The Cromford and High Peak Railway(C&HPR) was astandard-gaugeline between theCromford Canalwharf atHigh Peak Junctionand thePeak Forest CanalatWhaley Bridge. The railway, which was completed in 1831, was built to carrymineralsand goods through the hilly rural terrain of thePeak DistrictwithinDerbyshire, England. The route was marked by a number of roped worked inclines. Due to falling traffic, the entire railway was closed by 1967.

The first part of the line from the wharf at High Peak Junction, on the Cromford Canal, toHurdlowopened in 1830. From the canal it climbed over one thousand feet (305m) in five miles (8km), through three inclines ranging from 1 in 14 (7.1%) to 1 in 8 (12.5%): Sheep Pasture incline near Cromford and Middleton and Hopton inclines aboveWirksworth. The line then proceeded up the relatively gentle Hurdlow incline at 1 in 16 (6.25%). The second half from Hurdlow to Whaley Bridge opened in 1832 descending through four more inclines, the steepest being 1 in 7 (14.3%). The highest part of the line was at Ladmanlow, a height of 1,266 feet (386m). For comparison, the present-day highest summit in England is Ais Gill at 1,169 feet (356m) on theSettle–Carlisle line, although the remaining, freight-only, stub of the CHPR at Dowlow Lime Works reaches a height of 1,250 feet (381m).

Fishbelly raillaid on stone blocks, a common form of early track construction, had the advantage of providing a continuous soft path between the rails that was suitable for horses

The railway was laid using so-called "fishbelly" rails supported on stone blocks, as was common in those days, rather than timber sleepers, since it would be powered by horses on the flat sections. On the nineinclined planes,stationary steam engineswould be used, apart from the last incline into Whaley Bridge, which was counterbalanced and worked by ahorse-gin. The engines, rails and other ironwork were provided by theButterley Company. It would take around two days to complete the journey. It was laid to the Stephenson gauge of4ft8+1⁄2in(1,435mm), rather than Outram's usual4ft2in(1,270mm).

While its function was to provide a shorter route for Derbyshire coal than theTrent and Mersey Canal, it figured largely inearly East Midlands railway schemesbecause it was seen as offering a path into Manchester for proposed lines from London. However, the unsuitability ofcable railwaysfor passengers became clear within a few years.

Part of the route included the Hopton Incline. This was a very steep section of the railway about a mile north of the small village ofHopton. It was originally worked by a stationary steam engine but was modified later to be adhesion worked by locomotives. At 1 in 14 (7%), it was the steepest in Britain and trains frequently had to be split and pulled up a few wagons at a time.

Dozens of small sidings were added along the length of the railway to accommodate the waggons that worked the line. Towards the Cromford end, between Sheep Pasture Top andFridenthere were over 15 sidings, mostly grouped between Sheep Pasture andLongcliffe, primarily serving quarries. One was built in 1883 from Steeplehouse to serve the Middleton Quarry north of Wirksworth. The branch closed in 1967 but the trackbed was later used for the18in(457mm)Steeple Grange Light Railwayin 1985.

Towards the Whaley Bridge end of the line, another profusion of sidings lay between Dowlow Halt and Ladmanlow, mostly serving quarries and limeworks. This included some dozen sidings in the short section between Harpur Hill and Old Harpur.

In 1971 the Peak Park Planning Board and Derbyshire County Council bought part of the track bed (from Dowlow, near Buxton, to High Peak Junction, Cromford) and turned it into theHigh Peak Trail, now a national route of theNational Cycle Networkand popular withwalkers,cyclistsandhorse riders.

The High Peak Trail and part of the Tissington Trail (see below) are now also designated as part of thePennine Bridleway, a leisure route that starts atMiddleton Top, near Cromford, and includes 73 miles (117km) through Derbyshire to the South Pennines.

The Middleton Incline Engine House has also been preserved, and the ancient engine once used to haul loaded wagons up is often demonstrated.^[14]Another attraction along the route is theSteeple Grange Light Railway, a narrow-gauge railway running along the trackbed of a branch line off the C&HPR.

Near Cromford at the top of the town of Wirksworth the railway passed underBlack Rocks, a populargritstoneclimbing ground, and gave the name to the 'railway slab', a short tricky'boulder problem'by the railway track.

At the hamlet of Parsley Hay, about 5 miles (8km) SW of Bakewell, the C&HPR/High Peak Trail is joined by theTissington Trail, another route of the National Cycle Network, and formerly the railway line from Buxton to Ashbourne. This 13-mile (21km) recreational route runs from Parsley Hay to Ashbourne on a gently descending gradient.

Station locations:-

Cromford and
High Peak Railway

Passenger services were introduced in stages with there being only one service a day each way between Cromford and Landmanlow in 1856. Stations were included at:

• Whatstandwell
• Cromford
• Steeple House
• Middleton
• Hopton Top Wharf
• Longcliffe
• Friden
• Hurdlow
• Hindlow
• Ladmanlow

The following additional stations were added in 1874. However, this was short-lived and the line was closed to passengers along with the outlying halts and minor stations in 1876.

• Whatstandwell
• Cromford
• Sheep Pasture
• Steeple House
• Middleton
• Hopton Top Wharf
• Longcliffe
• Friden
• Hurdlow
• Parsley Hay
• Hindlow
• Harpur Hill
• Ladmanlow
• Bunsail
• Shallcross
• Whaley Bridge

ThePeak DistrictofDerbyshirehas always posed problems for travel, but from 1800 when the Peak Forest Canal was built, an alternative to the long route through theTrent and Mersey Canalwas sought, not only for minerals and finished goods toManchester, but rawcottonfor theEast Midlandstextileindustry.

One scheme that had been suggested would pass viaTansley,MatlockandBakewell. In 1810, a prospectus was published for another route viaGrindleford,HopeandEdale, but since it could only promise £6,000 a year, in return for an outlay of £500,000, it was received with little enthusiasm. The problem was not only carrying a canal over a height of around a thousand feet, but supplying it with water on the drylimestoneuplands.

FinallyJosias Jessop, the son ofWilliam Jessop, was asked to survey the route. He, his father and their former partnerBenjamin Outramhad gained wide experience in buildingtramwayswhere conditions were unsuitable for canals, and that is what he suggested. Even so, as almost the first long-distance line at 33 miles (53km), it was a bold venture. Moreover, to its summit atLadmanlow, it would climb a thousand feet from Cromford, making it one of the highest lines ever built in Britain.

showCromford and High Peak Railway Act 1825

In 1825 theCromford and High Peak Railway Act 1825(6 Geo. 4. c. xxx) was obtained for a "railway or tramroad" to be propelled by "stationary orlocomotivesteam engines," which was remarkably prescient, considering few people considered steam locomotives to be feasible, andGeorge Stephenson'sStockton and Darlington Railwaywas barely open in far-away County Durham.

The line had been built on the canal principle of following contours across the plateau and the many tight curves hampered operations in later years. Not only did the C&HPR have the steepestadhesion workedincline of any line in the country, the 1 in 14 of Hopton, it also had thesharpest curve, 55 yards (50m) radius through eighty degrees at Gotham.^[6]

The line was isolated until 1853 when, in an effort to improve traffic, a connection was made with theManchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction RailwayatHigh Peak Junctiona short way south of the terminus atCromford. In 1857 the northern end was connected to theStockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway. Around this time, the people ofWirksworthwere agitating for a line and an incline was built between the two. However, theMidland Railwaybegan surveying a line from Duffield^[7]in 1862 but it was never used.^[8]

The C&HPR was leased by theLondon and North Western Railwayin 1862, being taken over fully in 1887. By 1890 permission had been obtained to connect the line directly toBuxtonby building a new line from Harpur Hill the two or three miles into the town centre, thus frustrating the Midland Railway's original plans for a route to Manchester.

The old north end of the line from Ladmanlow (a short distance from Harpur Hill) toWhaley Bridgevia theGoyt Valleywas largely abandoned in 1892, though the track bed is still visible in many places and one incline forms part of a public road.

Then, built by theLNWR, thebranch line to Ashbournewas opened in 1899. This used the section of the C&HP line from Buxton as far asParsley Hay, from where a single line ran south to Ashbourne, where it connected with theNorth Staffordshire Railway. The formation was constructed to allow for double tracking if necessary, but this never happened.

The line was worked by independent contractors until long after other lines, which had taken operations in house upon the introduction of locomotives. The line was initially under-capitalised because many of the subscribers did not meet their dues, and it was mainly funded by the Butterley Company, a major supplier and its main creditor. The final cost was £180,000, more than Jessop's estimate of £155,000, but still much cheaper than a canal. Nevertheless, the line never achieved a profit. Francis Wright, the Chairman, was later to say, in 1862 "We found ourselves getting into difficulties from the third year of our existence," and added it was clear in retrospect that the line "never had a remote chance of paying a dividend on the original shares."^[9]

The railway's first steam locomotive arrived in 1841 in the shape ofPeak, built byRobert Stephenson and Company. By 1860 the line had six more locomotives gradually displacing the horses. Because the inclines were too steep for adhesion traction by these early locomotives, they were hauled up and down the inclines, along with their trains, by static steam engines. Hemp rope or chain, initially used for hauling trains, was later replaced by steel cables.

showCromford and High Peak Railway Act 1855

TheCromford and High Peak Railway Act 1855(18 & 19 Vict.c. lxxv) authorised the carriage of passengers. However the one train per day each way did little to produce extra revenue and, when a passenger was killed in 1877, the service was discontinued. The line's prosperity depended on that of the canals it connected but, by the 1830s, they were in decline. This was, to a degree, offset by the increase in the trade for limestone from the quarries.

There were, in fact, very few accidents. In 1857, the Cromford and Sheep Pasture inclines had been merged into one, and in 1888, a brake van parted from the train near the summit. Gathering speed, it was unable to round the curve into Cromford Wharf. It passed over both the canal and the double track railway line, and landed in a field. A catch pit was therefore installed near the bottom. This can still be seen from theA6^[10]with a (more recent) wrecked wagon still in it.

The most serious accident occurred in 1937. The line was fairly level on the approach to the Hopton Incline and it was the custom to gain speed for the uphill gradient. There was a shallow curve immediately before and on this occasion the locomotive spread the track, rolled over and down the embankment with four wagons. The driver was killed and thereafter a speed limit of 40mph was strictly enforced.

DuringWorld War II, the line was used to transport bombs to the huge underground munitions store atRAF Harpur Hill. The railway line ran directly through the site.^[11]