Ladybower Reservoir, Peak District
- Sharna Lockett
- Jun 3, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 3, 2019
We did this walk around February time last year 2018. It was the first proper walk me and my partner did together. The weather was really nice and sunny and because I hadn't really done a lot of walking at this point and of course didn't know what to expect, I wore nothing but a dress and some trainers. It was probably the worst idea for my feet and they probably still haven't forgiven me for that but luckily due to the nice weather I was warm enough.
I'd like to do this walk again for many reasons, the view of Ladybower Reservoir being one of them, the woodland, the farmland, the moors. From the top of the hill we reached we had the most perfect view of Ladybower Reservoir. It was a long walk but full of so many beautiful sights.
How do you get there?
The car park we aimed for was called Fairholmes car park, the postcode is S33 0AQ and it's in Hope Valley. It's a pay and display car park just to warn you. Because there wasn't any room in the car park when we went, probably due to the nice whether, we had to park along the road. There are fair few parking spots before you get to the actual car park which are free! We ended up parking in the furthest one away which meant we had to walk just over a mile to reach the actual car park where the route starts, obviously it meant we didn't have to do the long stretch of road at the end of our walk.
What's the Route?
Once we had walked to the main car park we followed the path to Derwent Dam. First you cross a little bridge. When reaching the Dam you have the option to walk past the Dam and carry on the path to your right or follow the grass pathway up to the Damn which is what we did. The Damn really is impressive when you see it.
Once we had explored the Damn and taken in the view of the amazing structure we followed the path alongside the trees straight in front of us that again joined to the original path we were walking on. Once back on the original route we carried on for a fair few miles up a road. You'll come to another little bridge which I took this photo on below. As you can see there are some amazing views around.
Once crossing the bridge the road bends round to the right. We carried on this road for a little bit until we came to a divide in the road. We kept left at this point climbing up the hill through open fields and over a stile, it felt like we were walking into someones farm land at one point! We came to what looked like a small shelter, had lunch in there to get out of the sun for a bit and cooled off.
Once continuing on through the gate to the left of us we found ourselves crossing a little stream. Again this is where trainers weren't the best idea. As you can see from the picture below my partner was definitely the sensible one out of the both of us with his proper walking boots on, to be honest the whole outfit choice was much better than mine.
Once we had pushed on past the stream, we came to a wall that followed alongside us on our right. I saw a small little bottle that someone had left behind and obviously saw it as a great opportunity for a photo.
Once going through a little gate we carried on along side the wall. After a little bit we came to some trees with a wall to the left of us. We could still just about see Ladybower Reservoir through the trees, it really was a beautiful sight.
As we carried on following the rocky path up the hill we came across some sheep and their lambs. They were very friendly and didn't run away at all as we walked by them.
Carrying on up the rocky path we came to an open field full of amazing views!
Callum took the opportunity to take lots of pictures at this point and I also remember spending a lot of time with my camera trying to take a picture of a bird that was flying around. I'm pretty sure I made Callum wait every 2 minutes of walking so I could try again to get a close up picture of this bird.. I take no pride in the fact that the below picture was the best I got of this poor bird I'd been chasing round with my camera for about 40 minutes.
We came to another little divide in the path. This time we stayed Right and carried on this path for a fair few miles along side the wall that followed us on the right hand side. We did come across some strange birds... luckily I didn't have to chase these ones. It was one of those 'right place right time' moments. As we were walking we could hear a really strange noise coming from the bushes and as if by magic these birds jumped up and onto the wall... it was only a few seconds before loads of them started appearing and jumping over to the field the other side of the wall.
Carrying on along the path for a fair few miles we came to another divide in the path, this time we carried on straight following the path up the hill. This was probably the most climbing we did in the whole walk to get to the top of the hill. Amazingly when we got to the top I could zoom in with my camera and actually see my car where I had parked the other side of the river! It was an amazing place to stop and soak up the view. You could honestly see for miles around us.
Following the path down the hill we pushed on. Just at the bottom of the hill the path joins onto another and we followed it round to the left where we came across what I think was a pub, or a house... to be totally honest I don't actually remember what it was! I won't lie to you.
We came to a road at this point which we had to follow back in the direction we just came in. Don't cross the first bridge, (Yes we did make that mistake and then realised it was the wrong bridge and turned all the way back) carry on following the road up to the bigger bridge which we did have to cross. Just after the bridge there is a right turn and your back on the road of the car park. This is where parking in the first available free parking spot was useful as it meant we didn't have as far to walk along this road until we reached my car.
If you like the sound of this walk have a little look on the National Trust website, it does say it takes around an hour and 20 minutes, around 4 miles. I'm pretty sure it took us a lot longer than that... probably due to me chasing birds. There are many maps online that were helpful to us when we did this walk. The National Trust has a clear map and instructions on the route to take.
Always make sure your well prepared before going on a walk, I clearly wasn't at this point and just got lucky with the whether but you may not be so lucky. Always wear the appropriate clothing and the appropriate shoes!
If you do go on this walk, enjoy! I know we did.
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