Upper Derwent Valley

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Upper Derwent Valley

The Upper Derwent Valley is situated in the stunning Peak District National Park. Ladybower was completed in 1945 to supply an ever increasing demand.
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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 Leic

ester. Over 1000 people were involved in building them and were housed in the temporary ‘Tin Town’ at Birchinlee. 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.

07/11/2024

Thanks to Margaret Ryles for sharing this wonderful autumn shot with us on Facebook 📸 🌲 🍂

A stunning time of year in the valley, feel free to share or tag us in your photos around site.

05/11/2024

Ladybower Fisheries early morning patrol on Saturday.

🌲 🍁 🍂

30/10/2024

Every year Severn Trent Green Power recycle leftover Halloween pumpkins to generate renewable energy So why not do your part to create a more sustainable environmental future and recycle your Halloween pumpkins in your food waste and help generate more renewable energy in the future 🎃

Severn Trent Green Power are hoping to recycle 100,000 pumpkins this year, this will generate around 77 megawatt hours of spook-tacular clean energy, enough to power more than 10,000 homes for a whole day 💡

Check with your local council to find out how you can recycle your Halloween pumpkins this year.

For more information visit www.stgreenpower.co.uk 🎃

17/10/2024

🍁 🍂 Lovely autumnal image of Paddleboarders on Ladybower, shared with us by Margaret Ryles on our page.

Please be aware that Paddlesports will not be running this Saturday however will continue as usual next week. Follow or message Ladybower Paddlesports or Ladybower Fisheries for more information.

14/10/2024

⚠️🚧 Reminder of Temporary Road Closure A57 Snake Road Bamford to Glossop from today 14th-25th October 🚧⚠️

Ladybower and the Upper Derwent Valley remain open to visitors. Fairholmes visitor centre, cycle hire and cafe are unaffected.

04/10/2024

What a glorious morning. 🌅 ☀️

The seasons are definitely changing here in the Upper Derwent Valley. 🌲 🍁 🍂

One of our Rangers has taken this photo of a Heron flying over a still Ladybower this morning. Feel free to share any of your photos with us 📸.

25/09/2024

A heads up for further road closures on the A57 Snake Pass between October 14th-25th for landslip repairs. 🚧 ⚠️

17/09/2024

A reminder of this weeks A57 road closure in place until Friday. Visitor centre, cycle hire and cafe open as usual ☀️

16/09/2024

Please note that the A57 Snake Pass is closed Monday-Friday this week between Glossop and Ladybower so diversions are in place.

However Ladybower and Upper Derwent Valley are still open to visitors and the fisheries, cycle hire, cafe and visitor centre open as usual.

Snake Pass will be closed this week as engineers install new monitoring equipment on the River Ashop.

10/09/2024

Exciting 🦇 news at Ladybower.

A bat hanging out at Ladybower Reservoir is a species not recorded in the county for a century.

05/09/2024

⚠️ High Wind Warning ⚠️

We are currently experiencing high winds throughout the Upper Derwent Valley, with a number of trees and branches having already fallen.

Please be cautious if visiting site this afternoon/evening, as wooded areas can become extremely dangerous. We recommend rescheduling your visit for another day!

02/09/2024

Sunday 15th September - wheelchair and mobility scooter friendly Ranger guided walk past Derwent Dam and to Birchinlee (Tin Town).

Please follow the link for more information or contact Fairholmes visitor centre for all-terrain mobility scooter booking enquiries.

Book courses and purchase items

30/08/2024

❗ Please note that Ladybower Paddlesports will not be operating tomorrow (31/08/2024) ❗

That means that there will be no access to the water this weekend. They will be operating as usual again next week.
Please contact them directly for further information.

25/08/2024

Next weekend guided walk with Peak District National Park

25/08/2024

A sunny start this morning 🌅☀️

23/08/2024

⚠️ VISITOR INFORMATION ⚠️

There is a Met Office yellow weather warning for strong winds in place for today. Please take care is you are choosing to visit site as wooded areas can become very dangerous in strong wind conditions.

Unfortunately, the strong winds have also caused a power cut across the valley which is currently effecting the Visitor Centre, Bike Hire, Food Kiosk and toilets. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, and we hope the power will be back asap.

19/08/2024

Summer days out = ✅
Summer days out with prizes = ✅ ✅ ✅

Follow ’s treasure map available on their website, share a snap of your family's day out in nature, give them a tag and use the for your chance to win £100 Virgin Experience Day voucher!

Start your next summer adventure now by visiting or searching stwater.co.uk/summer ☀️

Psst, fancy a head start? Upper Derwent Valley is on the treasure map! Ready, set, let’s get exploring!

17/08/2024

Address

Upper Derwent Valley
Bamford
S330AQ

Telephone

01433 650953

Website

https://www.stwater.co.uk/our-visitor-sites/upper-derwent-valley/

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Videos

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Summer days out = ✅ Summer days out with prizes = ✅ ✅ ✅ Follow @severntrent’s treasure map available on their website, share a snap of your family's day out in nature, give them a tag and use the #STYourLocalTreasures for your chance to win £100 Virgin Experience Day voucher! Start your next summer adventure now by visiting @severntrent or searching stwater.co.uk/summer ☀️ Psst, fancy a head start? Upper Derwent Valley is on the treasure map! Ready, set, let’s get exploring!

The Lancaster over Ladybower earlier today 😍

Ed's story

This week was #worlddownsyndromeday, and we want to take this opportunity to share Ed's story and how fortunate we are to have him as part of the Visitor Experience team as a Ranger at Tittesworth Water. The @Downsyndromeassociation, estimate around 4.8% of people with learning difficulties are in paid employment, despite 69% of them wanting to work which is around 1.5 million people. Ed's the first ranger with Down Syndrome working in the conservation industry - a true trailblazer. His passion for nature and the great outdoors and time spent volunteering with us and studying horticulture, meant with the support from WorkFit, he's got his dream job with us. To support this year's theme of 'End the stereotype' Ed hopes by sharing his story other companies can look past stereotypes, and help others find their dream job too. #Wedomorebecausewecare #worlddownsyndromeday

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Our #STCommunityFund is supporting local charities through the tough winter months with £500,000 of core costs funding. Grants of up to £20,000 are available to help our amazing local charities and groups who need urgent financial help to keep their vital community activities and services running. If you'd like to find out more, the team will be holding a Zoom workshop on Monday 20th November at 9am. Register your place here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/severn-trent-community-fund-core-funding-workshop-tickets-756067266547?aff=ebdsshother&utm_experiment=test Applications are now open at https://www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/severn-trent-community-fund/core-funding/ until midnight on Sunday 10th December 2023.

Derwent Dam flowing this afternoon.

Ladybower plug hole over-flowing this week. You can keep up to date with the current water levels here - https://www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/reservoir-levels/ , so please check the levels before travelling to site to see the plug-hole.

What a view! A beautiful time of year to visit 🌸 📸 Taken by @ashleyfkelley

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*video taken in January, the dam isn’t currently overflowing* We get asked a lot about the spectacular overflow at Upper Derwent Valley and when is best to come see it. The dam will overflow when the reservoir levels are at 100% causing the overflow of water to cascade down Derwent dam. This will happen during long periods of wet weather usually in the winter months. You can check out our weekly reservoir levels at www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/reservoir-levels to see how likely it is before your visit. It’s truly an amazing sight, have you been lucky enough to see it?

RunThrough

Calling all runners 📣 If you are ⤵️ ⏱️ Looking to challenge your personal best 🥇 A newbie runner wanting to grab your first medal 🏃 Or simply seeking to spend time amongst friendly, likeminded runners across some stunning locations RunThrough have got you covered! Join RunThrough at a number of Severn Trent locations where you can enjoy the stunning scenery whilst making your way to the finish line where you will receive a unique themed medal, chip timed results, free event photos & post race snacks. Don’t miss out and enter now 🙌 https://www.runthrough.co.uk/midlands-running-events/