The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

it’s been purposely moulded to be

accessible can only be a good thing. What’s

commendable, in fact, is that these three

artiicial lakes give back to the general

public twice over: irstly as a supplier of

water, and secondly as somewhere to be

active.

As I approach Howden Reservoir, a

sign informs me that “the banks are a

popular breeding ground for sandpipers”.

he accompanying photo, however, clearly

wasn’t fact-checked. It’s not a sandpiper,

and the caption has been crossed out in

pen by someone who knows their birds.

Written underneath in clear letters is the

word “Dunlin!”. It’s a reminder that among

some users of the Peak District, certain

standards will always be demanded.

THE HIGH PEAK

What is ‘natural’? he fells, moors and

valleys of the Peak District have been

altered immeasurably over the millennia.

[above] Toposcope on Lost Lad

part, looded such a broad area of valley
that two villages had to be permanently
evacuated. Many of the rehoused residents
of Ashopton and Derwent, both of which
villages are now several feet underwater,
were understandably forlorn.
And then, of course, there’s the Dam
Busters heritage. he Lancaster bombers
of 617 Squadron used Derwent Dam for
dummy trials of Professor Barnes Wallis’
famous ‘bouncing bomb’ in the Second
World War, primarily because of the Upper
Derwent’s physical resemblance to the
Rühr dams in Germany. he resemblance
was so great that it was also used as the
setting of the 1954 ilm, he Dam Busters,
which recounted the attack proper.
his Boy’s Own element aside, I can’t
say I ind the trail along the eastern bank
of Derwent Reservoir especially thrilling,
but I can see the appeal, particularly
for families. It’s a mellow, manageable
slice of the outdoors, and the fact that

Woolly rhinoceros and sabre-toothed

tiger once roamed here. he blanket peat

moorland of today began to form around

7,000 years ago, ater forest clearances by

our prehistoric forebears radically changed

the appearance of the hills. Since then,

the inluences of everything from burial

monuments and livestock farming to lead-

mining and grouse-shooting have had their

own bearing on the landscape.

But when I strike uphill to Abbey Bank,

leaving the forest behind and reaching the

open country of the High Peak, it still feels

like arriving in the ‘proper’ Peak District. I

clamber up to Lost Lad, and beyond that to

Back Tor. I trace near-obliterated drystone

walls, watch three grouse whirr of from

their ground-nests and pause to feel the

cooling deliverance of the easterly wind.

A little voice in my head is saying: this is

more like it.

From Back Tor, much of the National

Park is outspread like a quilt. To the

PEAK DISTRICT

The Great Outdoors Spring 2019 53