Letter from R. T. Jenkins to E. M. Watkin Jones, Secretary of the Capel Celyn Defence Committee, 26 April 1956

Description

Batch number: 46.
This letter was sent to Elizabeth M. Watkin Jones, Secretary of 'Pwyllgor Amddiffyn Capel Celyn' (the Capel Celyn Defence Committee), by the historian R. T. Jenkins, on 26 April 1956.
The Defence Committee was formed in March 1956, shortly after it had been announced that Liverpool Corporation was intending to build a new reservoir in the Tryweryn valley, drowning the village of Capel Celyn, north of Bala. The Committee launched a spirited campaign to oppose the proposal to drown Cwm Celyn.
In addition to canvassing support from local authorities, individuals and national institutions, the Committee organised a series of protest meetings, conferences and rallies across north Wales and in the city of Liverpool. In this letter, R. T. Jenkins thanks Elizabeth M. Watkin Jones for her letter but informs her that he cannot lend his full support to the work of the Committee. Although he opposes any scheme to supply 'foreigners' with water from Wales, he explains that he left the town of Bala over fifty years ago and cannot therefore speak with any great conviction about the advantages or disadvantages of the proposals for the locality.
Ultimately, the efforts of the Committee to halt the building of the new reservoir failed and on 1 August 1957 the Liverpool Corporation Act was passed. Work began on the site three years later and was completed in August 1965.
Source: Meirionnydd Archives, Gwynedd Archives Service