Silent Valley project to secure water supply for a growing Belfast’s industry and population

Belfast 11 October 1923 - A new scheme to secure the future of Belfast’s public water supply has been launched.

Lord Carson of Duncairn yesterday turned the sod on the site of the Silent Valley reservoir which is situated in the pictureseque Mourne Mountains, near Kilkeel, and will aim to provide storage capacity for 3,000 million gallons of water.

The scheme has been rendered necessary owing to the steady growth in the region’s population and the increase in manufacturing activity within the area of supply. The reservoir will be formed by the construction of an earthen embankment across the Kilkeel River, in the Silent Valley, and once filled will create a lake almost two miles long and one third of a mile wide. It will also boast a water area of 240 acres.

The cost of the construction will run up to £1m and the work is being undertaken by London-based engineering firm, Messrs. S. Pearson & Son Ltd.

Lord Carson, using a silver spade to cut the sod, spoke briefly to the assembled gathering, expressing his confidence that ‘this great engineering scheme [may] prove as successful as the many great schemes that have made your province great, and may the foresight of this Board prove a a great and huge blessing to the present and future populations of Belfast because believe me, Belfast, great as it is, is going to be far greater.’ Following the sod-turning ceremony, a luncheon was provided to the specially invited guests of the Belfast City and District Water Commissioners in a specially-erected marquee. 

 

 

Lord Carson and Miss Ambi Innes, grand-daughter of Mr. E. M'Elroy (deputy chairman of the board), with Borrow in which she wheeled away the sod (Image: the Belfast Newsletter, 11 October 1923) 

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]