Last Updated 19/10/2006
R.o.B Closed Railways
The Cromford and High Peak Railway
Including:
The Butterley Company Gangroad
The Steam Horse Locomotive
The LNWR Ashbourne to Buxton Branch
The Killers Branch
The Steeple Grange Railway
It is believed that people have lived in the peak district since pre-historic times and by the mid 18th century and the industrial revolution it had gone from a pre-dominantly agricultural area to a heavily industrialised one. By the end of the 18th century canals were the ultimate in heavy goods shipment throughout the country, roads being no competition due to their often mud track like state. The peak district of Derbyshire was no exception to the need and use of canals allowing its textile industry to distribute goods far and wide around the country and abroad. In 1794 the Ashton Canal was being built from Manchester to Ashton under Lyne, the canal having branches to Stockport and Hollinwood. The original plan for the Ashton Canal was for another branch to lime stone quarries in the Derbyshire hills though due to the company not having enough finances a separate company was set up to build what was to become the Peak forest Canal. This new canal would extend from a pre existing branch to Dukinfield aqueduct to Chapel Milton just north of Chapel-en-le firth with a tramway (plateway) connecting the canal to the quarries, the tramway was to become known as the Peak forest tramway. A last minute change to the plans saw the canal terminate at Bugsworth with a branch to Whaley Bridge the former being connected to several branches of the tramway at the canal basin. On the western side of the Pennines the Cromford canal was completed in 1794 after permission was granted for its construction as a spur of the Erewash Canal. The engineers for the Cromford canal were William Jessop, owner of the Butterley iron company that was to produce many famous iron landmarks that still survive today, and Benjamin Outram who is also famous for his tramways and inventor of the flanged cast iron rail used on Plateways. The canal was an immediate success and thoughts were turned for an extension of 10 miles to Bakewell though it was not only canals that were considered for this extension. Many of the local quarries used internal tramways and also had main lines that connected to the canal, horses hauling the empty tubs back up the hillside while fully loaded ones were lowed down by rope or gravity though the latter was mostly in use. One such tramway was built by Benjamin Outram from Hilts limestone quarry down to the Cromford canal at Bullbridge from where the limestone was taken to the Iron works at Butterley. The Butterley Company Gangroad was extremely steep with a 300 foot descent in just under a mile the wagons descending by gravity and then being hauled back up the slope by horses. In 1813 the tramway was home to a revolutionary idea in motive power as it became the site where the ‘Steam Horse locomotive’ designed and built by William Brunton, engineer to the Butterley Company, was tested. The engine was so successful working the 1:50 gradient of the tramway that it remained in use for some years. The interesting thing about this locomotive, which did run on rails, was that it actually used legs to provide traction! Another engine of the same type was used at the 4’2” gauge Newbottle Colliery Waggonway in County Durham between 1814 and 1815. The Newbottle colliery waggonway was opened in 1812 by John Nesham who owned the colliery at Newbottle near Houghton Le spring in County Durham. The waggonway was the first to cross over the hills between Rainton and the River Wear at Sunderland where there was a deep water port. This route would later form part of the Lambton Colliery Railway one of the most important industrial railways in the north east of England well in to the 1960’s.
The engine designed for the railway by William Brunton was built at Butterley works before being taken apart and transported to the Newbottle colliery where it was re-assembled in the October of 1814. There seems to be some confusion over the design of the engine as the patent designs show a four wheel machine that would not only be impractical but also unworkable though it is definite that it had 2 cylinders, placed horizontally in the boiler backplate, the pistons driving two jointed legs alternately pushing against the track either side of the rails. The locomotive was used on the Philladelphia section of the waggonway between the coal pits and the foot of the West Herrington incline. In 1815 the engine was given a larger boiler to help it steam more efficiently. On 31st July 1815 a crowd of spectators at the pit for an open day got more than they bargained for when the engines boiler exploded killing 12 people and injuring about 50 others with scalding steam, it is believed that the engineer had wound down the safety valve too tight. This was the world’s first recorded railway accident with an article appearing in the Durham County Advertiser on the 5th August 1815. The winning proposal was for a Tramway or a Railway to connect the Cromford and the High Peak canals passing over the tops of the Pennines as the easiest and cheapest route. As railway construction on such a large scale was still in its infancy the railway was designed in the same way as a canal by Josia Jessop, son of William Jessop of Butterley Iron works, who was originally a canal engineer. The Act of parliament for the Cromford and High Peak Railway was granted in 1825 and gave allowance for the use of Stationary or Locomotive steam engines, very interesting at a time that steam locomotives were only normally used for short distances on colliery tramways the Stockton and Darlington Railway as yet not having opened. Work on the railway started almost immediately the final plans and preparations having already being prepared and the works at Butterley providing the fish bellied rails to be laid on stone sleepers. Following its Canal heritage the goods stations along the 33 mile long line were called Wharves. The railway had nine inclines though only seven off these required stationary winding engines with gravity used at the other two locations horses hauling the wagons on the level sections.
The Goods sheds at Whaley Bridge, the small centre doors are for the canal the larger doors either side for the railway
The first section of the railway to open was from Cromford to Hindlow on 2nd June 1830 the starting point of the railway beside the canal at Cromford wharf with an immediate 5 mile climb with inclines at Cromford, Sheep Pasture, Middleton and Hopton these having gradients of between 1:14 to 1:8 with stationary winding engines to haul up and lower down the wagons. The route was so hilly and passed over so many small valleys the earthworks were substantial with many curves seeing the train pass through 90 degrees. At Minninglow the line ran on sheer embankments supported by huge buttresses to reduce the risk of slippage. The route wound its way through Hurdlow, Dowlow, Harpur hill and by the time it reached Ladmanlow the line was 1000ft above sea level having climbed several more inclines to get to this point with the highest point being at Brierlow the summit of the line at 1268ft above sea level and the highest rail served point in Derbyshire. The railway was so twisting in nature it was described in a newspaper article in the 19th century as "The skyscraping High Peak Railway with its corkscrew curves that seem to be laid out by a mad Archimedes endeavouring to square the circle." The second section from Hindlow to Whaley Bridge was opened on July 6th 1831 using four more inclines at Bunsall, Small cross and at Whaley Bridge another incline to take the railway to the High Peak canal, this latter the only one to originally not use a stationary steam engine but using counter balance and horse gin (Driven by horses walking round attached to a beam that hauls the rope or cable), the entire journey from Cromford Wharf to Whaley Bridge taking two days to complete, which was a lot faster than it would have taken by alternative routes. The line was not specifically constructed for coal or quarry use but was a general purpose freight route that saw many different products over its line from fish to coal being delivered to Buxton and on to Manchester.
The Catch pit on the Sheep Pasture/Middleton Incline
Below is an article about the opening of the CHPR from the ‘Derby Mercury’ newspaper dated 2nd June 1830:
“On Saturday last the South Eastern end of the Cromford and High Peak Railway was put into operation for the conveyance of goods to the extent of about fifteen miles, which will supply with coal the districts surrounding Wirksworth, Brassington, Bradborne, Parwich, Winster, Youlgreave, Moneyash, Hartington, Longnor, &c. the inhabitants of which places have long felt the inconvenience and expense of bringing coal from a distance and carting up steep hills where the quantity taken by a horse must necessarily be small.
The Railway was opened in a private manner by drawing about 100 tons of coal up four of the inclined planes, the greatest part of which was for the neighbourhood of Hartington, where, and in the adjacent places, the commencement of the coal trade on the Railway has been anxiously looked for. The four inclined planes now finished attain an elevation of 810 feet above the canal, and from their summit the railway is level 12 miles.
The remaining part of the line is in a state of forwardness, and will ere long be completed. Up one of the above planes, rising more than 250 feet, upwards of 90 tons of coal was drawn in one hour and twenty-five minutes. - Much has been said respecting the danger attending inclined planes, but on the Cromford and High Peak that has been obviated by a very simple apparatus attached to the waggons, denominated a “Preventer,” which will in all cases insure safety whether ascending or descending. - When we consider that a horse will on a level Railway draw more than ten tons of coal, while on a common road also level, he cannot draw more than one, the expense of carriage (which in the higher parts of Derbyshire forms more than 50 per cent. of the cost to the consumer) must be much diminished, and by the use of steam engines in drawing the waggons up the hills, much expense is saved, as it is well known that animal power cannot compete with steam.”
Middleton top showing the engine house
To minimise usage on the winding engines which were all operated by steam until the end, except Sheep pasture which was electric, empty and full wagons were run simultaneously. Fore safety several chains and ropes were attached to the wagons to prevent runaways especially on the steeper sections of line. In 1888 two wagons come off the rope at Sheep Pasture and ran down the gradient before derailing and supposedly FLYING over the canal and main line railway in to a field! After this event a catch pit was put in to stop runaway trains just before the railway passes under the main Matlock to Derby road. In the 1870’s the owners of the CHPR experimented with passenger traffic but as the area the line serves is sparsely habited and very open to the elements it is hardly surprising that the day long journey for passengers from one end of the line to the other was soon forgotten about. In 1833 the first of the CHPR’s locomotives arrived on scene built at the Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn & Co works and named ‘Peak’. The second engine to arrive was in 1835 becoming No2 and was a 2-2-0 tender engine built by Edward Bury & Co of Liverpool, later being transformed in to a saddle tank by the LNWR at its Crewe works. The engine worked the Sheep pasture foot to High Peak Junction section from 1860 to 1865 during which time it was fitted with a copper firebox seeing service at Crewe works under LNWR ownership until it was withdrawn in 1876. By 1860 four other locomotives were operating on the railway horses used on many parts of the route and its branches for some time afterwards as the facilities were not in place to cater for total operation of locomotives. When the Locomotives were introduced, the stationary winding engines on the line saw regular use to bring the locomotives, goods wagons and water tenders from the valley floor to the railway. When the L&NWR took over operation of the route in 1867 they levelled the Hopton incline which to 1:14 and removed the stationary engine as they believed that locomotives would be able to handle the gradient with a loaded train this section of line becoming the steepest section of adhesion worked railway in Britain. Crews would often either stall on the westerly climb or would have to split their train at the bottom of the gradient before attempting it. The train’s descent would be done with the wagon breaks pinned down to retard progress. On the cable inclines gongs were placed at intervals which were sounded by the wagons as they passed allowing staff on the incline controlling trap points to know how fast the wagons were going. At the top and bottom of inclines signals were sited and worked by the man at the opposite end of the incline to confirm if and when they were ready for the wagons to be sent up or down, the maximum loading on wagons being 38 tons.
CHPR No.2
With the opening of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway in 1849 thoughts were turned to connecting the CHPR to this new line with a direct junction allowing the easier interchange of traffic, the connection being made at High Peak Junction near Whatstandwell in 1853. By 1934 two exchange sidings were situated on the down side of the main line with the line taking a 1:200 rising gradient to the foot of sheep pasture incline a mile from High Peak Junction. At the foot of the incline was an engine shed and some workshops. After passing under the main road between Derby and Matlock the line split forming a long loop for the ¾ mile long sheep pasture incline which is 1:9 for the first ½ a mile then 1:8 for the final section before it reaches the Top. It is believed that at the former junction of the Cromford and Sheep pasture inclines there was a winding engine which would explain the need for the two inclines to be identified separately prior to there being joined in 1855. At the top of Sheep pasture incline an engine would take the wagons along the winding single track 11 mile section with connections to quarries along the route. At Steeple House there was a connection to the Killers branch (see below) and goods shed with three sidings there was also a connection to the Midland railway at Winksworth by way of a cable worked incline. The incline railway ran through cutting over a bridge to a siding next to the Midland line from Duffield to Winkworth, apparently this route was never brought in to use. On approach to the 1100 yard long Middleton incline there were a series of sidings with the incline being again cable worked on a gradient of 1 in 8¼ though there is no catch pit or signal at the bottom. The winding house at Middleton used the original Butterly works steam engine first installed with the opening of the railway in 1830 and it still remains there today. There was also a small engine shed able to hold two locomotives which worked the line through to Parsley Hay. The section of line from Middleton Top to Parsley Hay was single track and worked on the staff and ticket principle along its barren route with few farm houses to be seen. Stations were sited at Hopton Top, Longcliffe, and Friden for the transfer of goods and parcels etc. The 1¾ mile section between Middleton Top and Hopton is on a downward gradient of 1:1056 with a cutting and tunnel on route both of which were built with the opportunity for the line to be doubled, the cutting was originally part of the tunnel but at some point it had its roof removed possibly due to a landslide, with just to the western end of the tunnel there was a branch to Hopton wood quarry. With a sharp right turn the railway made its way to the Hopton incline.
Two LMS tank engines working up Hopton Incline
As was mentioned above when the LNWR took over the line the Hopton incline was levelled off from its original 500 yard 1:14 with a section of 1:470 near the top. The levelling off included reducing the length of the 1:14 to 50 or 60 yards near the top with the remainder of the incline at 1:60, 1:30 and 1:20, the levelling done by building up the embankment on the lines approach, when it first opened the line was double track though was later singled with the double section at the top becoming a siding, the lower end of the incline being used also as a siding for a works. The line now gradually descends at 1:792 to Longeliffe which is the next station on the line two miles west of Hopton passing several sidings on route for Harborough Brickworks, Manystones and Hickmans Limestone sidings (1934 sidings). Longeliffe was a very important location on the line with sidings in 1934 to limestone works and a fowl grit factory, the railway also having a watering point for the locomotives made out of former tenders of scrapped locomotives on short sidings above the line supported by stone walls. Logeliffe was also the origins of a daily milk train to Manchester, which even ran on Sundays. The line from Longeliffe is relatively level with a slight downhill gradient towards Minninglow. Along this section the railway runs along very high embankment formed from limestone and a long curve taking the line over a long sweep as it follows the contours of the land it was built along. Half a mile west of Minniglow is Gotham curve the railway one of the sharpest curves on Britain’s railways with a fifty five yard turn through eighty degrees. To aid the transit of trains around the curve it was super elevated (where the track is placed on an angle to compensate against the leading wheels wanting to go straight, the weight of the vehicle leaning against the lower rail) with a check rail to ensure that the flanges did not try to ride up over the rail, there are many reports of sparks coming off the locomotive wheels as they passed around this curve. Just passed the curve the line passed over what is now the A5012 road where the guard of the train had to close a single gate across half of the road to protect motorists that came over a blind summit when the train was passing. On the opposite side of the road is Friden where a brick works once provided traffic for the line but in the 1960’s was one of the many industries along the railways route that changed to road vehicles taking the need for the railway away. Friden was the end of the line for the CHPR locomotives in the 1960’s as the new connection to Parsley hay and the development of locomotives allowed main line engines of particular type, namely Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0’s access to the exchange sidings. Where the CHPR locomotive would uncouple and re-water before collecting its empties and returning to Middleton, in some cases with a water tender in tow.
Sheep Pasture engine shed
In 1892 the London and North Western railway opened its branch from Ashbourne to Buxton with the CHPR section of line from Brierlow to Parsley Hay becoming part of this new railway. This left the original CHPR section from Parsley Hay to Whaley Bridge as a long branch the majority of which became surplus to requirements a three mile section to Ladmanlow from Brierlow being retained, the new junction was sited at Parsley Hay literally in the middle of nowhere with the Ashbourne line following the original CHPR route as far as Harpur Hill. The purpose of the new line was to meet the North Staffordshire Railway’s Ashbourne branch at that town allowing increased traffic through the area from Stoke and Uttoxeter the NSR line having opened in 1852 and in later years much of this was in the form of hikers and ramblers keen to enjoy the delights of the Derbyshire countryside. The Ashbourne to Hartington section of line closed on 7th October 1963. On the CHPR a very interesting form of motive power took part in a one day experiment on 2nd August 1965 when a class 08 diesel electric 0-6-0 operated. The locomotive was D3778 hauling varied trains and loads along the route. At Hopton a load that had started out as 13 wagons and one brake van for Middelton top was reduced to 8 wagons for the steep descent. Whether British railways thought it was a waste of time to replace the steam locomotives due to pending closure or whether it was found the steam locos were more reliable I do not know but that was the last time diesel was used. It was not until the LNWR took over that locomotives really took control. Between Sheep pasture and Middleton top ex LNWR 2-4-0T’s worked the trains in 1931 two new locomotives arrived on the line in the form of ex North London Railway 0-6-0T’s LMS Nos 7511 and 7521, these later being replaced by Kitson 0-4-0ST’s. The water tank at Sheep pasture was once a redundant stationary steam engine boiler sited on a brick structure. Other engines on the line were ex North London railway 0-6-0T’s before they were replaced by Riddles Austerity J94 0-6-0ST’s which operated the line until closure. On 30th April 1967 after several brake van special trains had run with double headed J94’s and passengers the line closed for good with the 3 mile long Ladmanlow branch which had served government installations and quarries at Harpur hill and Ladmanlow also closing that year. The new LNWR route to Whaley Bridge was also destined for closure with the rationalisation plan of the 1960’s but as the Midland route had already been closed and Buxton would have been left without a railway the line was reprieved. The scenery from along the route is marvellous and much of the route is used as a cycle and foot path known as the Tissington Trail, that along the former CHPR trackbed being known as the High Peak trail.
One of the stone embankments on the line
Today part of the Ashbourne branch to Hindlow is still in use for freight traffic serving lime kilns sited at the former ICI Hindlow quarry at Stemdale moor the limestone being carried from the large quarry at Tunstead just south west of Peak forest on the former Midland route between Derby and Manachester via Matlock, part of which today forms Peak Rail, to the lime kilns with the then finished product transported by rail all over the country for road construction and other lime based industry. The other location on the former Ashbourne line served by freight trains today is that at Dowlow which sees trains to and from the Lafarge quarry in the area. Other freight services in the Buxton area keep the former Midland and LNWR lines to Buxton open but these will be covered in another R.o.B article. Cromford is still served by the line from Derby to Matlock and there is of course the Steeple Grange Light railway which runs along the former track bed of the CHPR Killers branch. The ‘killers’ branch ran from Steeplehouse, just above Cromford to Middleton quarry, the original line which was one of the last parts of the CHPR to close in 1967 is now used by the 18’’ Steeple grange light railway. The line was opened in 1883 without parliamentary approval the line paid for by the then owners of the quarry for the transportation of there stone. It was built to 1 in 27 and only ever carried lime stone to and from the quarry which had opened in 1845. In 1988 the Steeple Grange Light Railway was formed to build an 18” narrow gauge railway along the Killers branch, the odd gauge being decided on as a boost to the proposed railways interest factor. Today the railway runs along the branch through deep sided cutting with wild foliage providing lively natural aroma and views for the train traveller the train terminating at the quarry face. The railway possesses sixteen former industrial locomotives ranging from electric battery to diesel locomotives which are paired with one of an assortment of former industrial rolling stock to allow visitors a ride. In 2006 the SGLR opted to extend its run along the former CHPR as far as Black Rocks visitor centre and until 31st October 2006 a survey is under way to gauge public opinion. Other extensions have also been carried out towards Middleton, and a new line towards the National Stone Centre via nearby Steeplehouse Quarry is also underway. A run on the railway takes about 20 minutes and is well worth a visit.