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cartref > Transactions > Volume 31 - 2025 > THE FLOODING OF CWM TRYWERYN AND ITS POLITICAL AND CULTURAL REPERCUSSIONS ON WALES

THE FLOODING OF CWM TRYWERYN AND ITS POLITICAL AND CULTURAL REPERCUSSIONS ON WALES

Abstract: In December 1955, Liverpool City Council announced its intention through an Act of Parliament to flood the Tryweryn Valley in North Wales and construct a reservoir. The news of Liverpool’s plan was greeted with anger and opposition in Wales. This article considers the context for the proposed reservoir, and Liverpool’s motivations in making the plans to flood the Welsh valley. Elizabeth Watkin Jones’s campaign of opposition to the plan, the Capel Celyn Defence Committee, is discussed in full, including her working method and the long-term results of that action. The exasperation and outrage caused by the flooding of Cwm Tryweryn provided the spark that inspired protest regarding further Welsh grievances; it also provoked an outpouring of artistic expression. The article concludes by describing how the opposition to flooding Cwm Tryweryn ultimately led to Wales becoming stronger, politically and culturally, and the role of this divisive act in opening a new chapter for the country.

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