Half submerged Derwent church steeple.

[david weston 10]

Any of the senior lot remember seeing the un-submerged part of Derwent church tower/steeple prior to its demolition ? For the young, Derwent and Ashopton villages were demolished prior to the first flooding of the new Ladybower dam in the mid 1940's. It was decided to leave Derwent church tower/spire standing as a memorial, but the rest of the building, along with the houses, shops etc. in both villages, were demolished. When the dam was full to maximum high water level, around half of the tower/spire could be seen above the surface. This became a great visitor attraction until the early 1950's when, due to people swimming out to climb it I believe, the entire tower was blown up. In the heatwave summer of 1959, the dam's water level dropped dramatically and the tower's rubble and the the ruins of village buildings were exposed and people were able to walk on the baked dam bed amongst them. There is a good, illustrated booklet on the story which I think is/was called 'Lost Villages', the story of .......' It will, I'm sure, also be on the web by now, but I haven't looked !

[melthebell 862]

ive got my dads stamp collection and in the back of the kings album i found some more personal stuff from my grandad during the war, including some very old postcards of ashopton he sent to my grandma

 

just found this video from tv 1966

http://www.macearchive.org/Archive/Title/atv-today-04081966-lost-villages-of-derwent-and-ashopton/MediaEntry/1028.html?Action=Cookie

Edited October 15, 2013 by melthebell

[hillsbro 28]

Here is a link to a picturesheffield.com photo of the church tower. A Wikipedia article gives the date of 15 December 1947 for the tower's final demolition by dynamite.

... including some very old postcards of ashopton he sent to my grandma

They could be quite valuable now - see for example this postcard and this one..

[fatrajah 10]

There is a booklet entitled "Silent Valley" by V.J.Hallam which contains some interesting photos of the villages of Ashopton & Derwent, including one of the partly submerged church tower.

[Lockjaw 11]

In the heatwave summer of 1959, the dam's water level dropped dramatically and the tower's rubble and the the ruins of village buildings were exposed and people were able to walk on the baked dam bed amongst them. !

 

This happened again at the back end of the 90s, 97 maybe. I walked in the village. Most of it was just the outline of the buildings like on a demolition site but there were two things remaining which I'll never forget (until senilty encroaches, of course).

 

The first was a tiny hump-backed bridge over the little brook at the edge of the churchyard, still fully intact. (When the reservoir emptied, all the original watercourses re-appeared). I walked over it many times. I like bridges.

 

The second was much more moving. At the back edge of the grounds of the hall, or manor house, or whatever (trust me, you could make all this out from the aforementioned outlines) there was a bend in the river and overlooking this, with it's back to the wall was a, pretty large, stone seat - like a bench with a high back. I (and the ex wife) sat on it and the history of it was palpable. You could easily imagine the huge number of people who would have sat in that spot on a summer's evening watching the river flow by. It's still there, I guess, but rather wet now.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Lockjaw

[rabitter 10]

used to go regulary in summer with my parents to see the spire sticking up in the middle of the dam.always thought it was a act of vandalism to destroy such a landmark.

[melthebell 862]

Here is a link to a picturesheffield.com photo of the church tower. A Wikipedia article gives the date of 15 December 1947 for the tower's final demolition by dynamite.They could be quite valuable now - see for example this postcard and this one..

 

blimey, cheers dude, knew theyd be collectable but not at £30 each, think ive got about 8, they look similer, all sepia coloured and pre submerged, might go for more with the other stuff of mi grandads from the war, theres a letter from him off a ship telling them hed been made sgt on route to singapore and a letter from him as a pow on the burmese railway, telling how he was ok but in a pow camp, apparently he was missing in action for 18 months

i know the stamps are worth a small fortune already, was thinking about keeping the personal stuff but thought how do i sell the stamps in the front half and keep the postcards and writing in the back lol, without cutting the back pages out, 1 thing tho my postcards i think are used, written on and posted so may drop what theyre worth

 

edit:- just had a look and theres 9, and looks like nones been written on, posted, the 2 i checked havent anyway, they are fitted into little corner pockets so could peek behind

 

theres a few others from 1941 (one from rochdale, a lovers leap one and one from littlebrough??) all posted and wrote on

Edited October 16, 2013 by melthebell

[Lockjaw 11]

A Wikipedia article

 

Spooky!

 

I hadn't looked at that when I posted last night but I think that is the bend in the river I was referring to and you can, I think, make out the stone seat above the bend.

[Ousetunes 10]

There's a larger thread on SF about this but I recall at least three droughts when the water level exposed the ruins of Derwent Village:

 

1976

1989

1996.

 

During the last of these three years, I walked amongt the rubble of the village alongside the original river and along paths and roads around the hall and its gardens. The biggest pile of rubble was from the church tower.

 

Sadly, the village of Ashopton lying directly beneath the A57 Ashopton viaduct will never be seen again as it is totally covered in silt.

[hillsbro 28]

.. my postcards i think are used, written on and posted so may drop what theyre worth...

Not at all - if anything this adds to the value. The overall condition is more important - wehther they are soiled, creased etc. PM me if you decide to sell the cards - as a 'Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society' I might be able to offer advice..

[melthebell 862]

Not at all - if anything this adds to the value. The overall condition is more important - wehther they are soiled, creased etc. PM me if you decide to sell the cards - as a 'Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society' I might be able to offer advice..

ah you a stamp collecter too?

mightve wheeled and dealed with mi dad over the last 55 years lol

ive got my eyes on a large stamp / postcard etc auction house im going to contact, from out of a stamp prices book

 

---------- Post added 17-10-2013 at 18:36 ----------

 

Spooky!

 

I hadn't looked at that when I posted last night but I think that is the bend in the river I was referring to and you can, I think, make out the stone seat above the bend.

 

have you seen this video dude?

[hillsbro 28]

ah you a stamp collecter too?...

Yep - been a member of the Sheffield Philatelic Society longer than anyone else, or so I'm told!

..mightve wheeled and dealed with mi dad over the last 55 years lol...

Could well be - I'm here.

..ive got my eyes on a large stamp / postcard etc auction house im going to contact, from out of a stamp prices book...

As a Royal Philatelic Society County Representative one of my duties is to advise on the disposal of collections, so feel free to PM or email me. I don't deal in stamps but can offer advice..