AFFOEESTATION OF CATCHMENT AEEAS 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; Ehodes 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 Eoyal 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 



