The complex aftershocks of a bitter anniversary

IN 1938 a sheep farmer walking near Capel Celyn in Meirionydd came upon a man with a strange accent and measuring equipment - tripod and levels.

- With Graham Davies

He claimed that “they” were thinking of drowning the valley. Much later more thirsty men descended on the Tryweryn valley looking to supplement the water supply for the city of Liverpool.

There are two main players in the 1955 action: Capel Celyn, a vulnerable village home to 67 people with a store, post office, school, Calvinistic Methodist chapel, cemetery and 12 farms; a duplicitous Liverpool council, with a declining population and a water supply adequate for its needs but wanting to attract new industry and clear its slums.