This morning I visited the site of the old Leyland Reservoir at Back Lane, Clayton-le-Woods. Most of the brick structure has now been demolished and crushed. It was a very sad moment taking the photos as I still remember the structural beauty of the underground vaulted brick arches. At least they’ve been recorded photographically before being demolished.

Gone but not forgotten.

The Leyland Underground Reservoir at Back Lane, Clayton-le-Woods is now just a memory. During previous weeks it has been demolished. We had hoped to save one of the internal brick arches and rebuild it nearby but the structure crumbled while trying to get it out in sizes big enough to rebuild. However a large number of bricks were recovered and it is proposed to offer these for sale as a memento of the reservoir. All money received will go to charity.
It was possible to save several of the coping stones that capped the support arches and Kingswood Homes have donated these for use in a small memorial garden area in nearby Manor Road Primary School. They are also prepared to use their design team to come up with a suitable layout. The construction of the garden will have to be funded separately and this part of the project has not yet been finalised.

Rita, Carolyn and Mark climbing the Dhampus Pass (5210m, 17093ft) to the north of Dhaulagiri, Nepal.

Oishala performing underground.
This morning Oishala, a group of local musicians, used the venue for a unique performance

A video of the performance is also available