Stream of light will mark flood disaster that devastated village

A HALF-MILE lantern procession through the Conwy Valley will serve as a poignant reminder of a terrible tragedy that hit the area a century ago.

- ANDREW FORGRAVE

The stream of light will lead to Dolgarrog, where an "avalanche" of water and boulders left a trail of destruction after two dams burst.

Sixteen lives were lost in a disaster that shook the nation and led to a rethink of reservoir safety.

Dolgarrog has never forgotten and on Sunday, November 2, a series of events will take place to remember an evening when the church bell was silenced exactly 100 years earlier.

At 4pm, the B5106 Conwy Road is to close between Tal y Bont and Dolgarrog before the lantern parade will leave St Mary's Church, Tal y Bont, at 4.15pm and proceed to Dolgarrog’s Cenotaph by the Ixora Hotel for a plaque-unveiling ceremony.

A new community choir will deliver their debut performance at the service, before the focus switches to the nearby Memorial Gardens for the "world premiere" of Argraff, (Impression) a specially commissioned piece of music written for Dolgarrog.

The event will end around 6.15pm with the switching on of commemorative lights, which are to be sited permanently around the village. These have been handcrafted by potter Vicky Buxton, who lives on the disaster site.