Britain's official guide to canals, rivers and lakes

Saturday 6th September 2008

 

Derwent Reservoir (Derbyshire)

The Derwent Reservoir, built in 1916, sits in the Upper Derwent Valley in the Peak District National Park. This was to supply water to the cities of Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester.

The topographical similarity between the Upper Derwent Valley and the Ruhr Valley in Germany meant that in 1943, Lancaster bombers from the Dam Busters Squadron used this place as its experimental practising ground for Barnes Wallis' "bouncing bombs", prior to real life hits on Germany.

Consequently, it was also used as the film location in the famous, commemorative film, "The Dambusters".