If you’ve ever visited Haweswater you’ll know what a stunning view it is with the water, surrounding mountains and sheep, it’s your typical picturesque Lake District view. But this distracts you from what’s actually lying underneath the water.

There was a small rural community in Mardale valley. It was filled with houses, a small inn, church, farmland and a school. People lived and worked and went about their daily lives in this village enjoying their rural Cumbrian life. It should be noted that this is not some ancient abandoned settlement like Pompeii, it was a living community.

In the 1920’s a reservoir project began to provide Manchester with more water. Unfortunately for Mardale Green, being pretty wasn’t enough to save it!

This project meant that the valley was bought by The Manchester Corporation, residents were evicted and construction of the Haweswater dam began in 1929 so they could flood the valley.

The Measand School in the valley objected to the flooding but unfortunately there was nothing they could do. They then decided to move the school brick by brick to another location. Talk about determination!

Now there is almost nothing to show there was once life in the valley. If you are lucky when the water very levels are low you can see some of the remains but I suppose if that’s the case it’s probably bad news for Manchester!

It’s strange to think that beneath the peaceful surface of Haweswater is a place where people once went about completely ordinary lives — farming, working, raising families and probably complaining about the weather, just like everyone else in Cumbria.

Next time you’re at Haweswater, you’re not just looking at a reservoir. You’re looking at what remains of a valley that disappeared.