Elan Valley
September 2025
The Milky Way falling over the Craig Goch Reservoir.
The Elan Valley, nestled in mid-Wales, is renowned for its dramatic Victorian dams and reservoirs, which continue to supply water to Birmingham. Designated as an International Dark Sky Park, it offers superb stargazing opportunities and is a popular destination for outdoor pursuits such as cycling and walking.
The historic dams provide a striking foreground, while the reservoirs and pristine night skies create the chance for starry reflections. In autumn, the Milky Way rises almost vertically, beautifully echoing the shape of the valve towers that crown the dams.
After checking the forecast in the morning, I set off on the four-hour drive to Rhayader in Powys, arriving in the afternoon with time to explore and scout compositions before nightfall.
And what a night it turned out to be—crystal-clear skies in one of the darkest areas of the UK, perfect for capturing the majesty of the heavens above the Elan Valley.
The Alyn Wallace Memorial honours the celebrated astrophotographer who tragically passed away at a young age. Alyn inspired countless people to explore the beauty of the night sky through photography and played a pivotal role in promoting Wales as a Dark Sky destination. The memorial itself overlooks the Craig Goch reservoir, a fitting vantage point for a man who dedicated his life to capturing the heavens.
Exploring compositions around the Craig Goch Dam, I found the reservoir’s water level unusually low after a long, dry summer. Fortunately, the reduced level made little difference to the photographs, and the dam still provided striking scenes to capture.
Star trails looking north over Garreg Ddu taken over a period of an hour. The 120 times 30 seconds exposures are combined together using the StarStax app.
Taken around 8 pm looking south over Garreg Ddu reservoir towards the dam. 12 shots stacked in Sequator to reduce camera sensor noise for the sky and 1 shot for the foreground.
It was a truly magical night, with stars shining brilliantly overhead. I’m grateful to astro_abby_photography for the company and to the other photographers I met along the way. I wrapped up around 3 a.m. before heading back to the room I’d booked, catching a few hours of sleep ahead of a hearty full Welsh breakfast and the drive home.
A technical hiccup meant that all my night images were captured in JPEG rather than RAW, which doesn’t preserve as much detail. At first I was gutted when I realised, but I was relieved to find that the results were still more than respectable. Credit to Nikon and the Z6 camera for delivering despite the setback!
If you would like to see more moon images, then please take a look at my Portfolio on this site.