SputnikBoy Posted January 13, 2006 Author Share Posted January 13, 2006 The pix that some of you have directed us to are absolutely fascinating. Now I'm wondering if the ruin that I ventured into in mid-1959 (I think) was only a small portion - such as the foyer - of the church. I seem to recall that it was white or off-white inside but the portion that remained intact was oh, so small from memory. It actually seemed too small to have been a church. Does anyone else remember the drought of that period (circa 1959/60) when those remains of the village became not only visible but also accessible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arfer Mo Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Time to jump into the Time Machine and travel back over the decades. This brings me to the late-1950's. There was a bad drought that caused the reservoirs and dams to drop their water level considerably. Unbelievably, the Derwent Dam became a mere puddle and fully exposed the village church that normally lay beneath its surface. I actually set foot in that ruined church while the dam was at an all-time low. It was such an eerie experience. Can anyone shed any light at all on the village and the church prior to the dam being built? Hi Rod, Yes the village was called Ashopton . unki arti [as glen used to call me] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arfer Mo Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Hi Rod , didyou get my comment re; Ashopton,also the school your Mum went to was Salmon Pastures, Arthur. [send me an email sometime] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick316 Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Hi everyone This is a very interesting thread! I first visited Derwent in Nov 1979 - on a Monday morning after it had been chucking it down with rain over the preceeding weekend. The water was pouring over the sill of the dam. (Is there any way in which I can post pictures to this forum as I took a B&W picture of the scene?) As many others have stated, the village of Derwent emerges during long periods of drought. However, as the book "The Silent Valley" says, the remains of the village of Ashopton are now completely covered by silt - (and even if it wasn't, the remains of the village are are a hell of a way down under the water. If memory serves me right, they lie about 135 ft down at the base of the Viaduct on its southern side!) In 1988 I revisted the dams with my wife. In fact it was on Dambuster Day itself - 16th May. While we was there I met some of the pilots and aircrew of 617 Squadron who took part in the raid - quite an honour. The squadron practiced on Howden and Derwent dams prior to the raids on the Mohne and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley of Germany back in 1943, as these dams were the nearest thing this country had that resembled the actual target. (The target dams are even to this day enormous as can be seen at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/julie.bell102/dams.html) Unfortunately the RAF did not send over a Tornado jet of the modern-day 617 Squadron as they sometimes do on Dambuster Day. Neither did the last air-worthy Lancaster Bomber "City of Lincoln" of the Battle of Britain Flight make an appearance. Theres a picture of it flying over the dam on an earlier occassion at: http://dambusters.be/web/content.php?content.48 (its in Dutch) I felt a little sorry for those men who were there to remember fallen comrades. Regards Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick316 Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 Hi everyone I've just found the following website that has some great pictures of Derwent and Ladybower reservoirs: http://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Derbyshire/Ladybower_Reservoir/pictures Some of the pictures will make great wallpapers on your PC. Cheers Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnywarren Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I believe some of the stone carvings and stone roof decoration were taken from Derwent Hall and are currently used on Hathersage church and adjoining buildings. Maybe some historian out there could confirm this Happy Days! The old gateposts of Derwent Hall sit at the bottom of the lane to the Severn Trent plant at Bamford, at the top of Saltergate lane. Not sure about Hathersage church but I wouldn't put anything past those Hathersage scallys - they'll nick anything!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantomas Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Hi everyone I've just found the following website that has some great pictures of Derwent and Ladybower reservoirs: http://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Derbyshire/Ladybower_Reservoir/pictures Some of the pictures will make great wallpapers on your PC. Cheers Patrick Some great pictures there. I don't know why but looking at those huge plugholes always gives me the willies! How deep are they? What would happen if you fell down one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trekker Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 I used to get driven round the dams lots up2 2005, I'd sorta daydream of the old villages and the folks who once lived there, strange aint I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyBird Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 I lived in the Old Gate House to Derwent Hall, which was buried in the water. Our drive used to carry on down through the fields and into the water - quite sad really. My Fathers family came up from Cornwall to build the Dams and they lived in the third Village called Birchinlea (not sure of the spelling)- which was a temporary village mostly made of corrugated iron - which was specifically for the workers and their families. There are huge pieces of stone, which supported the railways that took the materials up the valley to build both the Derwent and Howden dams and they can still be seen today - especially when the water is low. You can still also see foundations of houses and gateways. When the water is really low, you can see exactly where the original river used to run and at Millbrook there is still a small bridge, which goes over the river and is submerged for most of the time. My grandmother used to go to the local school - which was at St Henrys Hall - which still stands today and is still used as a village hall. The Silent valley is an interesting book to read if you are interested in the lost villages. There is also a lot of interesting history about the Dam Busters that practiced on the Dams - but that’s another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Just followed a couple of links about the village under the water. Two of the dams that the dambusters hit were the Moene and the Eder dams. (SP?) I saw the Mohne dam in 1961 and the damage was still visible. The dam survived the bomb, but there was a huge hole in it that was repaired at a later date.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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