Historic Derwent Edge, Purple Heather, Gritstone Rocks, Peak District National Park

History and heather

Each July through September, thickets of pinkish-purple heather spill down the hills that bound Ladybower Reservoir, a snaking basin known for fleeting sights and distinctive spillways. The reservoir's 'plugholes' act like giant bathtub drains to keep the water at a set level. During rare dry conditions here in England's Peak District, when waters are well below the plugholes, another curiosity appears: the rooftops of Derwent, a village submerged in 1944 by the filling of the reservoir.