History and heather

History and heather

© robertharding/Adobe Stock

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.

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