Building of the Lake. Taken from The Times 1905

Our Times correspondent announces that the New castle and Gateshead Water Company has just finished a great engineering work which it has had in hand tor some years the construction of a huge more properly a natural lake at in Upper Redesdalc There they found a spacious basin surrounded by hills and having one Opening towards the south. They have made a dam across the neck of the basin and the reservoir thus fashioned is now filling satisfactorily.

The River Rede runs through the basin and the impounding of the flood water is believed to be sufficient for the needs of the district for 30 years to come. The dam is 90ft high 600 yards long from end to end and 510 ft wide. A bye wash has been provided.

The reservoir is reservoir or Catcleug engineers to take away the surplus water 270 acres in extent the drainage area is 10,000 acres and the capacity of the lake is 2 345 000 000. The bye wash is 200 yards long and is built in sloping terraces to prevent the Washing away.

The bed is formed of closely set stones on the top of concrete. The bye wash is spanned by a bridge of five arches built at a cost of £150 000. About 500 000 tons of material were required to build the dam or embankment.

It is absolutely clear water and is carried down below the original surface of the ground to rest on suitable foundations. There is a hard core on either side of which material is packed the sides being dressed with stone and sloping away at a gradient roughly of one in three. At the bottom there is a stone toe. The daily average accumulation of water is thirteen million gallons of which three million gallons go to the compensation of riparian owners the remaining ten millions being sent through a 30 in pipe 27 miles is 800  above sea gallons impervious to to Newcastle.