If you're planning a vacation to Europe, chances are famous tourist attractions will be on your agenda- and in many cases, they're popular for good reason. One thing I love about living in Europe is the time it affords to enjoy the lesser-known sites. I was informed of just such a one in Yorkshire the other day: the Sunken Village of West End.
West End, a hamlet between Harrogate and Skipton, was (for a short time- ~1800-1850) a "booming" textile town. Booming is a relative term- the population was always small- but for an out-of-way village in a rural county, booming could mean an increase of a few hundred people. Its success, sadly, was short-lived; the difficult logistics inherent in doing business in such an area, combined with the inevitable march of technology and new weaving mills in other areas, led to an abrupt decline. With nearby Leeds expanding outward in search of water supplies, the village was abandoned and flooded to create the Thruscross Reservoir.
West End: A Sunken Village by Alastair Laurence, is a 30-page overview of the town and its fate. The booklet lists some lives/occupations of former inhabitants, discusses notable streets and buildings, and ends by briefly discussing the decision to raise the dam and create the reservoir. The booklet itself is of interest to the local historian, but outsiders like me found web searches more useful.
The thing I liked most about this story is this concept of an underwater village. During drought years, with lower water levels in the reservoir, the top of the old Church chapel can be seen poking out from the depths (the above picture). How cool! Originally, you could even walk through the ruined town in severe drought years. I'm told that some ruins have since been further demolished, due to safety concerns, so were we to experience such a drought again*, you might not see as much- but it's still an interesting story.
Some pictures of what were (and what remains) can be found here or here. If you're ever in the area, check it out.
*yeah right- this is Yorkshire.
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