thousandmilesblog | Walk Post 018 - Long One at Ladybower

Date of Walk: 28/03/10
Walk organized by: Saddleworth Pedestrians
Start time: 10:00
Start location: Rough Wood car park, Ladybower Reservoir
Walk length: 11.28 miles
Weather conditions: Sunny, warm

View from Derwent Moors over the northern section of Ladybower

Details:
The second of two beautiful days in the Peak District, and in a place I've always fancied walking. Random aside of the day, the 'peak' in Peak District doesn't refer to mountain peaks, it's 'peac', from the Old English word for hill.

Ladybower reservoir is quite large, and shaped a bit like a Y (or a giraffe falling down stairs). There are two viaducts crossing it, one carrying the Snake Road from Glossop to Sheffield and the other a road from the Snake down to Bamford. It's the most southern of three reservoirs in the Upper Derwent Valley, and was built to help control water levels in the upper reservoirs, which supply water to the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. An aqueduct running from the reservoir passes through the parkland of Chatsworth House. When Ladybower was filled, the villages of Ashopton and Derwent were lost beneath the water. Many of the buildings of Derwent were not destroyed, and became visible during a dry summer years later. People would swim out to try to touch the church clock tower, but after several people drowned the tower was destroyed.

Just north of Ladybower is the Upper Derwent Reservoir, which was completed in 1916. It's now a very tranquil and beautiful place, but is widely known for having been somewhat noisier during the Second World War, when the RAF's 617 squadron used it for low-level flying practice to prepare for Operation Chastise (the Dam Busters raid). At the southern end of the reservoir is the beautiful Derwent Dam, separating it from Ladybower, and to the north is the Howden Dam and Howden Reservoir.

To the south of the three reservoirs is Win Hill and Hope Valley, to the west is Hope Forest, east is Derwent Moors and Howden Moor and further north is Langsett. There are plenty of hill tops from which to enjoy the views.

9 people completed the walk, starting from Rough Wood car park and heading along Snake Road, crossing the viaduct to reach a footpath on the other side that took us through Ladybower Wood and past the old quarries to Cutthroat Bridge, where we had a coffee stop. The bridge was named for a murder that took place there 400 years ago, before the bridge had been built. The victim was found wandering in the area and did not die until two days later. More recently a headless body was discovered there in the 1990s and two men from Sheffield were charged with the murder. Still seemed like a nice place to have coffee, but then I only Googled that afterwards.

After coffee we headed across Derwent Moors, where a long climb into the wind really drained my energy levels. I was glad to reach the top and catch sight of the reservoir again. We headed north along a path that was still quite high up but ran parallel to the reservoir, then descended to the eastern bank, meeting rather a lot of mountain bikers along the way. We stopped for lunch in the shelter close to the bank, which looks very handy for a rainy day and even has a bench inside, and enjoyed the view across the reservoir towards Win Hill, which I walked up last September and was nearly mugged for my lunch by sheep.

We then walked along the east bank, passing an old building that looks like a church and several fields with new-born lambs. On reaching Derwent Dam we followed the road west in front of it and stopped for a while at Fairholmes visitor centre. We then continued past the Derwent Dam and alongside the reservoir until the road curved to the west, where we joined a path taking us back south. It was a very long climb, but I always find those easier in the afternoon. After climbing through woodland for a while we emerged into the sun near the top of the hill, and continued through lots of farmland, stopping for a short break along the way. We walked back across more farm fields, with more lambs, passing the odd double peak of Crook Hill and then going down the hill to join the road that runs alongside Ladybower back to the Snake, turning back along this to the car park.

It was a lovely walk and a beautiful day, but a bit longer in miles and hours than I'd been expecting, so I finished it quite tired and anxious to get home. I'd also run out of anything to drink before the last break, where somebody very kindly gave me some orange juice. Now that the weather is warming up, I may have to think about needing to drink more. I've had a couple of conversations about hydration packs, which reduce the need to take off and rummage around in my rucksack, and it's something I'll probably look into.

Walking across Derwent Moors

Looking across from the shelter towards Win Hill

Just for comparison, this was taken last September from the top of Win Hill looking across the reservoir from the opposite side

Very wobbly-looking lamb

Pretty old church-like building

Views of Derwent Dam

Upper Derwent Reservoir

Either Upper Derwent or Ladybower reservoir from the afternoon break spot. I can't work out which based on where we stopped, but either way it's quite a good view.