The Village Beneath The Dam

[Patrick316 10]

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

[Johnnywarren 10]

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!!!!

[Fantomas 10]

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

[Trekker 10]

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?

[HollyBird 10]

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.

[oldtimer 11]

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..

[Patrick316 10]

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

 

Yeah, the thought of falling down one would scare the hell out of you!! :o

 

Although I live in Dorset I work with a Sheffield lass who also knows the dams well. We've come to the conclusion that the most scariest thing would be to be in stranded in a small boat, floating helplessly without any paddles or outboard motor, about 50 yards back from the lip of Derwent or Howden dam when the water is pouring over - and it's the middle of the night!!

 

Can you imagine it!! Trying to get away from the pull of the water as it goes over the cill - you can hear it but you can't see it!! And because its pitch black you haven't got a clue how far off the edge is!!

 

It would be one of those moments when you really find out that the true colour of adrenalin is brown!!

 

Mind you, now that you come to mention the plugholes, can you imagine the "pull" one of those things would have when the reserviour is over-full??

 

So, .... imagine it......... it's late at night, it's pitch black, your stuck in a boat that's floating too near one of the plugholes. You can hear the water roaring down one of them and............

 

 

 

Oh hell, I think I need the loo.................

[simonj 10]

Yeah, the thought of falling down one would scare the hell out of you!! :o

 

Although I live in Dorset I work with a Sheffield lass who also knows the dams well. We've come to the conclusion that the most scariest thing would be to be in stranded in a small boat, floating helplessly without any paddles or outboard motor, about 50 yards back from the lip of Derwent or Howden dam when the water is pouring over - and it's the middle of the night!!

 

Can you imagine it!! Trying to get away from the pull of the water as it goes over the cill - you can hear it but you can't see it!! And because its pitch black you haven't got a clue how far off the edge is!!

 

It would be one of those moments when you really find out that the true colour of adrenalin is brown!!

 

Mind you, now that you come to mention the plugholes, can you imagine the "pull" one of those things would have when the reserviour is over-full??

 

So, .... imagine it......... it's late at night, it's pitch black, your stuck in a boat that's floating too near one of the plugholes. You can hear the water roaring down one of them and............

 

 

 

Oh hell, I think I need the loo.................

 

This vision is without doubt the source of my earliest recollections of childhood nightmares after visiting Ladybower and Derwent dams :shocked:

[SputnikBoy 10]

Maybe it's so obvious that anyone with a brain could figure it out. With that in mind, I ask ...just what ARE these plugholes, how deep are they, and what is their purpose?

[Plain Talker 11]

Maybe it's so obvious that anyone with a brain could figure it out. With that in mind, I ask ...just what ARE these plugholes, how deep are they, and what is their purpose?

 

as far as I understand it, they are drain holes for when the water levels get too high. I assume they go pretty much all the way down under the dam's wall, to the river below, and act as an outflow. I could be wrong, mind you!

 

PT

[simonj 10]

They were VERY deep in my childhood nightmares

[Patrick316 10]

Maybe it's so obvious that anyone with a brain could figure it out. With that in mind, I ask ...just what ARE these plugholes, how deep are they, and what is their purpose?

 

Here's a couple of pictures of the plughole at Ladybower:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ladybower_Reservoir_Outlet.jpg

 

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/mwalker/gallerydetail/peak_district/?imageNum=9

 

'Plaintalker' is correct. The plugholes act as an overflow for when the water level gets too high. More details can be found at http://www.britishdams.org/about_dams/shaft.htm

 

And 'Simonj' is also correct with his childfhood nightmares - they are very deep!! :o