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Aswan High Dam
Aswan Dam is the name of two dams, both located Aswan, Egypt. Most commonly today the name refers to the High Dam, which is the newer of the two. Construction on the High Dam was completed in 1970, and has had immeasurable impacts on the economy and culture of Egypt. The earlier Old Aswan Dam, or Aswan Low Dam, was completed in 1902. The aim of both projects was to regulate river flooding, to provide storage of water for agriculture, and later, to generate electricity. The former cataract and the Old Aswan Dam are about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) (686 kilometres (426 mi)) up-river and south-southeast of Cairo. The new Aswan High Dam is further 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) upriver from the older dam.

Before the dams were built, the River Nile flooded each year during summer, as water flowed down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water, plus natural nutrients and minerals that continuously enriched the fertile soil along the river and made the Nile valley ideal for farming, as it had since ancient times. As Egypt's population grew and conditions changed, there came a desire to control the flood waters to both protect and support farmland and economically important cotton fields. In high-water years, the whole crop might be wiped out, while in low-water years widespread drought and famine occasionally occurred. With the reservoir storage provided by these dams, the floods could be lessened, and the water could be stored for later release.
The earliest attempt of building a dam in Aswan dates back to the 1000s, when the Iraqi polymath and engineer Ibn al-Haytham (known as Alhazen in the West) was summoned to Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, to regulate the flooding of the Nile, a task requiring an early attempt at an Aswan Dam.[1] After his field work made him aware of the impracticality of this scheme,[2] and fearing the caliph's anger, he feigned madness. He was kept under house arrest from 1011 until al-Hakim's death in 1021, during which time he wrote his influential Book of Optics.

Following their 1882, invasion and occupation of Egypt, the British began construction of the first dam across the Nile in 1898. Construction lasted until 1902, and it was opened on 10 December 1902, by HRH the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. The project was designed by Sir William Willcocks and involved several eminent engineers of the time, including Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird, whose firm, John Aird & Co., was the main contractor.[3][4] A gravity dam, it was 1,900 m long and 54 m high. The initial design was soon found to be inadequate and the height of the dam was raised in two phases, 1907-1912 and 1929-1933.

When the dam almost overflowed in 1946 it was decided that rather than raise the dam a third time, a second dam would be built 6 km upriver (about 4 miles). Proper planning began in 1954 just after the Egyptian Revolution led by the Free Officers, of whom Gamal Abdel Nasser was to become leader.
In 1955 Nasser was trying to portray himself as the leader of Arab nationalism, in opposition to Hashemite Iraq, especially following the Baghdad Pact of 1955. At this time the US was concerned with the possibility of communism spreading to the Middle East, and saw Nasser as a natural leader of an anti-communist Arab league. The US and Britain offered to help finance construction of the high dam with a loan of US$270 million in return for Nasser's leadership in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Nasser presented himself as a tactical neutralist, and sought work the US and USSR for Egyptian and Arab benefit.[5]

After Israel defeated Egyptian forces in 1956, Nasser realised that he could not legitimately portray himself as the leader of pan-Arab nationalism if Israel could push him around militarily. He looked to quickly modernise his military, and he turned first to the US.

US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and US President Dwight Eisenhower told Nasser that the US would supply him with weapons only if they could send military personnel to supervise the training and use of the weapons. Nasser did not like these conditions and looked to the Soviet Union. Dulles believed that Nasser was only bluffing, and that the USSR would not aid Nasser. But the USSR promised Nasser a quantity of arms in exchange for a deferred payment of Egyptian grain and cotton. Instead of retaliating against Nasser for turning to the Soviets, Dulles sought to improve relations with him. This explains the US/British offer of December 1955.

Though the Czechoslovak arms deal actually increased US willingness to invest in Aswan, the British cited the deal as a reason for withdrawing their funding. What angered Dulles much more was Nasser’s recognition of communist China, which was in direct conflict with Dulles's policy of containment. There are several other reasons why the US decided to withdraw the offer of funding. Dulles believed that the Soviet Union would not

After my uneventful dmu journey to & from Macclesfield on the ex-MBMR I returned to High Lane (again the only passenger to alight) & the 3/4 mile walk to Middlewood (ex-LNWR) station, the journey by train to Buxton & bus back to Hartington.

This not particularly inspiring photo - especially with the telegraph pole smack in the middle - shows my train departing northwards from the bottom of the ramp up to the A6. I remember that my intention was to climb up to the A6 bridge to take a shot of the train leaving but it started to move so this was all I could grab.

Was it worth it spending a whole day travelling for these 4 photos? I like to think so as the line did close in 1970 & this journey is no longer possible. The only part still open is at the very north where a short spur to Rose Hill station remained in place.