Reaps Farm, Gorple

Probably dating from early 1930s, we see Mary Hannah Greenwood (nee Speak) on the right with an unknown companion. They are on the track above the Gorple reservoir workings, possibly returning to Colden after attending the Blake Dean Chapel anniversary. Directly behind Mary Hannah can be seen the white gable end of a farm called “Dry Summer” (earlier one of two Reaps farms). Teas were served from here for visitors coming to view the Gorple reservoir workings, and beyond that are the huts where the navvies lived. The barn on the left of the picture (also white) had been converted to a beerhouse, named Gorple Canteen, which served the navvies working on the reservoir construction.