The Cromford & High Peak Railway arrives at Harpur Hill

Back on the Cromford & High Railway and this is episode 12. We're picking up in Hillhead Quarry, high above the village of Harpur Hill. An area famous for quarrying and in the last episode we saw how the original 1832 alignment of the CHPR was swallowed by the large quarries.

We pick up the trackbed high on the shelf overlooking Harpur Hill and we walk over towards Harpur Hill Junction. A junction installed in the 1890s when the LNWR built their Ashhbourne to Buxton line. This line bypassed the twisty original CHPR aligment and basically negated any need for the through line to Whaley Bridge down the many inclines. However, there was still a requirement to access the lime works and many quarries on the original C&HPR. The London North Western Railway built a connecting line from it's new line at Hindlow Junction to meet the CHPR at Harpur Hill junction.

A brutal 1 in 41 gradient was a challenge on the way up, as well as on the way down. This kept the Cromford & High Peak open as far as Landmanlow for the Grin quarry and also to serve Hillhead quarry and the impressive lime works at Harpur Hill.

Harpur Hill Lime Works near Buxton contains a lot of history. Impressive photos of the Hoffman Kiln structure, which towered over the railway. The quarry and works was a vast complex, which also found use as an RAF air base and munitions store.

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On this series we'll be following the disused railway line the 33 miles from Cromford in the Derbyshire Dales over to Whalley Bridge in the High Peak. In the first part we look at the section of the railway that was extended to meet with the main railway line.

During the conception of the Cromford and High Peak Railway, canals were in fashion and railways hadn’t really taken off yet. The line exists as there was a desire to connect the Peak Forest canal (Manchester's industry in the West) to the Cromford Canal and the various industry in the East Midlands. A canal was considered but the number of locks to cross the peak district would be enormous.

So instead, a tramroad, or tramway was decided to be the way forward. Horse drawn with rope inclines at several locations to pull the wagons up the steep gradients.

An extremely ambitious venture at the time coming only a handful of years after the Stockton and Darlington railway. This makes it one of the world oldest railways. The 33 mile long line opened at the turn of the 1830s connecting the two canals and shortly after the horses were replaced with steam engines. The inclines were powered by static steam engines that we will see in later episodes.

We’ll see as we progress down the line, various challenges that ultimately led to the line's closure. Apart from a few quarry lines, the railway closed in stages up to 1967.

These days a large portion of the line is accessible as the High Peak Trail.


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