The middle of three reservoirs in the Peak District's Derwent valley, its twin-towered stone dam once used by the Dambusters for practice
Derwent Reservoir is the middle of three linked reservoirs in the upper Derwent valley — Howden Reservoir above it, Ladybower Reservoir below — built in the early 1900s to supply the growing cities of the East Midlands and Sheffield. Its dam is the memorable one, a wall of gritstone with two round towers, and in 1943 crews of 617 Squadron, the Dambusters, flew practice runs low over the water before their raid on the German dams. A surfaced track runs along the shore and is popular with walkers and cyclists, part of the wider network of routes through the Peak District moors. On either side the ground rises into Derwent and Howden Moors, wild and boggy Dark Peak country.
