I remember the little mountain village of Bryn Eglwys in the 1940s.
The Vicar, Reverend W. Roger Hughes, was in charge of his village and incumbent of his church, but the one thing that grieved him was the lack of adequate lighting to illuminate his lovely little church, of which he was so proud. The church services during the winter months of Evensong were especially trying. There seemed no way out of his predicament in those far-off days.
One day he looked out from his vicarage and thought about the little stream that bubbled and ran down from the mountain past his house and to the village throughout the year. He thought that if he could dam the river and build a shed to house a dynamo, then get a water wheel to turn the dynamo, powered by a jet of water from the dam, his problem was nearly solved. It was arranged that a series of posts and wires be constructed between the dam at the vicarage and the church in the village, a distance of about half a mile, so that the sluice could be operated from the Vestry at the Church. At a given signal by the Vicar the verger would start the dynamo at the beginning of the Service.
The next job was to get the plan started with sufficient volunteers of the right calibre to carry through the project. Eventually the task was completed and it was a proud day indeed for the Vicar when he gave the signal to the verger standing at the back of the church to switch on the power, illuminating the Bryn Eglwys church and congregation by electric light for the first time. 
