Llyn y Fan Fach's history and intriguing legend

The reservoir is a stunning location and popular with walkers but also plays an important part in keeping the local areas supplied with vital water.

Here we take a look at the reservoir in more detail including the famed legend surrounding the then lake and the journey to it becoming a reservoir.

Llyn y Fan Fach is nestled in the Black Mountains by Llanddeusant. It is an ancient lake which has an intriguing legend behind it.

The Lady of the Lake legend tells of a young shepherd tending to his sheep on the mountainside. He saw a beautiful lady come from the lake.

She is said to have told him that if he married her, he would become very wealthy and well-respected. The shepherd was smitten with her and agreed – including to her three conditions: that he did not speak of her origins, the supernatural success of their relationship and that he did not hit her three times.

She was given a dowry by his father of a number of the county’s best sheep, goats, horses and white cattle.

The couple lived happily for a while and had three sons together, but it would transpire that the shepherd would break the promise to not hit her.

He struck his supernatural wife once when she was reluctant to attend a baptism, a second time when she cried at a wedding and a third time when she laughed at a funeral.

Following the third hit, she is said to have stood up, looked him in the eye, told him it was over and walked, followed by her animals, back into the lake, leaving her sons with her devastated husband.

She would later return to her sons to teach them medicine, and it is believed that the sons became the first Physicians of Myddfai – something which still exists to this day.

The legend is said to have taken place in the 13th century, but it wasn’t until the late 1800s and early 1900s that the lake became more prominent.

There is talk that the Llyn y Fan lakes overflowed its banks in the 17th century and was frequented by anglers, with an article in the Western Mail on November 27, 1954, saying: “…is the subterranean upheaval in the seventeenth century, which caused this lake to overflow its banks during a great storm.

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“The waters poured down the adjoining Cwm Hydfer into the Usk valley, leaving a trail of death and devastation in its wake.

“Llyn y Fan Fawr is devoid of marine life and is reputed to be ‘bottomless’ but Llyn y Fan Fach is much frequented by anglers.”

Picture: Rob Whitehouse

During the 19th century, the tinplate industry in nearby Llanelli was booming and this saw an increase in the local population. This meant that even more water was needed – both for use in the industry and as a vital source to keep people alive.

The wells were not providing enough water and there were no piped supplies, so with a 34 per cent population increase from 1901 to 1911, something had to be done.

During a meeting of the Carmarthen Rural District Council which was reported in the Carmarthen Journal on September 8, 1911, reference was made to the plans for the lake to be used as a water supply as when discussing their own plans for a water supply similar to Llyn y Fan Fach, it was stated that “the Llanelly Rural District was applying for Parliamentary powers so as to promote a scheme for the conveyance of water from Llyn y Fan, so as to supply the whole of that district.”

The lake was chosen to provide the water needed and in 1912, ground was broken for the work to begin.

175 Irishmen were tasked with the tough job of the engineering works to create the dam. They had to lay 25 miles of pipes to carry the water and turn the lake into a reservoir.

The Irishmen however, did not complete the work as the First World War was approaching and they found less gruelling labour elsewhere.

During the war, Llanelli Council tried to secure prisoners of war to complete the engineering works, but this was not granted.

They were, however, able to get the work back on track in 1916 when between 150-200 conscientious objectors – mainly from north-west England and the Midlands – moved to Llanddeusant.

Under the Military Service Act of 1916, they would be put to work in camps across the UK as the Act stated that anyone who was conscripted but refused to sign their papers or wear their military uniforms had to carry out civilian works.

The men were then tasked with completing what the Irishmen had begun. The conditions were not good. Getting to the site was rough and steep and working conditions were made difficult due to the 1,200ft altitude and the weather at that height.

The conscientious objectors are said to have lived in two huts on site. They also had cooking and laundry huts, a shop and a small hospital hut.

The work was completed in 1919 after the conscientious objectors worked long hours to finish the job.

In the Western Mail on November 20, 1919, it described the now reservoir as being ‘extremely fascinating’ and said: “The lakes appear as if they are still a crater, yet on close examination it is found that they are dammed on the one side by material left after the ice of the Glacial period and on the other one are shut in by steel scarps of old red sandstone.

“They do not repose on a crater, as volcanic rocks are different in appearance, composition, texture and origin from those found surrounding Llyn y Fan. If the rocks forming the scarp are examined they are found to be made up of water-worn pebbles and grains of sand, and on the north side there is a thickness of about 30 yards of boulder-clay, together with large blocks of stone, which slid down the snow slope at the end of the Glacial period.”

The reservoir supplied the town of Llanelli and the surrounding villages for a number of decades. Recently it is most known as a beauty spot but has had a number of incidents of unlicensed fishing.