Elan Village, temporary home for dambuilders, c. 1900

Description

Hundreds of construction workers were housed in a temporary community of wooden huts during the building of the dams and reservoirs in the Elan Valley. It was sited on the bank of the Elan River below the first of the dams at Caban coch. Rules for workers were strict and access to the village by the suspension bridge seen here was controlled by a guard. The workers huts are to the left of the bridge and the hospital lies to the right. The vital railway which carried building material to the distant sites is next to the road.