The stone-built ivy-clad houses were so solid and the communities so established it seemed things could never change.
Ashopton and Derwent were no different to hundreds of Peak District settlements, most of which are still going strong today.
Ashopton boasted a 17th century hall, toll cottage, Georgian coaching inn and dozens of cottages.
Yet these idyllic rural hamlets were removed from the landscape and then drowned, as our old photos show.
First, dams and a huge viaduct were built. Then, as the waters rose, people were moved out and the houses pulled down.
Ladybower, Derwent and Howden dams were built between 1901 and 1945 and the villages of Ashopton and Derwent were submerged in 1943, although they continue to loom large in the imagination today.
We have delved into our archives to produce this sequence of eerie photos from when the water came.
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1. Last bus
Picture shows the last bus to Ashopton Village before the village was flooded to make way for the Ladybower Reservoir in the early 1940's Photo: Nancy Fielder
4. Crook Hill
Ashopton from Crook Hill - site of the new viaduct 1939 Photo: Julia Armstrong