Upper Derwent Valley
The Derwent, Howden and Ladybower Reservoirs make up the Upper Derwent Valley.
The reservoirs were created in the early 20th Century to provide 10,000 million gallons of water for the growing urban population in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. Over 1000 people were involved in building the reservoirs and were housed in the temporary ‘Tin Town’ at Birchinlee. There are the flooded of villages of Derwent and Ashopton – when water levels are low, you may get a glimpse of the village remains. The settlements of Derwent and Ashopton were abandoned to make way for the reservoirs and the imposing neo-gothic dams were built in the deep valley to contain and control the fast flowing moorland rivers. The Derwent, Howden and Ashopton Resevoirs were in fact once the training site of the famous Dambusters Squadron.
To find out more, visit www.stwater.co.uk
