RECENTLY, Wales has been under a long spell of dry and hot weather, including two heatwaves which have led to drought warnings and even hosepipe bands in Pembrokeshire and part of Carmarthenshire.
The local reservoirs have been affected, with severe shortages of water, but this has led to one fascinating piece of history being revealed.
Llyn Brianne is a reservoir near Llandovery, nestled among the Cambrian mountains. It is a picturesque location but it is believed that the water levels have lowered by around 30ft according to David Pike at Fanog Emerges from Llyn Brianne | welldigger (daibach-welldigger.blogspot.com).
The lack of water has seen a few interesting things appear – including a farmhouse and a car.
Llyn Brianne is a man-made reservoir that was created in 1972. But before this, it was working farmland.
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When the drowning of the area was done to create the reservoir, the farm had been abandoned, but the structure remained, even when the reservoir was being filled.
Mr Pike says that many of the farmers had abandoned the area after a severely harsh winter in 1947. The Forestry Commission had then taken over the land to plant conifers.
The farmhouse that still stands – albeit in a roofless, ruinous manner – is called Y Fanog. It is named after the Fanog gorge that also stood near to the site.
While there is not much left of the farmhouse, it was once believed to have been a great sight to see. Ruth Bidgood describes what Y Fanog was once like: “Here in its heyday is one of the best-known sheep farms of the area, house and outbuildings sparkling with whitewash, gardens trimly laid out, sycamores in full leaf, three-bay peat-house in good repair, potato-field proudly ridged on the hillside above.”
When the farm was in operation, it was owned by the Jones family for a number of generations, being taken on in 1941 by Evan Davies, bailiff for Jane Jones, who died that year without marrying and childless. He remained on the farm for a few years before retiring.
William Hughes and his wife took over the farm until the 1947 winter when they left it.
Visible alongside the farmhouse is a car and also a bridge that would have been used to reach the remote location.
You can view more photos of the emergence of Y Fanog in the gallery at the top of the article.
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