We set off late Sunday afternoon from the Upper Derwent Visitor Centre, crossing below the majesty of the dam that holds the Derwent reservoir. It was this dam where the Lancaster’s practiced dropping Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bomb during the Second World War when practicing for the raids on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe Dams in Germany. In memory of this event surviving Lancaster’s fly over the Derwent reservoir each year, but not as low as the original planes that flew a mere 60 feet above the surface of the lake, barely scraping over the rim of the dam.
This part of the route is actually a prequel to the Derwent Valley Heritage Way which starts further south, but we felt it appropriate to start at the base of the older Derwent Dam built around 1920.
We made our way up to the far side of the dam to look north along the reservoir. Below the bleak moorland the wooded slopes cascade down to the water’s edge cloaking the lower hillsides. The scene is reminiscent of a Scottish estuary at high tide
About-face, we turned south and set off down the eastern side of the Ladybower Reservoir. It was late afternoon and we could feel the sun on our faces between the trees as it sunk down behind bleak low moor?
The road along the west side of the Ladybower Reservoir is a picturesque way of accessing the visitor centre. But the gentle lane along the east side is traffic free, more pleasant for the walker, as you only need to avoid the odd trail bike. Listening to the bird song as you go.
The Ladybower Reservoir was built later in 1938-9 and required the removal of two villages, Ashopton and Derwent. We passed close by the remnants of the village, where because the water was low, foundations were still visible. I remember as a boy travelling from Nottinghamshire with my family in my father’s old jalopy to see the spire of a church projecting out of the water in the middle of the reservoir when the water level was low in the summer. But it has since collapsed into the water and the remains of the church and the village can no longer be seen.
We continued down the eastern arm of the reservoir passing the usual grazing sheep, but more unusually a flock of Canada Geese quietly grazing on the hillside as well. Just before we reached the main A57 road from Sheffield in the east, that crosses the reservoir before climbing over the Snake Pass to reach Manchester in the west, we turned left on a track up the hill, away from the traffic to cut along the southern slope of Lead Hill, behind the few remaining houses of Ashopton that were spared the inundation. Climbing amongst the bracken, we were rewarded with breathtaking views both up the reservoir to the forest on Wooler Knoll, and down the reservoir to the Hope Valley and Offerton Moor beyond.
From our vantage point above the field behind Ladybower House we descended down, the only uneven and eroded stretch of the walk, to the Ladybower Inn where we received a warm welcome. Classic pub food – steak and kidney pie and chunky chip wedges washed down with Theakston’s XB set us up for the night. I was in room 1 with a view along the road to the reservoir, but, with the window open, the traffic noise from 7am may wake a late riser!
Footnote: You could catch the 273 bus from Sheffield to the Ladybower Inn and make a circular walk going up the west side to the Upper Derwent Visitor Centre and back down the east side (8 miles). But we dropped our luggage off at the Inn and hitched a lift to the Upper Derwent Visitor Centre.
