The Lord Mayor of Bradford recently travelled to Nidderdale Museum to unveil an iconic stone monument of part of Angram Dam which was carved by two of the stonemasons working there in 1913.
The dam was part of a series of 3 reservoirs built by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department in the early 1900s. They provided water to the city of Bradford, travelling over 30 miles purely by gravity, and they are still supplying the city, so it was fitting that the current Lord Mayor came to unveil the monument. He was joined by Sue Welch, Chairman of Nidderdale Museum, and Joyce Dixon, the granddaughter of one of the stonemasons.
The monument had originally stood outside a Waterworks Treatment plant, but some years ago it was going to be thrown away, so descendants of the stonemasons retrieved it and it has stood in a garden in East Morton since then.
The death of that descendant and sale of the garden meant it needed a new home, and it was offered as a donation to the Museum. Yorkshire Water were approached and agreed to help financially, so it was possible to rescue the monument, restore it and re-erect it outside the Museum, to be a lasting memorial to this massive construction project. Volunteers also created a display board so that visitors can read about the reservoirs before coming inside and seeing other photos and videos.