Millers Dale railway station

Millers Dale railway station was situated in Millers Dale, near Tideswell, in the Peak District. It was built in 1863 by the Midland Railway on its extension of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway from Rowsley.

Millers Dale
LocationHigh Peak
England
Coordinates53.2563°N 1.7932°W / 53.2563; -1.7932
Grid referenceSK135733
Platforms3
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 June 1863Station opened
1 May 1889renamed Millers Dale for Tideswell
14 June 1965renamed Millers Dale
6 March 1967Station closed[1]
Monsal Trail
 
to Buxton
Midland Railway
to Peak Forest
 Topley Pike junction
 Chee Tor No. 1 tunnel
 Millers Dale
 Millers Dale viaducts
 Litton Tunnel (
516 yd
472 m
)
 Cressbrook Tunnel (
471 yd
431 m
)
 Monsal Dale
 Headstone Viaduct
 Headstone Tunnel (
533 yd
487 m
)
 Great Longstone
 Hassop
 Bakewell
 Coombs Road viaduct
(end of trail)
 Haddon Tunnel (
1058 yd
967 m
)
(closed)
 Rowsley
(proposed extension)
 Rowsley South
 Darley Dale
 Matlock Riverside

Sources[2][3]

It served an important junction where passengers for Buxton joined or left the trains between London and Manchester. It was originally to be called "Blackwell Mill" but, in the end, was named "Millers Dale for Tideswell". For such a rural location, it was unusually large; indeed, it was one of the largest stations on the line and was one of the few stations in England to have a post office on the platform. Millers Dale also sent dairy, agricultural and quarried products from the surrounding areas to the major cities. While also serving local towns and villages (notably Tideswell, Taddington and Wormhill), much of its activity was concerned with the connecting service to and from Buxton. Traffic for Buxton actually followed the main line north for nearly two miles, before diverging at Millers Dale Junction, beside Blackwell Mill Halt.[4]

Changing at Millers Dale often involved a wait and the High Peak News of November 1900 referred to the station as "Patience Junction".[4] The station was later immortalised in the 1964 song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann.[5]

The station closed in 1967, but trains continued to pass through until 1968, when the line was closed.

Route
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Peak Forest
Line and station closed		   Midland Railway
New Mills-Millers Dale line		   Monsal Dale
Line and station closed
Blackwell Mill
Line and station closed		   Midland Railway
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway		  

To the north of the station, the line crossed the River Wye three times and ran through the 401 yards (367 m) and 94 yards (86 m) Chee Tunnels and the 121 yards (111 m) Rusher Hall tunnel, before reaching the New Mills line junction, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) from the station.[6]

Platforms
Up local goods at Miller's Dale Station in 1957
Millers Dale, with Down freight passing in 1957

Built on a shelf carved out of the hillside, Millers Dale station originally had two platforms, but a bay platform was added in 1905 to accommodate Buxton trains, plus the down platform became an island platform to serve the extra tracks. The new loop and the second (northerly) viaduct were opened on 20 August 1905. The old viaduct was then closed, strengthened and reopened in April 1906.[6] Whilst the piers for the two viaducts are identical, the older viaduct is supported by an arch structure, whereas the later one is a box structure.

Part of the original Parliamentary Act approving the line considered the needs of invalids taking the waters at Buxton and so, for a while, 'through' carriages for Buxton were attached to, and detached from, expresses, thus alleviating the problem of changing trains. In addition, the two main platforms were connected by a subway.

Since closure

Since the railway was closed the station has become a car park, serving the Monsal Trail, although the main buildings remain, being partly used as public toilets. The hamlet of Millers Dale is still dominated by the two large disused viaducts over the Wye valley. The older of the viaducts became part of the Monsal Trail, an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) walking and cycle track.

The station building is due to reopen as a café and visitor centre in March 2019 after undergoing an extensive £230,000 restoration, providing additional services to users of Monsal Trail.[7]

See also
  • Cycleways in England

References
  1. Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
  2. "The Monsal Trail". A Taste of the Peak District. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  3. Bickerdike, Graeme (June 2009). "The story of structures of the Monsal Trail: A Week in the Peak". Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  4. Railways of the Peak District. Blakemore & Mosley. 2003. ISBN 1-902827-09-0.
  5. Lyrics to "Slow Train" Archived 13 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Railway Magazine October 1963 p. 680
  7. Former Peak District station to reopen soon as café and visitor centre Retrieved 2019-01-10.
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