A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE 



which will be situated in the Derwent valley and two in that of the 

 Ashop. When completed the area of these reservoirs will amount to a 

 total of 9 1 3 acres, and their capacity is estimated at 9,996,000,000 gallons. 

 The water will be allocated in the following proportions : one third of 

 the collectable rainfall will be discharged into the river as compensation ; 

 the county of Derby (within the Trent watershed) will then have a first 

 claim to the extent of 5,000,000 gallons per day, and the remainder will 

 be divided between Derby and Derbyshire within the Derby water limits 

 (25 per cent.), Sheffield and Derbyshire within the Rother watershed 

 (25 per cent.), Leicester and Leicestershire (35*73 P er cent.), and 

 Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (14-28 per cent.). The county areas 

 of Nottingham and Leicester will only participate when the water is not 

 required for the large towns. It is estimated that the first instalment of 

 this great work, capable of delivering 12 or 13 million gallons per day, 

 will cost about 2J millions, and will be completed about 1910 or 1911. 

 The second and third instalments of almost equal magnitude will be put 

 in hand as required, and each will probably take about eight or ten years 

 to complete. The work of excavation for the dams has been begun at 

 Howden and Derwent. At the former site some 120,000 cubic yards 

 have been removed from the trench, and about 80,000 cubic yards still 

 remain to be excavated. This trench has been carried down to a depth 

 of 88 feet beneath the surface. Less progress has been made on the 

 Derwent dam, where about 70,000 cubic yards have been removed out of a 

 total of some 200,000. The 2,000,000 tons of stone which will ulti- 

 mately be required for the masonry of the dams will be furnished by the 

 Grindleford quarries, where the present output is over 1,000 tons 

 per week. 



What the effect of these enormous works upon the fauna of North 

 Derbyshire may eventually be it is at present difficult to say. No doubt 

 the presence of a large temporary town in this secluded district will prove 

 prejudicial to animal life for a time at any rate, and it is probable that 

 both red grouse (Lagopus scoticus) and blue hares (Lepus timidus) will 

 suffer from the presence of a large labouring population in their midst. 

 Already the rail passes through what was once a haunt of the now 

 rare dormouse (Muscardinus avellanariui), and many a breeding place of 

 grey wagtail (Motacilla me/anope), dipper (Cine/us aquaticus], and sandpiper 

 (Totanus hypoleucus] will eventually be submerged. But when the works 

 are finished and the temporary village has disappeared, we may feel con- 

 fident that these fine sheets of water will prove a great attraction to 

 waders and ducks on migration, as well as to storm-driven sea birds. 

 With a reasonable amount of protection we shall almost certainly gain the 

 great crested grebe (Podicipes cristatus) as a resident, and probably the teal 

 (Nettion crecca},\h& tufted duck (Fuligula cristata), and the mallard (Anas 

 boscas) will nest among the heather, while the sandpipers will skim along 

 the water's edge, and perhaps the redshank (Totanus calidris) may extend 

 its range, as it has done in the south of the county, and include this dis- 

 trict in its breeding limits. 



XXVll! 



