The Village Beneath The Dam

[PWMB]

My late Mother used to talk about picnics in the sunken village

 

Hi Pete,

 

Would you mind talking to me about some of those stories? Either by email, private message on this forum or telephone?

 

Let me know.

 

Patrick

[USUK]

Ashopton 1939

 

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e335/USUK10/Misc/Ashopton39_zpsc0d41c4a.jpg

 

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e335/USUK10/Misc/Ashopton39-2_zpsa97f4b3a.jpg

[westmoors]

In 1940 just after the blitz on Sheffield as a child of about 9 or 10 I was evacuated to Leadmill by the river Derwent just outside Hathersage and attended the local school there.

I remember the school decided we should attend the official opening by the King and Queen of the dam and we were walked along the moor's edge ( shorter and quicker than the road or so the headmaster thought ) from Hathersage to a roadside vantage point very near to the dam wall and towers etc. it was far from finished but I think it was probably a good publicity event when the country needed some good news.

The royalty swept by in a large Daimler car and I can still remember that it had large windows and strong interior lighting and you could see both occupants were very heavily made up which came as quite a surprise as I never expected that.

A little co-incidence was that many years later while working for the C.A.V part of Lucas Electrical I worked with a much older guy who's responsibility it was to ensure this lighting was maintained for all the state coaches and vehicles for which he received the MBE. (strip lighting fed by Lucas batteries )

After the opening we had to walk back , I suppose the ceremony took only minutes while our trek took about 2 hours.

The house I lived in was part of a stonemason's yard which had a mill on the Derwent with a working waterwheel, I remember that as the mason was quite old he had just about ceased to work and so most of the stone cutting equipment was sold to the dam builders so they could use dressed stone for the best bits of the dam.