England - Peak District - Assault Of Alport Castles

Walk Summary

Picturesque Peak District valley walking. Admire the civil engineering of water transfer from the River Ashop to the Upper Derwent Reservoir. Climb up the biggest landslip in Britain. Drop in on Tin Town, the village used to house the Howden and Derwent dam navvies.

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Date: 26/02/2022

Length: 9.983 miles

Height Gain: 544 m

Terrain: Boggy paths, grass paths, rocky paths; farm tracks, lightly used road

Navagation: Good. Good signage

Start: Fairholmes

Route: Fairholmes, Lockerbrook Farm, Rowlee Farm, Alport Farm, Alport Castles, Howden Reservoir

Map: OL1 Dark Peak Area

Weather: Sunny, cloudy and windy

Walkers: Nun

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Alport Castles

Captain's Log

Weather Window

After a week of rain and hail it was good to get a break in the weather to do a walk. The rain had been so bad in the last week that my local roads had turned in to waterfalls as water seeped from waterlogged fields. My drive along the roads to Fairholmes revealed several deep potholes caused by the excess rain. As I crossed the Ladybower Viaduct a line of cones blocked the road to the Snakes Pass. A landslide had blocked the road.

My car thermometer had suggested a balmy 4 degrees C, but it seemed much colder as I togged up. The landscape was dusted with frost and puddles frozen as I set out on the walk.

Woodpeckers And Lapwings

On my walk up to Lockerbrook Farm a woodpecker announced itself every few seconds. In the enclosed woodland its knocking echoed and despite sounding very close, I couldn't spot it. I crossed over the culvert that carries water from the Ashop Valley to the Derwent Reservoir. The water is syphoned from the River Ashop and Alport and carried via a tunnel through the hillside to this culvert.

I broke out of the forest near to Lockerbrook Farm and welcomed the warmth from the sun. Although it was a little hazy it looked like it was going to turn out to be a good day. I walked down to Rowlee Farm to the A57 Snake Road. The lack of traffic on the road was both pleasant and a little spooky.

In a nearby field I spotted a lapwing. I'd seen my first lapwings last week when out for a run. They have to be one of my favourite birds, with their cavalier head feathers and psychotic temperament. This one was just out for a walk in the field.

Lapwing

Alport Castles

Ashop And Alport Valleys

The path crossed the culvert that carries water down the valley to the point where it is syphoned uphill, to be then carried to the Derwent Reservoir. I walked gingerly uphill on part of the tarmac road that had completely iced over. I was very surprised, a few moments later, to be passed by a car that was going to the nearby farm. It did well to get up that hill.

As I crossed the footbridge over the River Ashop, I could see the dam and weir that holds water back from the River Ashop and diverts it down the culvert supplying the Derwent Reservoir. It would have quite an interesting journey to get there.

I re-crossed the Snake Road and walked along the track to Alport Farm. After a few minutes a skein of geese started crossing the valley in front of me. They suddenly changed direction and started flying down the valley towards me. As I looked up to get a photograph of them I bent over too far and ended up falling backwards on to the roadside embankment. I got up and brushed the mud off my gloves and was glad to see that nobody was around to witness my performance.

Assault Of Alport Castles

It started to cloud over as I ascended to Alport Castle. The south westerly wind was the cold side of refreshing. Alport Castles is noted as the result of the largest landslide in Britain (half a mile long). The Castles are the rocky debris that was left by the landslide. It is very impressive, especially along the cliff edge that runs above it. Falcons have been know to nest on the crags, but I couldn't see one today. To be honest, I've never seen one here, although in the past, I've come across plenty of birdwatchers scanning the cliffs. There was quite a gale on top, so I took a few photos and then started the descent down to Howden Reservoir.

I noticed that they'd planted some new trees just above Fagney and Ditch Clough. These were out of bounds of the normal plantation area. They were planted so close together it looked like it was going to be the start of another dark and dismal area. I hope they've no intention of going further up on to the moors.

Alport Castles

Waterfall Into Derwent Reservoir

Howden And Derwent

There were plenty of walkers, cyclists and runners on the single track road that runs alongside the Howden and Derwent Reservoirs.

I stopped off at Tin Town to take a few photos. This was a temporary village that was setup to home the navvies that built the Howden and Derwent dams. Information boards indicate that up to a 1,000 people lived here at its peak with the village having shops, recreation hall and even a police station. The only think that can be seen now is the level ground where the houses were built. The 'Tin' part of the place name was derived from the tin roofs.

Near to Derwent dam there is a memorial to 'Tip' the sheepdog. The memorial says: " The sheepdog which stayed by the body of her dead master Joseph Tagg, on the Howden Moors for fifteen weeks from 12th December 1953 to 27th March 1954". I do wonder how anybody would know that it stayed there all the time (what did it eat?) and if they knew it stayed there, then why didn't they do anything about the body of poor Mr Tagg? Maybe I'm a cynic. I'm not aware of a memorial around here for the 18 navvies that died building the Howden and Derwent dams although I think I read on one of the information boards that there may be one at Bamford.

Any walk that includes Alport Castles is a good day, and today was no exception. That strong, cold wind certainly blew the cobwebs away that had accumulated over last week.