About Upper Derwent Valley
The Upper Derwent Valley is situated in the stunning Peak District National Park. It is the perfect place to enjoy some the UK's most beautiful landscapes.
Upper Derwent Valley Description
The Derwent, Howden and Ladybower Reservoirs that make up the Upper Derwent Valley 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.
The history of Upper Derwent
The reservoirs of Derwent and Howden were built nearly 100 years ago to supply the cities of Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. Over 1000 people were involved in building them and were housed in the temporary ‘Tin Town’ at Birchinlee. Ladybower was completed in 1945 to supply an ever increasing demand. This resulted in the flooding of the 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 valley sides were planted with thousands upon thousands of conifers to protect the steep slopes and the precious water below.
What will I find there today?
Today the Upper Derwent Valley is a popular visitor attraction with over 2 million visitors per year. The site is renowned for it’s natural beauty and managed by Severn Trent Water in partnership with Peak District National Park Authority.
What wildlife will I see?
The conifer plantations have been carefully maintained to become vast woodland areas home to the threatened Goshawk. You may also see some of the Red Grouse, Ring Ouzel and Merlin who have made their home on the nearby moorlands of the Dark Peak.
Not many people know. . .
The Derwent, Howden and Ashopton Resevoirs were in fact once the training site of the famous Dambusters Squadron.
Reviews
Just a reminder that our sites remain closed. We thank you all for helping to limit the spread of the virus by staying home. We look forward to welcoming you all back when it is safe to do so 😊
#stayhomesavelives
Wishing you all a very happy Easter Sunday, please follow government guidance and #stayhomesavelives
#stayhomesavelives
#stayhomesavelives
We were really looking forward to welcoming everyone for our Easter trail this year but with our site being closed we had some eggs that we wanted to make sure went to good use. We had the egg-cellent idea of donating them 😊
We donated our Easter eggs to Ashgate Hospice and Chesterfield Royal Hospital in the hope that they can bring some joy to people at this very difficult time.
We want to wish all of our visitors a very Happy Easter and we can’t wait to welcome you all back when it is safe to open.
Just a reminder that our sites are closed until further notice. We know that the vast majority of you are following government guidance. We are, however, still getting some people coming to our sites. After a report from a member of the public about people accessing one of our sites, our rangers found this boat abandoned and had to retrieve it. Please stay home, support the NHS and save lives.
#stayhomesavelives
With the weather looking nice today we want to remind you that our site is closed. We will remain closed until it is safe to open. Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives. Thank you.
#StayHomeSaveLives
With the weather improving this weekend we want to remind you that our site is closed. We will remain closed until it is safe to open. Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives. Thank you.
#StayHomeSaveLives
Thanks for helping us to support the NHS by staying home. Our sites will remain closed until it’s safe to open.
#thankyounhs
⚠️ ⛔ Just a reminder that we're closed, along with all other Severn Trent visitor sites, to help limit the spread of Coronavirus.
Please don’t come to the site this weekend. We will be closed until further notice.
Although we know it’s important for you to have access to nature, it’s much more important that we help protect the safety and wellbeing of you and your loved ones.
... Following government guidelines, we urge everyone to stay local, keep at least two metres apart and not to travel.
We’ll let you know if anything changes, but in the meantime please stay safe.
stwater.co.uk/…/our-vi…/come-visit-us /visitor-sites-closure/
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All of our visitor sites will be closed today until further notice, this includes all of our trails. We feel this is the best way to keep our visitors, communities and staff safe at this unprecedented time. We look forward to welcoming you all back when this crisis has passed.
As of this afternoon we’ve sadly taken the decision to close our visitor areas at the Upper Derwent Valley (this includes our car parks and facilities at Fairholmes, Heatherdene and Bridge End) to help limit the spread of Coronavirus. Although we know it’s important for our customers to have access to nature, it’s much more important that we protect the safety and wellbeing of all our visitors and their loved ones. Following the government guidelines, we urge everyone to stay local, keep at least two metres apart and not to travel. We’ll let you know if anything changes, but in the meantime please stay safe.
We are asking for all of our visitors to listen to and respect the governments advice.
We are trying our best to keep our sites open and give people green, open space that is going to be a vital lifeline for many in our local communities. The behaviour we saw yesterday by some made us see that not everyone is listening to advice about social distancing.
When coming to our sites please regularly wash your hands and remain at least 2 metres away from other family groups. For no...w we are staying open and charging as we believe that this is the best way for us to manage visitor numbers and the traffic issues which would happen if we closed our car parks.
Please help us to continue to offer people some much needed open space.
We are all very busy trying to keep our sites safe so may be slower to respond today.
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Our site is still open. Car parks and toilets are open as usual.
When coming to site we ask you to follow government advice; only come if you are not displaying symptoms of the Coronavirus, wash hands regularly (we have hand washing facilities at our visitor centre and next to the play area) and keep at least 2 metres away from other visitors.
🚶We have miles of trails- plenty of space to keep a distance from others.
... ☕️Our kiosk remains open for takeaway only. There is a strict cleaning regime in place and we have measures in place to ensure social distancing.
🚲Our bike hire and visitor centre are currently closed.
Thank you!
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UPDATE- Our visitor sites are open but with measures in place to help keep visitors safe.
We know how valuable getting out into the fresh air is for our mental and physical well being. We are working hard to ensure our spaces are safe for everyone. Our car parks, toilets and play areas currently remain open.
We are working with our businesses to see what measures to take in light of the most recent announcement. We will publish a full list of what is open and how it is operat...ing in the morning.
Please continue to follow our pages and we will keep you updated.
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⚠️ If you plan to visit our site this weekend please take extra care. Strong winds and rain are forecast from Storm Dennis! Please check you local forecast before traveling 🌬️ 🍃⚠️
The Visitors Centre and Cycle hire at Fairholmes will be closed this Sunday. Apologies to anyone planning to visit us this weekend! The cafe and toilet facilities will be open as usual.
The view of Hope Cross from our Forest Boundary. Stood at the crossroads of an ancient Packhorse route since 1737! 🐴