A story I worked on for three decades with the help of locals I interviewed many now gone from us, with pictures and stories from their past, I hope you enjoy this blast from the past.

www.mardale.green.talktalk.net

I got through about half of the website last night, thanks, very interesting to see the lifestyle/architecture. What was your motivation for this? Did you consider authoring a book about Mardale Green? What are you thoughts on what happened there? Ie was it a crime?

The valley was a place we used to visit as a child with family so when the village was visible again since it was flooded I walked across the mountains to see it after hearing about the village on the radio.
The next time it showed I started to look for the people who once lived in the valley before they all died out.

With the help of a few others who never talked to each other, but had lots of seperate information and sort of gealously garding their knowledge, I became intermediary between them all and shared out the information with every ones permission.

I do think it a crime that TPTB simply sold everyones livelihood away for a megre £150,000 for what the owner got for the whole valley, they would'nt get away with it today I don't think.

The dam that keeps the valley full is againg fast and is well past it's 70th birthday and I'm not sure how long it is suppost to last, hopefully a 100 years and then taken down again and a valley to behold and rebuilt once again.

Fascinating stuff.
I know cumbria very well and especially westmorland.

Despite that I think I've only seen mardale a couple of times.

I still like to think of the area as Westmoreland and try and get across as often as we can, if this year fontinues as it is doing it will mimic the other drought years when the bridge and pub become visible in around 3 months of no rain.
Last show saw locals flogging booklets on the valley at the entrance to the fell footpath above Goosemire and I might set up an information hub myself, with a display of the paintings I have comissioned over the years, next show.