Lake Vyrnwy — a reservoir in Powys, Wales — has evaporated enough to reveal the remains of the village of Llanwddyn. The remnants of the village were last seen during the 1976 drought, local media reported. After endless weeks of scorching, record-breaking high temperatures across the UK, Loch Vyrnwy is one of many rivers and reservoirs to have shrunk. According to the UK Met Office, record temperatures for Wales were observed on July 18 in northeastern Flintshire, reaching 37.1 degrees Celsius (98.8 degrees Fahrenheit), about 45 miles (72 kilometers) from Lake Vyrnwy. Photographer Phil Blagg told CNN on Tuesday that parts of the village began to emerge a week ago, but he waited until the last minute before the rain to capture the ruins when the water was at its lowest. Blagg, who has lived in mid Wales for 28 years and has visited the lake many times, took the pictures on Saturday. “The most amazing thing I saw was the bridge on the road that went over the village stream,” he said. “(In 1800) it flooded and now, 140 years later, you can see it again, almost as it looked then.” “You can clearly make out the road from the tree stumps in a row. The pillars (are) still in place, (as are) parts of the houses and the village walls,” he added. Among the ruins of Llanwddyn are the remains of roads and houses. Photo by Phil Blagg When the valley of the River Vyrnwy was closed to build a dam to limit the flow of the river, the village of Llanwddyn — including the churchyard — was moved, before the former village was submerged. According to Hafren Dyfrdwy, the water and waste company that manages the reservoir, the village consisted of a parish church, two chapels, three inns, 10 farmhouses and 37 houses, the ruins of which can be seen today. A spokeswoman for Hafren Dyfrdwy told CNN on Tuesday that the changed landscape has sparked a lot of interest in the lake, adding that they have been inundated with calls.
