel, represents a particular turning point for Welsh nationalism (Cunningham, ; Griffiths, ; Whitehead, Jones, & Jones, ). By analysing letters of dissent sent to the UK government at the time, it argues that the Tryweryn project became a central signifier in this Welsh nationalist project, symbolising the complexities of the use of Welsh water resources by English urban areas and exposing the tension between Welsh grievances and the demands of the Westminster government.…”

“…The Liverpool Corporation plans involved the building of a dam to create an 800 acre reservoir (1.25 square miles) (Liverpool, Town Clerk's Office, ), and would hold 81,000,000 cubic metres of water (Griffiths, ). The proposed reservoir would flood the village of Capel Celyn and a series of surrounding farms in a rural area that was home to 48 residents.…”

“…The Tryweryn scheme represented a new episode of a dominant nature‐state relationship, in which Welsh water was supplied English cities from the 19th century onwards (Hechter, ; Roberts, ; Whitehead et al, ). Examples of this relationship include the creation of Llyn Efyrnwy in the 1880s and Elan Valley reservoirs in 1906 to supply water to the cities of Liverpool and Birmingham respectively (Griffiths, ). In 1923, a group of towns in the north‐west of England, including Warrington, planned to dam the Ceiriog river in north‐east Wales for the supply of water.…”