UKC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-46316985

Not sure where I stand with this. 

Was the site vandalised in the 40’s when the valley was flooded in the first place and now the area is deemed simply as the bed of the reservoir? 

Will the markings of Cheryl and Steve become reminders of our past next time they are revealed in another century? Not unlike the historic graffiti at Black rocks, Cratcliffe, Rowter rocks etc.

Yes I acknowledge it’s probably dangerous to mess around down there due to the mud but any more so than climbing/walking/cycling? or in fact anything else we amuse ourselves with in the Peak.

Is this a non story and by publishing it  will just attract more people there?

I think the bloke who had to be hauled out of the mud is more of a story.  https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjg9...

Could you imagine the NIMBY's reaction today if the flooding of a similar village was planned for 2020?

You could say that the valley was vandalised in the ‘40s. The final photo of Derwent Hall is interesting as I’m sitting looking out of some of those windows now! The local builders ‘reclaimed’ a huge amount of materials before the valley was flooded, and integrated them into their new builds and repairs. We’ve got stone window surrounds and leaded lights, oak doors and some very grand pillars and fireplaces. The house itself is built from Derwent Hall reclaimed stone, and the stone slabs came from the chapel behind the hall.

The materials from the whole village was distributed all along the Hope Valley in this way.

I can't see any problem myself.

Well, now I've heard about it, I'm off for a shufty tomorrow.
If you hear reports of another 58 year old numbty being rescued from the mud, that'll be me

I wonder if that's a possibility or do you think all the prime sites have been used?

Dovestones was built when I was a schoolkid so it must probably be the most recent ( there is a Wikilist with 39 entries for anyone interested)

I can't see many people complaining if they flooded Swindon. 

Indeed, would you like to sign my petition calling for it?

I’d be more worried about the water level being so low in late November.  That’s not good!

Related: There’s a strong movement to have Hetch Hetchy drained and restored to native planting in Yosemite.  One could imagine the same in the UK if we end up with a more closed, less rainfall dependant water supply one distant day.  Ladybower and Derwent would be near the top of my list for draining and rewilding.

I can't verify this, but I was once told that the Burbage Valley was originally acquired by the Sheffield Corporation with a view to damming it to make a reservoir. 

Deep water soloing at Burbage South anyone?

Or Telford. Actually, please *do* flood Telford!

I suspect the 'vandalism' reported in that story took place mostly over the summer and has only recently come to some journalist's attention.  I used the inverted commas there because this story seems to have a whiff of manufactured outrage about it. 

If it really was the work of antisocial dickheads then at least it distracted them from starting forest and moorland fires with their disposable BBQ's for a few hours.

It is extraordinary to see the reservoir(s) so low this late in the year though eh?  But then I suppose it has been a dry autumn too, and I gather it took Ladybower two years to fill initially after the dam was completed so unless we get an absolute deluge over the next few months it seems unlikely to fully recover from being so nearly emptied after a single winter.

The Upper Neuadd Reservoir in the Brecon Beacons has been drained, to make repairs to the grade II listed dam wall, It doesn't look like it'll be filled again any time soon - interesting to see it recolonised.

http://www.waterprojectsonline.com/case_studies/2016/DCWW_Upper_Neuadd_Dam_...

China have done far, far worse in recent years...

And they have no NIMBYs, for obvious reasons.

What date would you like to go back to, the heavily polluted industrial revolution? I mean rewilding would probably be at least taking it back to the dark ages? It's surrounded by farmed countryside, it's hardly a remote area like some parts of Scotland. 

Interesting that, many years ago when i was in my local retained fire brigade in boggy Northumberland we had a home made device specially for that purpose. Was simply a long copper pipe flattened at the end with some small holes drilled in and a connection that fitted our Breathing Apparatus cylinders. You simply shoved the pipe down underneath the casualty and oped the valve (gradually!) to loosen the suction, otherwise to much pulling from above might leave there legs behind, with the air they prity much shot out unaided. Only got to test it, never used it in anger!

Therein lies the problem!  

There is no past time where the climate is as it now is, and where the influence of man on the landscape was not significant.  

The point with a reservoir reclamation is that you have much more of a blank slate than elsewhere, and some semblance of control over the species.

Personally, I’d go for a forest based on our best understanding of what existed before the Bronze Age clearances, with the minimum required adaptions for climate changes, genetic drift and disease evolution required to make it viable today.

Thanks!  I’d not heard of that.  Now I want to visit!

For anyone interested, reservoir levels are here

https://www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/reservoir-levels/

Click on a date for details.  Derwent valley up 2-3% since last week.  Warning:  This is quite an additive website.

I believe the RNLI mud rescue crews carry fire extinguishers for a similar reason - liquify the mud and release the suction.