There was a seventh reservoir at Hollingworth, but it was abandoned in 1990 and now forms part of Swallows Wood Nature Reserve.

[2] The lordship of Longdendale was an ancient feudal estate encompassing the medieval manors of Godley, Hattersley, Hollingworth, Matley, Mottram, Newton, Staley, Tintwistle and Werneth.

A packhorse route called a saltway was maintained from the Middle Ages onwards for the purpose of allowing the export of salt from the Cheshire wiches of Nantwich, Northwich and Middlewich across the Pennines.

The civil engineer John Frederick Bateman recognised the potential and conceived a plan to deliver this water to Manchester and Salford, while still maintaining the flow in the River Etherow that was needed to power the mills of Tintwistle and Glossop.

A tunnel was built at a depth of 200 feet (60 m) to carry the water from Longdendale into the valley of the River Tame.

[9] The first railway line between Manchester and Sheffield was constructed between 1839 and 1845 on the south side of the reservoir chain by 1,500 navvies of whom many died and most suffered illness.

The first tunnel was subsequently used by CEGB to reroute the main high-voltage link up the valley and through the National Park underground.

Holme Moss and Woodhead Pass are on the chosen route of the 2014 Tour de France, during the second stage between York and Sheffield.

[11] The Pennine Way crosses Longdendale, descending from Bleaklow to the south and ascending Black Hill to the north.

The circular walk known as 'The Longdendale Edges' takes in the high ground (at about the 1,000–1,500-foot (300–460 m) level) on both sides of the valley.

There were plans in the 1960s to extend it through the National Park to the M1 motorway and Sheffield[citation needed] but it was never built.

As of January 2008 there are advanced plans to improve the A628 route by bypassing Mottram and Tintwistle to the north with a spur to the A57 road.

The valley and the surrounding area has a reputation for strange phenomena, including unexplained lights[14][15] and allegedly supernatural apparitions and has become a centre of attention for UFO and ghost hunters.