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Railway Trails

Snaking their sinuous way across the White Peak limestone plateau are the now green scars of several disused railway lines. Some fell victim to the famous Beeching axe while others simply outlived their usefulness in the cold, hard light of economics as road transport became easier and cheaper.

But all were considerable feats of civil engineering in this difficult, hilly country, although some conservationists like John Ruskin fumed against the building of the viaduct across the Wye in Monsal Dale. The disused lines quickly became unsightly eye-sores, so the National Park authority stepped in with pioneering schemes which preserved their continuity, and provided modern visitors with pleasant walking and riding routes across some of the Park’s finest scenery.

The first lines to be converted to this original recreational use were the former Ashbourne to Buxton route, which became known as the Tissington Trail, and the Cromford and High Peak route, which is now called the High Peak Trail. The Monsal Trail, along the line of the former Midland Railway where it runs through the Park, followed in 1980, although four of its tunnels have been sealed off for safety reasons.

In the south-west of the Park, Staffordshire County Council has provided a similar facility along the line of the former Leek and Manifold Light Railway, which was primarily built to serve the isolated farming communities on the hills above, but only operated for thirty years.

Today, visitors can enjoy these superb routes either as walking or riding excursions. Cycle hire facilities are provided at Ashbourne and Parsley Hay, on the Tissington Trail; Middleton Top on the High Peak Trail, and at Waterhouses on the Manifold Track. Parts of the tracks are also used by horses, and many of the structures like the former signal box at Hartington, have been retained (in this case as an information centre).

So successful has been this transformation that other parts of the tracks have been so well recolonised by nature that they are now designated as linear nature reserves!