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Ashopton was flooded to create the Ladybower Reservoir during the Second World War, and many buildings were sacrificed in this process. The project, first suggested in the early 1920s, caused considerable controversy because it involved the flooding of two inhabited villages - Ashopton and Derwent. Despite protests the dam went ahead and was finished in 1943, though the reservoir took a further two years to fill. It was officially opened on 25 September 1945 by the King.