AFFORESTATION OF CATCHMENT AREAS 99 
varies in altitude from 486 to 2060 feet elevation, with an 
average annual rainfall of 40 to 50 inches. Very little 
planting has been done in this catchment area, the total 
area planted being about 120 acres on the Cheshire side 
and about 30 acres on the Derbyshire side of the valley. 
There are seven storage reservoirs: Woodhead, 782 feet 
elevation; Torside, 650 feet; Rhodes Wood, 574 feet; 
Vale House, 503 feet; Bottoms, 486 feet; Arnfield, 540 
feet ; and Hollingworth, 554 feet. The two latter reservoirs 
are to the west of Tintwistle. The water is passed through 
copper wire gauze strainers, but is not filtered. J. F. L. T. 
Bateman, History and Description of Manchester Waterworks, 
p- 152 (1884), gives an account, with map, of the Longden- 
dale water catchment area. 
Leeds obtains its water supply from the Washburn 
Valley, a tributary of the Wharfe, about eight miles west of 
Harrogate. As this district is now being afforested by the 
Corporation, it is interesting to know that it was formerly 
part of the Royal Forest of Knaresborough, which remained 
thickly wooded till the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Iron 
smelting was then extensively carried on, which resulted in 
the gradual destruction of the timber, so that by 1700 few 
trees were left. The district was enclosed under Act of 
Parliament of 1770, and some of the land was subsequently 
broken up and cultivated. 
The Washburn Valley has a catchment area of 21,552 
acres, consisting of two divisions. The lower division, 
4505 acres, is reserved for compensation water, which is 
collected in the Lindley Wood reservoir at 299 feet altitude. 
The upper division, 17,047 acres, is reserved for domestic 
purposes, and has two reservoirs, Swinsty reservoir at 449 
feet elevation and Fewston reservoir at 503 feet. 
Between 1867 and 1900 Leeds Corporation acquired, 
out of the whole area, about 10,700 acres, which consist 
chiefly of gently sloping land on either side of the Wash- 
burn, descending from an upper limit of 900-1390 feet to 
the levels of the reservoirs, 299-449 feet. The geological 
