Above: the collection includes photos of some of the small steam engines that transported materials around the construction site, as well as navvies relaxing in their temporary pub.
Many thanks to Norm from the Whaley Bridge Local History Group for allowing me to display their collection of photos recording the construction of Fernilee Reservoir in the early 1930s. They include a fascinating range of views; from the small steam engines that carried materials around the site to the ruins of the gunpowder mill.
Construction work started in 1932, some two years after Mary Grimshawe’s death. She was the last of the family that had lived at Errwood Hall since the 1840s. Stockport Corporation had already decided to compulsory purchase her entire 2020 acre estate to build the twin reservoirs.
Also…
Click here to view a fascinating cine film of the inauguration ceremony filmed in 1932. And here to view a brief history of the area before the coming of the first of the twin reservoirs.
