The 19th and 20th centuries saw booms in populations across swathes of Britain. Local authorities were often forced to roll out new plans to cater for the new residents and although most decisions went without note, others roused the attention of surrounding local communities.
Soon, a campaign of flooding small towns to provide water for nearby larger settlements became widespread.
Towns like Taf Fechan, in South Wales, were deemed small enough and unimportant enough to be sacrificed for their larger neighbours.
While it remains a thing of the past, when the conditions are just right, many of its former buildings and structural foundations rear their head and reveal the presence of a once-busting settlement.
Anyone who has been to Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons) will almost certainly have driven past Taf Fechan.
Today, it is made up of the Pontsticill Reservoir, a vast body of water whose surface is partially marked by a giant plughole-like break which sucks up the excess water, and a gothic-style bell tower.
The reservoir was completed in 1927 to supply water to the ever-increasing population of South Wales and the nearby industrial behemoth of Merthyr Tydfil.
While all of the graves were moved ahead of the flooding, no fewer than eight farms, many cottages and small holdings, and the various local houses belonging to the people of Taf Fechan were lost.
The vicarage was similarly drowned, as was the 15th-century Dolygaer church and a Congregational chapel.
Locals and their descendants likely thought they’d never see their ancestral homes again, but they were wrong.
They go either to boat or kayak across the water’s surface — a highly popular pastime in the area — or to use the many scenic hiking trails that make up the Pontsticill Circular.
Still others travel to the reservoir to see the filming location of some of their favourite films, including The Pact and Submarine.
A five-star attraction on the website TripAdvisor, revellers leave nothing but stellar reviews about their visits to the Pontsticill.
Victoria Campbell, a visitor from Southend, wrote: “The bridge crossing is epic!” while Pam M from Cumbria added: “Nice easy walk round the path through the forest. We had a lovely walk despite it being November and later in the day. The “plug hole” was fascinating to see!”
