55 



10,000,000 in addition would cost about ;^4oo,ooo. The building 

 of the embankment is not regarded by engineers as being a work 

 of much difficulty, owing to the character of the surroundings, 

 which afford every possible facility for the impounding of water. 

 It will be two hundred and thirty-six yards long, sixty feet above 

 the present water level, and the lake will be within ten feet of its 

 summit. It is intended that compensation water shall be dis- 

 charged into St. John's Beck by means of a tunnel driven through 

 the solid rock ; therS will be no pipe through the embankment ; 

 thus what in many cases is a source of danger will be avoided. 

 The present superficial area of Thirlmere is three hundred and 

 fifteen acres. When the lake is raised fifty feet, as proposed, this 

 will be increased to nearly eight hundred acres, and the level above 

 the sea will then be five hundred and eighty-four feet.'' 



The Manchester Courier says: — "The embankment will be 

 constructed so as to be in character with the scenery around. 

 There will be no engineering structures upon it or around it to 

 mar the beauty of the scene, and the public will gain the advantage 

 of ready access to the western side of the lake by the new road 

 intended to be formed. The embankment need not be a straight 

 stiff line, as such works generally are ; but the contour may be as 

 irregular as the lovers of the picturesque may desire. In a few 

 years, when covered with trees and vegetation, as it will be — the 

 same as Great Howe and the hills around — its artificial character 

 would make it none the less a charming feature in the landscape ; 

 while the capacity of the lake will be more than doubled, thereby 

 adding vastly by its increased extent to the beauty and grandeur 

 of the scenery, while it is, at the same time, providing hundreds of 

 thousands of people with one of the necessaries of life." 



There is great difference of opinion in regard to what will be the 

 effect produced by the proposed scheme, and the promoters met 

 with determined opposition from numbers of influential gentlemen 

 belonging to all parts of the kingdom, who formed what was called 

 the Thirlmere Defence Association. Before the Select Committee 

 of the House of Commons they opposed the Bill in 1878. This 

 had the effect of several modifications being introduced in regard 



