Cycling Around Derwent Reservoir
Today we’re out on the bike at Derwent Reservoir in County Durham! This ride takes you around the water with plenty of great views, a mix of quiet lanes and paths, and a few little climbs to keep things interesting.
It’s one of those rides where you can just switch off, enjoy the scenery, and take it all in. We’ll show you the route, some of the best spots around the reservoir, and a bit of what it’s like to cycle here.
If you’re into cycling vlogs, exploring new places, or just want to see what riding in County Durham looks like – stick around for the ride!
👉 Don’t forget to hit like and subscribe if you enjoy the video – plenty more rides coming soon.
Route:
https://www.komoot.com/tour/2529824915?share_token=aDf3hGuVChh2kb8aDhl61kTZ5eB1NSj3xCBJfreT0cnCAma6pV&ref=wtd
https://www.instagram.com/bike_ventures_uk/
I’ve gone dizzy. Morning. Welcome back to the channel. Lisa is trying to hide behind me. Look, cuz I was doing that 360. It didn’t work. Um, this morning we’re at the beautiful Derwent Reservoir. Now, those of you in Darbisha know that this isn’t the Derwent Reservoir in Darbasha. And you’re right, it’s not. There’s two Dwick reservoirs in Darbisha as I found out the other day. This one three and a half miles long. It holds five times the amount just over of the one in Darbisha. And we’re going to ride around it today. 10 miles. Nice quick morning loop before we have to head home. But yeah, it’s stunning. And obviously it’s not holding five times more than it norm than it does, but it’s still looking lovely. Beautiful bit of engineering. And I’ll tell you a bit more about it as we go around. Right. So, we’re going that way, but you could go that way over the damn wall. We’re going to come back that way. And just over there is a country park, which I think has a cafe and a visitor center. And there’s a visitor center just down the bottom where you can park as well. And we’ve just parked over there today. Right, let’s get going. Yeah. Oh, bit of gravel. Joy. Yeah. Nothing wrong with a bit of gravel, love. So, this is this is longer than going around Carington, isn’t it? Is it? Yeah. Carington’s only about seven or eight in it. No, I thought it that one more than that. No, I don’t think so. It’s all them geese again. Going to show you these geese. Like loads of geese. Wow. Don’t know if you can hear that. There’s got to be like nearly a hundred there, aren’t there? And the rest. Wow. That’s impressive. See, I hope the camera picked that up. We’ve heard these for the past few nights. The first night we were here, they all came and landed in a field next to our campsite, didn’t they? Yeah. Made a right racket for about an hour and then once it all settled, it was lovely. But wow, the sound so loud. That’s right. Cool. See if you can see them further around. They might land on the water. This is, as I said in my intro video, this is one of two Derwent reservoirs in the UK fed by the River Derwent. Now, obviously not the one in Darisha. There’s actually four river Derwents in the UK, and this feeds one of them. So, this holds 50,000 megal of water. And to give you a comparison, the one in Darbisha holds 9,874 megal L of capacity. So five times more capacity which is huge fed from the river Derwent but actually it’s topped up as well from ke water if needed and it’s got a flow it’s provides to the Tinaw region approximately 28 million gallons of water every day which is huge absolutely huge and obviously that’s fed from the reservoir above and the river as well. Yeah, massive numbers. So unlike a lot of reservoirs which you know they basically have to flood villages and valleys, this one was actually dug out. So in the building of this one in the late 50s into the early 60s, only three properties had to be vacated. And if you go down to the visitor center at the foot of the dam. Oh no, actually there’s an info board just next to the dam wall where we started. And that uh shows you a few pictures of it being built and a picture of one of the cottages that had to be uh demolished. [Music] But yeah, this is unlike other reservoirs. This one was actually uh dug out. So there was a valley here, but it wasn’t deep enough. So it was dug out and the uh spoil from that dig was used to build the dam wall and part of the reinforcing banks. Yeah, it’s cool. I can still hear them geese, but I can’t see them. So we are going left here. picnic area one mile a one in seven gradient so like a railway you know what there could have been a railway around it couldn’t there while they were building it [Music] yeah huge lovely bright blue skies behind us but ominous gray ones where we’re go we’re heading towards the end of the reservoir. We’ll see. We’ll either get wet or we won’t. We’ve got wet every day this week, so another day is not going to matter, is it? [Music] I can still hear them geese, love. Oh, yeah. Can’t see them now, though. No, they must have landed. Oh, they’re all in the water there. Look. Oh, yeah. See them? Holy dust. I can only just see where they are. Look. Yeah, you see all them geese just there. Look, sort of just heading out towards the center. Can absolute right racket. So I wonder, you know, if if they come here during the day and then at night they go and sleep on that field near that campsite. [Music] Oh, there’s someone else fishing down there. Look. Yeah. seen him. Yeah. [Music] It’s a lovely spot, isn’t it? It is nice. Yeah. The guy who runs our campsite when he was giving us directions to walk down to from the site the other day said at the minute the locals are calling it the puddle cuz it’s so low. Oh, they’ve got red squirrels here. Have they? Yeah. They’re a sign there. Well, yeah, they’re a sign. Don’t mean you’re going to bloody see one. Although, you probably won’t see one, but we do have them here. I think I’ve only ever seen them dead. I don’t seen a red squirrel. Wow. Look at that. Three and a half miles long. It’s massive, isn’t it? Yeah. So much quieter than Carington as well. Yeah. Well, like a lot of places up here, it’s not tourist centric, is it? If you think about it, the Peak District’s in the middle of the country, so you can see why it gets a lot of people. Yeah, this is lovely. We’ve had three days up here. Well, we came up Tuesday, so we’ve had three nights. This will be our third bike ride. Only a short one today cuz we’re heading home. Yeah, we’ve had two lovely rides on all railways the previous two days, which will be videos you’ve either seen or videos that are coming up. I’ve not decided. We’re still going through the jog series at the minute. I think I’ve edited up to day seven. It takes quite a while. Got two to three hours at least on each video going through all the footage and working out what flows right. Then once they’re edited, me and Lisa have to sit down and watch them and make sure it flows all right and makes sense. and is a good sort of representation of our adventure. It’s been awesome watching them back, editing them and watching them back and little bits that made us laugh at the time still making us laugh and yeah, it’s cool. I love it. I appreciate everyone that’s watching and commenting and liking the vids. Really is appreciated. Right, we’re going down this road, I think. There’s another parking space here, is there? Yeah. [Music] Wrong way. get into an easier gear before you stop. So, I was just showing you that car park, guys, there. Yeah. Nope. I went the wrong way cuz I was busy using my instinct rather than looking at my computer. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] It’s a shame you can’t get all the way around on path. I think next queue on my computer is 2.8 miles. So it looks like we got about a 3 mile stretch on road. So just bear that in mind if you got nippers with you. Morning Mr. [Music] I love all this like mand with little pine forest bits as well. Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it? It’s lovely. It makes me want to come back up and do like the North Umbrean National Park and stuff, which is literally just up the road. Yeah, [Music] huge. [Music] [Music] There you go. So there’s the end. So from the dam wall to here, we’ve done 3.6 milesi. And I can see it’s lumpy this road, isn’t it? Yeah. But we’ve got another climb coming up in a minute. And then we’re going to come around there and back along there. I don’t know if it brings us back close to the reservoir. I have no idea. Uh we’ll see, won’t we? Let’s go. No, I don’t look it. Any road that’s got a hair pin though. It’s all right. It’s not busy. Yeah. Not even halfway up it yet. Yeah, we’re clear. What lovely road. Yeah. Nice and uh quiet and in good nick. I think we’ve only seen about two cars, haven’t we? Three. Three cars. Three cars. That’s it. We’ have done it clockwise. We’ have come down this. Yeah. Oh, that way you’re up. Yeah, these road surfaces are amazing. Think I’ve seen one pothole. Yeah, normally I’m pointing at things like Mad Felisa to avoid. Yeah, these are awesome. I’m guessing it’s cuz it’s a fairly quiet area, which is good cuz if you want a quiet breakaway with stunning scenery, this place is beautiful. K Durham, Northland. Stunning. And it’s not it’s not that far away. It took us 2 hours 40 in from where we live, northeast Arisha. So, not bad at all. That was even with bits of the A1. Mad. A1’s normally a nightmare. I hate it. But it was all right. Oh, another climb. Another climb. climb. Well, I thought this was going to be a nice easy 10 mile bootle this morning. This is a rock side. You are. It’s a rock side. Look. Yeah. It’s not a climb. It’s only a lump. [Music] That’s both climbs done on this route. There you go. Look. So, there’s the uh water tower there. Look where we’ve parked. So, yeah, it’s a shame you can’t get all the way around on gravel, into it. But the roads have been lovely, actually. So, we’re going to drop down to this. Was it Pow Hill Country Park where there’s probably a visitor center and then we’re back along the side and then we’re going over the damn wall and just below the damn wall down there the other side of them trees is another visitor center where you could park a massive play area for kids. Little shop cafe and you could you could ride up the road to the dam there and come up to this visitor center and back around I suppose couldn’t you? Yeah. It just depends. Right, let’s crack on and get these last few miles done and then we’ll Got a nice brewing flask van, then we’re heading home. Right, let’s go. Oh, can you see that TV antenna right in the hillside over there, love? Yeah, there’s two in there. The one on the right. Yeah, the big tall one. Yeah, that’s the one when we did the Lester Valley Railway, isn’t it? Yeah. Anyway. Oh, we passed that one. The one the one on the left we passed when we did the other one yesterday. Did we? Yeah. Okay. [Music] Get that red squirrel sign. Oh, nice bit of downhill. First pothole as well. Look, first couple of potholes. Oh, you won’t want to park here to ride around. You got eight climb coming out of car park. Uh there’s a sign there that says seasonal visitor center. So that’ll be the one I was telling you about at the foot of the dam. So there isn’t one here. Thank you. So, I stopped to look at that wedding venue. Oh, did you? Why are you getting married? Yeah. To you again. Once is enough. [Music] Oh, this one. A nice bit of gravel again. [Music] It’s cold sat on there fishing today. There’s quite a few fishermanmen. [Music] It actually looks, unless it drops off, it looks really shallow. The sides of it are very uh gentle. I suppose the regulars would know the underwater topography, wouldn’t they? What? I think we’ve only seen one other couple today. Walking the dog. [Music] More gang of delinquent sheep ahead. Lisa hates riding through animals, especially cows. So, I’m going to attack her. The sheep tend to be a bit more uh afraid, don’t they? Cows are more inquisitive. See, running off. Sure you love that. [Music] [Music] Is that weird thing there? Look. Is it like a boat launching thing? Could be. Could it? Not a minute. No. Wait a while to launch your boat from there, wouldn’t you? It could be, couldn’t it? Although it’s pretty green up here. It doesn’t look like it’s had much water for a long time. No. [Music] Oh, look how dry that is. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Look at that. Is that the feeder for it? Um, well, maybe one of them. So, that Millshield picnic area, which is the one right on the other side. Yeah. Somewhere over there. It’s two and a half from here. Look at that book hotel there. That’s a cool book hotel. Where? Down there. Oh, yeah. That should just close if you push it too. [Music] He’s lifting up. [Music] So, we’re just the other side now of the dam. Look, there is a car park and they’ve got some excellent facilities. Look, if you needed it. Yeah, all the modcons this end. So, we’re just going to finish over the damn wall. Yeah, we’re doing 8.6 at this point. So, that’s not even a mile, is it? So, we’ll be nine and a bit to get over there. The visitor center is just down the bottom. I might stop and show you on the damn mall, actually. Right, duckies, I’ve got a note for you. Sorry. Yeah, we were just talking when we think they’re probably for launching boats off when the water’s up. You can see how low it is. Way down, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s fast. I tell you what, it does look like it’s going to appear down over there, doesn’t it? Yeah. Might just have avoided it. So, yeah, 48 minutes is to not took long to get around me and we’ve only averaged 10 and a half mile an hour. So, yeah. Nice. Glad we did it. He’s not going to rush back, but if you’re in the area and you’re transiting through, it’s nice to pick up bits of this. mouth. There’s a fisherman down there. I bet you can only see camera poking over wall. Yeah, it’s vast, isn’t it? It’s huge. Well, this is one thing you can do that you can’t do at the Derwent Reservoir in Darbisha, and that’s come across the top of the dam wall. [Music] Some lovely little walks down there. Look. Yeah. Was probably a part from that visitor center, isn’t it? Yeah. Beautiful. W hurting me arm that. Good. Why don’t I hold it and film you for a bit? Come on, man. Yeah. Got it. Is that it? That’s how you’re holding it. Is it shocking? What’s that? I’m holding it filming you. But is it your head? Oh, at least he’s not even got hold of it properly. She’s just hanging on to a bit. Oh, that is funny. I’ve never ridden onehanded before. That’s true. Well done. Yeah. Look at this. Yeah, that bridge is there. Look that we walked down there. Look. I can’t look. I can turn camera, but I can’t look. Whoa. I don’t even know if they can see anything to be honest. Yeah, I think so. I think they’ll get it. Oh, that’s funny. [Music] You hold it higher up though, though. It looks nicer. There you go. She’s no Steven Spielberg, is she? Look nicer for the viewers or me fall off my bike. Whoa. Is it here? Then just that bridge just down there that Lisa showed you, just to the left of it from our perspective behind that big pump of trees, that’s where the visitor center is. So from the visitor center, you just follow the edge of that tree line up and it brings you to that car park there. So you can have a park visitor center and walk up or you can park up here, go for a walk. If you got kids with you, you can actually do a short little loop up round across the dam wall and back down. But you’re onto the road then. So, it’s up to you. Yeah. Quite enjoyed that. Nice way to start the day, wasn’t it? Yeah. Looks like I enjoyed that. It’s only 10:00, so we’re going to get done and then um get changed and head off home. Morning. Morning. So, you had a bit of road for me, a bit of gravel for you, beautiful scenery, and a cafe if you want it. And a cafe if you want it. But we’re going to Williams Cafe today. We are. We already got a broom made. We are Yorkshire after all. Love tight. Well, I’m tight. You’re not as tight as me. No. There we are. Done. Back of the water control tower. Avoided what looks like it’s rain. It’s forecast a bit later, isn’t it? We’ll see. But yeah, I love I love dams and things like this. I think the you know the work that goes into them. There’s the overspill look that’s not been used in a long time, has it? But yeah, just the work that goes into stuff like that. I think it’s really cool. So yeah, so thanks for watching and myself and Lee will see you on the next one. What’s that? What’s that? That’s definitely going in the video. See you next time.