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Cromford And High Peak Railway
All photographs of this railway in date order.
![Looking south at Hindlow sidings.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford //]](/images/7000/7122.jpg "Hindlow Quarry")
![Wagon trap at Cromford near the bottom of the incline.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford //]](/images/7000/7139.jpg "Cromford")
![Parsley Hay station looking south. The Cromford and High Peak line to Cromford forks left; the line to Ashbourne forks right. Now part of the Tissington Trail for walkers and cyclists.<br><br>[John Thorn /09/1963]](/images/26000/26102.jpg "Parsley Hay")
![Looking north from the site of High Peak Junction on the former Cromford and High Peak Railway in the summer of 2002. [Ref Query 3 January 2018]<br><br>[Ian Dinmore 22/06/2002]](/images/62000/62394.jpg "High Peak Junction")
![The transit shed alongside the Cromford Canal at High Peak Junction in the summer of 2002, looking north towards Matlock.<br><br>[Ian Dinmore 22/06/2002]](/images/63000/63272.jpg "High Peak Junction")
![The water tower and tank at High Peak Junction, photographed in the summer of 2002. <br><br>[Ian Dinmore 22/06/2002]](/images/63000/63422.jpg "High Peak Junction")
![View south at High Peak Junction in June 2002, with the Cromford Canal on the left alongside the former transit shed. [See image 63272]<br><br>[Ian Dinmore 22/06/2002]](/images/63000/63447.jpg "High Peak Junction")
![Parsley Hay was formerly the junction between the Buxton to Ashbourne line and the Cromford and High Peak line. It closed to passengers in 1954 and goods in 1967. It is now a key location on the Tissington and High Peak cycle trails that follow these scenic old rail routes and a modern cafe serves the needs of the many cyclists who use them. View along the trackbed showing the line following the hillside towards Buxton. I believe this photo was taken from the same spot as John Thorn's 1963 picture [See image 26102], but facing the opposite direction and the modern cafe occupies the goods yard. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 25/10/2009]](/images/26000/26057.jpg "Parsley Hay")
![The parting of the ways. This is the former junction to the south of Parsley Hay station. To the right is the old LNWR line to Ashbourne, open from 1899 to 1963 and now the <I>Tissington Trail</I>. Swinging left is the much older (1825) Cromford and High Peak line, which never had a regular passenger service and reached Cromford by a series of inclined planes. This line finally closed in 1967 and has also been converted becoming the <I>High Peak Trail</I>. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39041.jpg "Parsley Hay")
![Only a few original railway artefacts survive on the <I>High Peak Trail</I> but this signal post (and part of the arm) still stands on the line to Cromford and was presumably the Parsley Hay distant for the junction with the Ashbourne line. View north from the line to Friden - just round the bend beyond the bridge is the short Newhaven tunnel which the trail passes through.<br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39057.jpg "Parsley Hay")
![Fearsome is probably the best adjective to describe the 1:14 Hopton Incline. As built it had a stationary steam engine and rope haulage but was <I>eased</I> to 1:14 by the LNWR and loco haulage commenced. For many years the ex North London 0-6-0Ts would charge the foot of the bank with a few wagons, often only to have to return for another attempt. For the last few years of service the work transferred to J94 0-6-0STs before final closure in 1967. Seen here from a nearby minor road the level section from Middleton Top crosses the bridge on the right with the bank itself climbing ahead directly alongside the lane beyond the crossroads. One of the many quarries that provided the line with traffic is seen to the right, this one producing dolomite from which magnesium was extracted in the plant that can be seen beyond the bridge. The incline now forms part of the <I>High Peak Trail</I>. (Thanks to Malcolm Chattwood for additional information on the location)<br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39066.jpg "Hopton Incline")
![Friden goods station generated a lot of traffic for the Cromford and High Peak, not least from the DSF Refractories (formerly Derbyshire Silica Firebrick) works that still operates alongside the old trackbed trail. This was the point where Buxton locomotives would hand soutbound trains over to the Middleton Top based tank engines and in turn take their trains, and traffic from Friden, northwards. View north towards Parsley Hay past the firebrick plant, which had a siding inside this building. (With thanks to Malcolm Chattwood for additional information on the location).<br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39077.jpg "Friden")
![Looking south towards Middleton Top from the Hopton Incline summit where there is an information board with a picture of two NLR 0-6-0Ts storming the bank with an SLS enthusiasts special in 1953. There is also a warning board for <I>High Peak Trail</I> cyclists for the 1:14 hill. Behind the camera is the site of Hopton (Goods) Station, now a picnic site.<br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39101.jpg "Hopton Incline")
![When the gradient post reads <I>1 in 1056:1 in 8 (and a quarter!)</I> you know this is a railway location with a difference. This is the summit of the Middleton incline, the upper of the two rope worked inclines on the Cromford and High Peak. The gate is a later addition, to slow down the cyclists, and I presume the semaphore has been brought here from elsewhere too. From the foot of Middleton was a one mile level section at Sheep Pasture worked by an isolated locomotive and then a further rope worked incline down to Cromford. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39217.jpg "Middleton Top")
![Middleton Top engine house, as seen from the summit of the Middleton incline. The steam winding engine is still (occasionally) operational and open days are held. The trackbed cycle path curves round behind this building, passes a visitor centre and then heads for nearby Hopton Incline and Parsley Hay beyond. There is no trace of the small engine shed that housed the C&HPR locomotives until the 1967 closure. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39222.jpg "Middleton Top")
![The last leg of the HIgh Peak and Tissington Trails runs north from the old station site at Hurdlow towards Buxton, as seen here from the foot of the station approach on a very sunny May morning. Even more remote than the other stations on the line Hurdlow closed in 1949, five years before the withdrawal of Buxton to Ashbourne passenger services. No trace of the station remains but a pub at the top of the approach road makes a good watering hole on days like this. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39257.jpg "Hurdlow")
![Newhaven Tunnel is on the High Peak Trail just to the south of the junction with the Tissington Trail. It carries the A515 Buxton to Ashbourne road over the old line and bears stone plaques over each portal commemorating its construction in 1825. View towards Parsley Hay.<br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/39000/39814.jpg "Parsley Hay")
![Until 1967 this would have been a view of Middleton Top steam shed, a tiny single road structure housing two tank engines that worked the upper section of the Cromford and High Peak to Friden. The shed joined onto the low building in the foreground. Behind is the stationary engine house that powered the 1:8 cable-worked incline that started by the signal beyond. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 24/05/2012]](/images/40000/40549.jpg "Middleton Top")
![The engine house at the top of Sheep Pasture Incline allows the severity of the 1 in 8 gradient to be appreciated. The rope hauled incline transported wagons (and locomotives!) from High Peak Junction on the Midland Railway up on to the main Cromford and High Peak Railway northwards towards Buxton and Whaley Bridge. Nearby, at Middleton Top a similar building still contains the winding engine which is occasionally operated in summer.<br><br>[Malcolm Chattwood 18/03/2015]](/images/50000/50873.jpg "Sheep Pasture")
![The catch-pit near the bottom of the 1 in 8 Sheep Pasture Incline on the Cromford and High Peak Railway was designed to protect Cromford Goods Yard below the bridge from <I>runners</I> that became detached from the rope whilst ascending or descending the incline. Tracks went either side of the entrance with catch points set to direct runaways into the pit.<br><br>[Malcolm Chattwood 18/03/2015]](/images/50000/50904.jpg "Sheep Pasture")
![The inside of the catch pit at the bottom of Sheep Pasture Incline in March 2015, showing the remains of a wagon that demonstrates the value of the system. The catch pit was installed in 1888 after two loaded wagons ran away almost from the top and were travelling at such speed they jumped the Cromford Canal and Midland Railway just beyond. This particular wagon was safely arrested after its unrestrained journey down the bank in 1946. [see Image 50904]<br><br>[Malcolm Chattwood 18/03/2015]](/images/50000/50934.jpg "Sheep Pasture")
