With a nice day forecast we got up early and headed up to Ladybower Reservoir from our Peak district cottages after picking up a paper in Bakewell. Parked by 9.45 and you need to be as there were hardly any spaces left at Fairholmes car park. I was surprised at how low the water was. We walked along the base of the Derwent Dam before taking the lane along Ladybower reservoir before heading up to the moors near Wellhead.

By now it had clouded over and disappointingly we didn’t see much more sun for the rest of the day. This was a shame as the sun would have highlighted some of the lovely colours. We decided we were probably still about a week too early to see them at their best but with some stormy weather forecast in the week ahead it is possible a lot of the leaves will have gone by this time next week. We have done this walk before, I reckon about four or five years ago, but we did it in reverse. Up on the moors we could see a number of fires burning and realised there was some controlled burning of heather. We had some nice views back down Ladybower Reservoir and then gradually up Derwent Reservoir to Howden Dam and beyond. We took the path down towards Abbey Bank, stopping for lunch looking towards Howden Dam. We then reached the shore of Derwent Reservoir and headed back to the car park. At the dam we made a detour to the West Tower where there was a display about the Dambusters. This is run by volunteers and only ope Sundays. It was an interesting display and here was a life size version of the bouncing bomb. Bought a DVD about the history of the Dambusters and some of the recent reunions. Set off for home but stopped at the Riverside Herb Center for a cup of tea and piece of cake! A quiet evening catching up with phone calls and emails. Enjoy the pictures.