Dolgarrog and Maentwrog Dams photographed by the engineer James Gerrard shortly before and after the Dolgarrog Dam Disaster
James Gerrard, aged 19 in 1925, worked as a construction engineer based in Maentwrog. After leaving North Wales he went to work for McAlpines, building the East Lancs. Road from Liverpool to Lancaster. He was honoured with an honorary M.Eng. degree from Liverpool University for his services in building the veterinary school there. During the war he was assigned to 'covert operations' in connection with the development of mustard gas. His final employer was ICI, and the majority of his papers have been deposited in the ICI Archive.
[N.B. The newspaper article included in this collection refers to Geoffrey Gerrard who also worked at Dolgarrog at the time of the disaster, but was no relation. James Gerrard was in fact unaware of his existence at the time, but was presumably sufficiently bemused by the coincidence to keep the article, which was found amongst these photographs after his death.]