Birchinlee is the site of "Tin Town", a village built by the Derwent Valley Water Board for the workers (and their families) who constructed the Derwent and Howden Dams between 1902 and 1916. Most of the workers had previously been engaged in the construction, in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, of the

Elan Valley Reservoirs The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, provide clean drin ...

where the accommodation was very basic. At Birchinlee, a "model village" was built; its infrastructure included hospitals, school, canteen (pub), post office, shops, recreation hall, public bath house, police station, railway station, rubbish dump with incinerator, and much else. One of the shops was a well-stocked store owned by the Gregory brothers from

Tideswell Tideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire Da ...

. Accommodation consisted of workmen's huts, foremen's huts and married workmen's huts. The latter were decorated to a high standard, as photographs from the period confirm. The population rose to 900 people. Remnants of "Tin Town" can still be seen when walking to the west of Derwent Reservoir. The former railway track is now a footpath. One of the buildings was salvaged and rebuilt at Hope where in 2014 it was reported to be housing a beauty parlour. A number of books and resources charting the history of Birchinlee and the dambuilders have been written by Professor Brian Robinson (whose mother was born and lived in Tintown) and Doctor Bill Beven, Peak District National Park archaeologist. The Derwent Valley Museum, formerly located on the Derwent Reservoir dam and run privately by the late Vic Hallam, told the history of the Derwent valley and of Derwent,

Ashopton Ashopton was a small village in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Ashop. The village population was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Aston, Derbyshire. In the early 1940s, the village (along with neighbou ...

and Birchinlee as well as the tale of RAF Squadron 617 and its training for

Operation Chastise Operation Chastise or commonly known as the Dambusters Raid was an attack on Nazi Germany, German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by No. 617 Squadron RAF, 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called the Dam Busters, using sp ...

(the "Dam Busters" raids) during the Second World War. Further up the valley is Beavers Croft, a 14th-century housestead that was occupied by the chief engineer of Howden Dam in the early part of the 20th century. It is currently owned by private business partners that let the house for self-catering holidays during the summer, and the barn was occupied by a part-time PDNPA ranger until late 2013.

References

{{reflist History of Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Former populated places in Derbyshire Hamlets in Derbyshire High Peak, Derbyshire

See also

References