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Derwent Village


AdrianM

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Not strictly Sheffield, but near enough for many Sheffielders to remember ... a British Pathe clip of Derwent Church spire surrounded by the waters of Ladybower in 1947

http://www.britishpathe.com/search/query/derwent

Its a bit before my time, but I do have a booklet bought by my dad, that was published around the time showing photos of the 'opening' of Ladybower and of the flooding of the villages.

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Before my time as well Adrian but I do remember seeing the top of the church when the water was low.

I think it was eventually demolished to stop people trying to swim out to it.

Last time I saw Derwent when the water was low, the only thing left was part of the bridge and a couple of bits of unrecognizable masonry.

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The Submerged Village of Derwent Part 1 of 3

Thanks Steve, that was a really interesting video clearly made by someone who had good local knowledge and knew exactly what he was looking at so giving it excellent educational value.

As it was described as part 1 of 3 I was going to suggest that you post the remaining 2 parts, but at the end of Part 1 a screen comes up offereing links to these 2 parts and several other videos on the same theme as well.

An excellent find.

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Guest carlie167

Brilliant videos, but also a little depressing I thought.

To think of entire communities moved away from where they had lived and worked for generations in order to create a reservoir.

Does anyone know where the people finished up and the work they would have found?

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Brilliant videos, but also a little depressing I thought.

To think of entire communities moved away from where they had lived and worked for generations in order to create a reservoir.

Does anyone know where the people finished up and the work they would have found?

Yes I agree Carlie, sad to see communities split up.

Some of the local villagers could have worked on the

building of the dam.

Another British Pathe film ..

Depending on how you feel about it ..

www.britishpathe.com/video/king-opens-6-000-000-reservoir/query/derwent

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Guest carlie167

Yes I agree Carlie, sad to see communities split up.

Some of the local villagers could have worked on the

building of the dam.

Another British Pathe film ..

Depending on how you feel about it .. The Grand, or not so grand opening

Imagine, working on the dam that's going to flood your home!! How did it feel seeing the valves being opened and the water gushing out?

Just as an aside, those huge overflow holes (or whatever they're called) really give me the creeps! :unsure:

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Before my time as well Adrian but I do remember seeing the top of the steeple when the water was low.I think it was eventually demolished to stop people trying to swim out to it.

Last time I saw Derwent when the water was low, the only thing left was part of the bridge and a couple of bits of unrecognizable masonry.

My wife says her brother took her out to Ladybower when she was a little girl to see the steeple but in the booklet 'Silent Valley' by Vic Hallam it shows the church being blown up on Dec 15th 1947. My wife was only a twinkle in her dads eye then, so is she just imaginig it?

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My wife says her brother took her out to Ladybower when she was a little girl to see the steeple but in the booklet 'Silent Valley' by Vic Hallam it shows the church being blown up on Dec 15th 1947. My wife was only a twinkle in her dads eye then, so is she just imaginig it?

I could be factually wrong here but I have always had the impression of it being done on more than one occasion.

Firstly the steeple demolished to stop people swimming out to it when the water was a bit low, but this still left a substantial part of it which was uncovered when there were drought-like conditions.

I think then later the rest of it was demolished.

I wasn't even born in 1947 but I'm sure the church was pointed out to me as a youngster, which would have been 1950's

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A History of the Church at Derwent,

and a Sheffield connection.

"A party of twelve from St. Cyprian's - members of the Mother's Union for the most part - made an expedition to Derwent to be present at the last service that will ever be held in Derwent Church. They went by train to Bamford, and " ....

more here The Parish of Frecheville

Some old photos and postcards

And some of Ashopton Village that was also destroyed by the dam

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A History of the Church at Derwent,

and a Sheffield connection.

"A party of twelve from St. Cyprian's - members of the Mother's Union for the most part - made an expedition to Derwent to be present at the last service that will ever be held in Derwent Church. They went by train to Bamford, and " ....

more here The Parish of Frecheville

Interesting connection to St. Cyprians at Frechville. Here is St. Cyprians

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Some great photographs in this publication. Hope I'm not breaching any copyright by posting them on here.

Ouch !

sorry THYLACINE the book is within copyright,

but there shouldn't be a problem in displaying the cover picture.

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Guest carlie167

Some great photographs in this publication. Hope I'm not breaching any copyright by posting them on here.

Hooray!! I just bought this off Ebay today, 99p.

Bargain or what? I can't wait for it to arrive. I also bought "Silent Valley at War" for the same price.

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Hooray!! I just bought this off Ebay today, 99p.

Bargain or what? I can't wait for it to arrive. I also bought "Silent Valley at War" for the same price.

You got a bargain there girl! "Silent Valley ay War" -does that have anything to do with the attached photo (not copyright, 'onist gov.)

Please let us know when you receive it.

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Guest carlie167

You got a bargain there girl! "Silent Valley ay War" -does that have anything to do with the attached photo (not copyright, 'onist gov.)

Please let us know when you receive it.

Looking at the cover of the book on Ebay, it looks very much like that.

I'll know better when it arrives, can't wait, patience is NOT one of my strong points!!

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Just as an aside, those huge overflow holes (or whatever they're called) really give me the creeps! :unsure:

The overflow hole nearest to the main Bamford Road used to have a circular walkway arranged above the sill of the overflow with a bridge arrangement from a gate in the roadside wall. The walkway was supported on a series of arches and you could look right down inside the "plughole" from the inner side, it curved toward the dam wall. I remember riding my bike around the circular platform. I understand that the walkway was removed to facilitate the flow of water into the overflow during flood conditions as the supports blocked about half of the perimeter. You can still see the recess in the wall where the gate was.

hilldweller

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The overflow hole nearest to the main Bamford Road used to have a circular walkway arranged above the sill of the overflow with a bridge arrangement from a gate in the roadside wall. The walkway was supported on a series of arches and you could look right down inside the "plughole" from the inner side, it curved toward the dam wall. I remember riding my bike around the circular platform. I understand that the walkway was removed to facilitate the flow of water into the overflow during flood conditions as the supports blocked about half of the perimeter. You can still see the recess in the wall where the gate was.

hilldweller

So you can HD,

I never knew that !

Image courtesy of Google

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Guest carlie167

The overflow hole nearest to the main Bamford Road used to have a circular walkway arranged above the sill of the overflow with a bridge arrangement from a gate in the roadside wall. The walkway was supported on a series of arches and you could look right down inside the "plughole" from the inner side, it curved toward the dam wall. I remember riding my bike around the circular platform. I understand that the walkway was removed to facilitate the flow of water into the overflow during flood conditions as the supports blocked about half of the perimeter. You can still see the recess in the wall where the gate was.

hilldweller

Oooooooooh! :o :o

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The overflow hole nearest to the main Bamford Road used to have a circular walkway arranged above the sill of the overflow with a bridge arrangement from a gate in the roadside wall. The walkway was supported on a series of arches and you could look right down inside the "plughole" from the inner side, it curved toward the dam wall. I remember riding my bike around the circular platform. I understand that the walkway was removed to facilitate the flow of water into the overflow during flood conditions as the supports blocked about half of the perimeter. You can still see the recess in the wall where the gate was.

hilldweller

Just had a look on Picture Sheffield and found photo's of the gantries around both the overflows at ref Y01085 and Y01088 although the second one is labelled west overflow when I think it is the eastern one near the road.

y01088

y01085

HD

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I have now got round to scanning the 1947 booklet about the lost villages that I mentioned in the original post on this topic and I've dropped it somewhere accessible ...

<<< Click to access pdf

A

I'm lost for words Adrian,

all I can say is,

thank you for sharing your booklet with our members.

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I have now got round to scanning the 1947 booklet about the lost villages that I mentioned in the original post on this topic and I've dropped it somewhere accessible ...

<<< Click to access pdf

A

Thankyou 'AdrianM' That brought back a lot of happy memories. I remember going on outings with my grandparents and seeing the church tower before it was demolished. W/E.

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The water in Ladybower has gone down enough to be able to get to the ruins of Derwent Church

The last time i saw the old church was in Oct and Nov 1995, November was the month the whole village

was visible again, these two pictures are from 1995

I took quite a few pictures of the Village, I took some today, heres a THEN & NOW of one

Its a picture showing Mill Cottage, with the Post Office in the background to the right of the row of Cottages

This is all that remains of Mill Cottage today

mick

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