The drained Fach Reservoir under Great Orme, once a water source for Llandudno, may be transformed into a tourist spot.
No one knows what they will build. Conwy Council owns the site, however, they haven’t confirmed any talks. The council is open to leasing it, and some partners have approached them before.
The Prince of Wales opened it in 1880. It fixed water shortages in town. The roof was once a putting green, similar to the one at Happy Valley. People could visit that putting green there.
Adrian Hughes studies local history. Currently, he is writing a book about unique Llandudno places. The book will cover Fach Reservoir, and he visited with the GOES group.
He heard survey work is being done because someone wants to make it an attraction. The team told them they cannot go there. That means they are serious about it, and this project is important.
It is hard to imagine the attraction because tourists can’t just drop into it. They must build an entry which will be near Parisella’s Cafeteria. It is a hidden gem of Llandudno, and photos of it get interest online.
A skating company wanted the roof during the reservoir’s construction. They offered £70 a year to lease it for seven years. However, officials did not allow that idea. Only a few saw inside before access ended.
The reservoir’s roof was not well-built, and leaks were noticed by 1914. People worried about water contamination. An engineer inspected the roof and found it was only four inches thick, when plans called for nine inches.
The town council was told the roof was weak, and they needed to add concrete to the arches. It needed at least four inches. This was in January 1915.
The area was then closed off. Soldiers drilled nearby during wartime, and the marching was too heavy for the roof. They added six inches of concrete at a cost of £660 to fix the roof.
Workers wrote initials on the walls. For example, one person wrote “JN” twice, and these were ten years apart
Fach fixed a long-term water problem because Llandudno used local springs for water. The town grew in the 1800s, and the springs could not supply enough water. Therefore, reservoirs became necessary.
In 1863, they created one reservoir, which held 3,500,000 gallons of water. This water would supply the town for 80 days. It was near St Tudno’s Church on Great Orme, and springs fed the reservoir.
The town needed more water storage, so they created two extra storage areas. Llwynon held 48,000 gallons of the water, and Y Fach could hold 936,000 gallons. They piped the water from Tudno Reservoir.
Fach reservoir was twelve feet deep. The reservoir was only needed temporarily, and people remember the flood of its emptying. A small pool of water remained always, as the floor sloped downwards.
People wrote on the walls a century ago, and “Water rats” appears on them.
Louisa Davis visited before access ended. She takes pictures and loves history. She went with Great Orme Exploration Society and saw the dark inside with a light.
She liked the arches and salt walls because it was like a smaller Istanbul palace. The salt looks like water curtains.
Louisa liked the writing on the walls and found it fascinating. Visiting it made a great memory.
The etchings include “water rats” and this may refer to Llandudno’s water boys. Boys hauled water up Great Orme, carrying water for residents. They used donkeys and churns.
Officials hope to preserve history. Conwy Council updates are pending and they have no plans to sell the site. Several businesses wanted to use the reservoir before, but these options did not progress beyond talks.