46: Draycote Water

What to do on a grey day - go black and white!

This picture was taken at Draycote Water which is a reservoir and country park owned by Severn Trent Water. The reservoir was created in the 1960s and was opened in January 1969 and is by far the largest expanse of water in Warwickshire. It covers more than 600 acres (240 hectares) and holds up to 5 billion gallons (23 million m³) of water. The water is extracted by a tower on the north west side of the reservoir. The embankment here was, for a time, the second largest dam in the world - only the Aswan dam of Egypt was larger. The reservoir is filled by water that is pumped uphill from the river Leam at Eathorpe village and also from a supply at Stanford reservoir north of Rugby. It supplies drinking water to Rugby, via Barby Storage Reservoir, and is named after the nearby hamlet of Draycote.