The Elan Valley dams
The pick and shovel navvies
Though the builders of the Elan Valley dams made use of the new technology of the day in the form of steam-driven machinery, the ambitious undertaking was still very dependent upon huge numbers of labourers known as 'navvies'. (This term comes from the early builders of canals called 'navigators' who created new waterways). They worked hard with picks and shovels under the eagle eye of the Chief Resident Engineer George Yourdi and his staff.
Navvies at
the Elan Valley
site during
the dams scheme
Radnorshire
Museum,
Llandrindod Wells
Though the conditions for the men were
very good for the time, it was still rough and often dangerous
work. The strict rules on safety at work which are universal
today were yet to come, and there were many casualties from the
use of dynamite, railway accidents, chiselling stone without
eye protection, and even from drowning in the reservoirs. The
accident hospital in the navvies village
below the Caban Coch dam site was never short of patients.
Many of the labourers lived in the temporary wooden village.
At the recreation room in the village writing classes for the
men were provided on Sunday afternoons. This was to encourage
the navvies, most of them living far from home, to keep in touch
with their families and friends.
During the years of the waterworks scheme it was not uncommon
for workers to be killed in accidents without their identities
being known. Many travelling labourers used false names or were
known by nicknames, and the authorities would then be unable
to notify relatives about their deaths.
In the event of the death of a married workman while employed
in the Elan Valley works, his wife would be compensated with
about three months wages. She (and in many cases, her children)
would, however, have to leave the accommodation provided in the
village and would have a very uncertain future despite the Birmingham
Corporation's relatively generous compensation.
