53°47′58″N 2°03′05″W / 53.7994°N 2.0514°W Walshaw Dean Reservoirs are three reservoirs situated above Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England. They are between Hebden Bridge and Top Withins, a ruined farmhouse near Haworth, the reputed inspiration for "Wuthering Heights" in the novel of the same name by Emily Brontë.[1]
The reservoirs' catchments are dominated by peatland habitats.[2] The reservoirs drain into the Calder Valley.
On 19 May 1989 Walshaw Dean Lodge entered the UK Weather Records with the Highest 120-min total rainfall at 193 mm; however, the Met Office expresses 'reservations' about this record.[3]
To cope with the growing population of Halifax, construction of the reservoirs was put out to tender by Halifax Corporation. The winning bid, for £170,766 (1900) (equivalent to £17.92 million or US$22.88 million in 2019)[4], was submitted by Enoch Tempest.[5]
To house the navvies working on construction a temporary shanty town named Dawson City was built, with a narrow-gauge railway, Blake Dean Railway, to transport navvies and construction materials to the sites of the reservoirs.
The reservoirs are on the Pennine Way.