Investigation team Bren, Mick

Our Report - We arrived just as it was getting dark. As we were going in to the site Bren saw a man running across what is now the roadway towards a building. She said the building had a tall square chimney and the man had navvie type clothing and a cap. (She had not visited this site before and did not know what it was). After a walk around the site we found one place that we felt would be good to start at (large foundations of one of the old buildings). We saw some kind of flashing light behind this building which we couldn't explain as there didn't seem to be anything to cause it. No cars, no houses. We took a few pictures but didn't get anything out of the norm. Very interesting place, may go back in daylight to explore the area more fully.

Amongst the trees survive the shadows of a remarkable early 20th century village which was home to over 2,500 people and that the road they are on was once a bustling high street.

On first glance these traces are difficult to discern and easily overlooked, the trees effectively camouflaging the subtle and even not so subtle structures. Some of these, such as the huge earthen terraces which were created as level foundations for the whole of the settlement, are so big that they are often assumed to be part of the 'natural' surrounding landscape. Smaller remains - the shallow depressions, concrete floors and brick fireplace foundations which represent the traces of buildings - are difficult to see because they are easily masked by vegetation. Even the two main streets are hidden under the present metalled valley road and a dirt forestry track.

Through systematic survey of these remains the Peak District National Park Authority has rediscovered the site, the ghost town of Birchinlee, which was home to the navvies who built those dams between 1901 and 1914. What is remarkable is that so much survives of a village comprising corrugated iron and weatherboard buildings which was only occupied for 14 years.

How effectively hidden yet well-preserved the site was is highlighted two 'finds' during the survey. When dirt of the forestry track was removed the well-preserved gritstone cobbled street was exposed underneath. Similarly when rhododendron bushes standing next to the road were cut back, a 3m-deep stone-lined hollow with a doorway was rediscovered which turned out to be the beer cellar of Derwent Canteen. Even the forestry manager responsible for the site for the past 40 years knew nothing of each site.