Derwent Valley, Peak District

A bracing walk …3 miles t THE NATIONAL TRUST

Wonderful for taking in the many Peak District habitats; this walk will lead you A misty view over the Derwent alongside the Ladybower Reservoir, through farmland and steep wooded cloughs, Valley; you will find many before emerging high up on the moors, with fantastic panoramic views of the Derwent beautiful vistas on this walk. Valley and much of the High Peak estate. The area is also good for certain types of bats and you

may be lucky enough to spot Start: Fairholmes car park (SK173893) – maps: OS Landranger 110 & Explorer OL 1 the noctule, Pippistrelle and How to get here… Daubenton’s bat. The brown-

By bus: 273 Sheffield – Ladybower – Castleton. Alight Fairholmes info point. For more long eared bat is also present info go to www.travelineeastmidlands.org.uk in this area, although sightings

By train: Hope 4 miles, Sheffield 12 miles are rare. By bike: Upper Derwent Valley Cycle Path (National Cycle Route 54) follows the valley © National Trust/High Peak Estate bottom, on-road and off-road routes By foot: The Derwent Valley Heritage Way runs from Ladybower Reservoir to the Mountain hares can be spotted confluence of the River Derwent and the River Trent around Pike Low. Their fur By car: M67 junction 3, M1 junction 31. Take A57 then turn off at Ladybower Reservoir turns white in winter, acting as Facilities: info point, bike hire, visitor centre and tea-room at Fairholmes car park. camouflage. This is part of the

only population in England. Indigenous to the Scottish Things to look out for… Highlands, they were introduced to the moors many t Derwent Dam years ago as an alternative This dam and its twin, Howden Dam, were built at the beginning of the century and game to grouse. became famous for being used for RAF flying practice for the Barnes Wallis bouncing bomb in 1943 and then subsequently in the famous World War II film, ‘Dambusters’. © National Trust/High Peak Estate t Pike Low You are most likely to spot An example of a Bronze Age barrow, or burial mound, this feature is found at the highest Golden Plovers in summer, point on the moor. You may notice the varying height of heather in this spot, which is a when they inhabit upland result of conservation management, by burning to allow for sheep and grouse and thus moorlands. In winter they move producing the patchwork effect you can see here. This is beneficial for other wildlife in the to lowland fields in large flocks, area and you may be lucky enough to spot curlew and golden plover and part of the only often found in the company of mountain hare population in England. Lapwings, and their black t Mill Brook plumage is replaced with buff The Trust actively prevents grazing here to promote the natural regeneration of trees, and white.

which in turn attracts wildlife. At one point this whole area was wooded, but due to © Northeastwildlife.co.uk clearance, which has taken place since Roman times, very little remains.

Terrain and accessibility… 4ml (6.4km) of rough walking through fields, woodland paths, © Reproduced by permission

National Trust places to visit nearby… Hardwick Hall, Kinder, Mam Tor, Ilam, Bleaklow.

Route directions…

1. Start your walk at Fairholmes car park, turning right out of the car park and following the road towards Derwent Dam.

2. Walk past the dam and follow the road uphill, walking alongside Ladybower Reservoir on the right and Old House Farm on the left, towards the site of Derwent Village.

3. The village was flooded when the Dam was built in WWII. Only two buildings remain; the Lodge and the schoolroom, which you pass as you walk along the lane. To view the site of the village and an information panel, continue down the slope and across a bridge. Retrace your route back up the short slope and at the top, turn sharp right at the end of a high wall onto a track, over a stile and past the ruins of a farm.

4. Continue uphill until just after a cottage where the path divides. Keep left and climb uphill through open fields and then over a stile onto moorland. After about ½ml and a right turn by a wall corner, as the track levels, you will pass Pike Low 100yds on your left.

5. Continue along this track above Mill Brook, below on your right, managed as part of a woodland conservation plan by the Trust. We are working to preserve and increase the woodland here, and in many other areas, using natural regeneration and some planting of native trees such as oak, rowan and Scots pine. You are free to enter these enclosures to see the results of our work, but please avoid crossing large areas of heather between April and June, during bird nesting. Follow the track to the Scots pine shelter belt ahead, the site of a substantial shooting cabin, with two lines of grouse butts running towards Green Sitches (a ‘sitch’ being a ditch or wet area). Keep left at a fork just before the pines. To A57 6. Follow the track until it turns right at a fence. Cross the fence by the stile and continue to Bamford House (a derelict farmstead) along the edge of the moor, with Derwent Reservoir below on you left.

7. On reaching Bamford House, turn left and take the steep path downhill towards the reservoir. Turn left again once you reach Derwent Reservoir and follow this track alongside the reservoir and back towards Derwent Dam and Fairholmes car park.

As a charity, independent of government, the National Trust relies on the generosity of its supporters to continue caring for our countryside and wildlife, so that everyone can enjoy the beauty of the outdoors for generations to come

Find out more at www.nationaltrust.org.uk