Repositioned
Yesterday I walked up to the medieval packhorse bridge shown in the picture above. I was with my old friend Tony. We were in the upper reaches of the Derwent Valley beyond the three reservoirs that were constructed there in the first half of the twentieth century ‒ Howden, Derwent and Ladybower. Now the thing about this bridge that many passersby might not realise is that it is not in its original position. Six miles downstream, it used to link Derwent Hall with the little village of Derwent before the valley was flooded. It was disassembled stone by stone and then re-erected in its current location in 1959. Below is a line drawing of the bridge in its original location but all of this lies under the waters of Ladybower Reservoir. Very occasionally, in periods of drought, what is left of that old village is revealed again ‒ perhaps once in a decade. Driving back down the valley, we stopped near Derwent Dam where famously RAF Dambusters bombers rehearsed bo...