It is 30 years this month since the almost-complete dam wall at Carsington cracked and partially collapsed. It was to be another eight years before the reservoir was officially opened by the Queen, as Judith Parker Dixon reports.
THE MASSIVE EMBANKMENT for the new Carsington Reservoir was at an advanced stage of construction in June 1984 when a giant crack appeared – and heavy and prolonged rainfall led to a landslip which caused part of the dam to collapse…