Scar House: The ambitious reservoir project which created its very own Yorkshire village
In 1921 work began on the construction of the most ambitious reservoir project seen in Yorkshire.
Scar House, in the upper reaches of Nidderdale, would cost over £2m – a tremendous sum at the time – and take around one million tons of concrete and stone.
More than 30 miles of pipeline would convey water to the kitchens, mills and factories of Bradford.
It required a specially created village to be built on the bleak, remote hillside overlooking the site. Scar Village would become a self-supporting community of 2,000 workers and their families.
It was no shanty town, however, but a village of chalets and bungalows complete with electricity, hot and cold running water, and bathrooms with indoor flushing toilets.
It is said that the facilities were better than those found at the town of Pateley Bridge further down Nidderdale.
In all there were ten large hostels for single workmen, 43 semi-detached bungalows and 28 family houses in five blocks.
Other buildings included a school with places for 90 pupils, shops, post office, bank, library, laundry and a hairdresser.
A small hospital with doctor and nurse looked after health needs. There was even a village fire brigade and police constable.
To make construction possible, a ten-mile-long light railway was built from Pateley Bridge.
After 15 years the reservoir was completed in 1936 and currently provides Bradford with 100 million litres of water a day.
Scar Village was dismantled but the foundations can still be clearly seen, along with a series of interpretation boards provided by Yorkshire Water.