Upper Derwent Valley

[1] West of the Derwent a large village known as Birchinlee, locally known as 'Tin Town', was created for the 'navvies'—the workers who built the dams—and their families, many of whom came from the Elan Valley Reservoirs in Wales.

[2] The villages in the Upper Derwent Valley: A standard-gauge railway, for transporting materials, connected the Water Board offices in Bamford with the work site.

A packhorse bridge with a preservation order on it also had to be moved, and was rebuilt at Slippery Stones, north of Howden Reservoir.

The reservoirs were originally intended to supply water to the cities of Sheffield, Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.

Much of the surrounding land is administered by the National Trust and is popular as a recreational area for walking and cycling.

Due to an incident involving a vehicle and a member of the emergency services, a Coastguard SAR helicopter and Yorkshire Air Ambulance were also required on the scene.