Thornhill Trail
Bamford, Derbyshire.
One of the three great Derwent Dams, Ladybower reservoir was built between 1935 and 1943 in the upper Derwent Valley (with a major interruption when the Second World War broke out) and it took a further two years to fill. The Thornhill Trail was the old reservoir construction narrow gauge railway which brought raw materials up the valley. Only a couple of miles long, the trail is an easy walk for all ages – just keep any eye out for the horseriders and cyclists who love it too. It starts off by Bamford recreation ground and takes you through some stunning countryside (keep glancing over to the right to spectacular Bamford Edge), ending up at Ladybower and the start of the climb up Win Hill, which is another kind of walk altogether. You can make a circle out of it by following a public footpath sign across a couple of meadows and past Bamford Mill and its wonderful weir – once a cotton mill, now sympathetically converted into rather smart apartments – and end up where you started from.
