WALKERS visiting the beautiful Elan Valley dams have caused outrage this week after they were seen climbing onto the wall face of one of the dams.

The reckless antics of a group of around four people were captured by one onlooker, who saw some climbing onto two rows of protruding stone blocks jutting out from the face of the Caban Coch dam’s outer wall.

The blocks, which are about 37 metres above the river bed and electricity generating turbines below, were used during the construction of the dam, built between 1893 and 1904, to support scaffolding.

The stunning architecture of the dams and vast beauty of the Elan Valley and Cambrian Mountains attracts half a million people yearly, but this group of visitors were condemned for the risks they took by people who saw the images and videos captured.

Evan Humphreys posted the images and one video on the popular Rhayader Solutions Facebook page, with the caption ‘Never seen this before’, on Monday, September 11.

One response read: “What the hell are they playing at? No thought for who would have to deal with them if they fell.”

Another said: “Someone needs to go up the path and get them to clear off”, while Dyfed Powys Police and the Elan Valley rangers were tagged by some posters.

One man said: “A year or two ago I reported four people walking across the top of the dam from one side to the other.”

Another commenter said: “I can't believe anyone could be so stupid”, adding that it had only been a few weeks since one dangerous incident in the area occurred, whereby a woman had to be rescued after falling over the edge trying to save her dog.

The group of visitors would have had to scramble down a steep grass ravine on the opposite side of the main road passing through the area, to the Elan Valley Visitor Centre, to gain access to the dam face.

County Times: One man can be seen standing on one of the stone blocks protruding out from the dam wall Credit Evan Humphreys Alt text Walkers dangerously clamber onto face of dam wall One man can be seen standing on one of the stone blocks protruding out from the dam wall Credit Evan Humphreys Alt text Walkers dangerously clamber onto face of dam wall (Image: Evan Humphreys)

One male can be seen precariously balancing on the sloped spillway at the top of the dam wall, gripping on to a ledge before he disappears into a gap in one of the stone towers which sit at either end of the top of the dam.

Another male can be seen standing and then sitting down on one of the protruding stone blocks built into the wall face in the top corner. He then gets up and walks to the corner and scrambles up the sloped spillway and into the same gap.

Two more people in the video are sat or stood on the edge of the ravine adjacent to the dam and, at one point, one of them edges to the top and a piece of what looks like rock or stone seemingly loosens and falls down into the spillway.

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The dam would ordinarily have water cascading down its outer face, but due to the recent dry weather, there is no flow and the stone blocks are visible to people visiting the Elan Valley.

Caban Coch is the lowest of the dams in the sequence of four built in the Elan River valley area. It is the simplest and most functional in appearance, but is a stunning sight when the reservoir is full and the dam is in full spate, with water pouring over the dam wall.

It is the second largest of the five main dams, boasting a capacity of 35,530 megalitres of water – second only to the Claerwen, which was the last of the dams built, in the 1940s and 50s