Ladybower and the Lost Village of Derwent
Round Ladybower in the Upper Derwent Valley to the drowned village of Derwent, its ruins showing after a long dry summer.
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Ladybower Reservoir sits in the Upper Derwent Valley just off the Snake Pass. It was finished in the 1940s and sends water south to Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. To build it, the villages of Ashopton and Derwent were flooded.
After a long, hot summer I was shocked how empty it was in October, and the remains of Derwent village had come up out of the water. The route goes down to the bridge at Ashopton, loops round to the far end to the lost village and the Derwent Dam, made famous by the Dambusters, and back.
Highlights
- Remains of Derwent village
- Derwent Dam
- Ashopton viaduct
- Distance
- 6 miles (9.7 km)
- Route
- circular
- Difficulty
- easy
- Start
- Ladybower, off the Snake Pass
- Parking
- Car parks by Ladybower
- Terrain
- Lakes & meres, Hills, History
