Millers Dale
General information
LocationHigh Peak
England
Coordinates53°15′23″N 1°47′36″W / 53.2563°N 1.7932°W / 53.2563; -1.7932
Grid referenceSK135733
Platforms3 to 1905, 5 subsequently
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
Midland Railway
← Buxton│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
Peak Rail line
Sources[2][3]

Millers Dale railway station was situated in Millers Dale, near Tideswell, in the Peak District.

History

It was built in 1863 by the Midland Railway on its extension of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway from Rowsley.

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 instead was named "Millers Dale", and then, from 1889, 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 (mainly lime and limestone) 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, just east of 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.

Stationmasters

  • T. Turner 1863 - 1864[6] (afterwards station master at Kibworth)
  • W. Fry 1864 - 1865[6]
  • W. Palmer from 1865[6] (formerly station master at Brightside)
  • H. Lewis until 1872[7] (afterwards station master at Ripple)
  • W. Whitmore from 1872[7] - 1898[8]
  • Joseph Henry Clarke 1898 - 1904[9] (afterwards station master at Matlock Bridge)
  • W.E Coates 1905 - 1908[10] (afterwards station master at Kegworth)
  • John Alderson 1908 - 1920[11] (afterwards station master at Skipton)
  • A. Foster ca. 1937

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 west 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 (officially Millers Dale Junction), 1.25 miles (2.01 km) from the station.[12]

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 later to accommodate Buxton trains, plus the former up platform became an island platform in 1905 to serve the extra tracks on the north side of the station. The new loops, the additional platforms, the new main station building and the second (northerly) viaduct were opened on 20 August 1905. The old viaduct was then closed, strengthened and reopened in April 1906.[12] 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 act of Parliament 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, an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) walking and cycle track, under the management of the Peak District National Park Authority, who took on the trail and associated infrastructure in the early 1980s.

The main (1905) buildings remain, now acting as a café and visitor information point, public toilets and exhibition. The station waiting area and booking office was re-opened as a cafe now known as the Refreshment Rooms[13] in 2019, following an extensive £230,000 restoration led by the National Park Authority. In 2022 the former goods shed re-opened after a £330,000 EU-funded restoration[14] and now includes a self-guided interpretive and information exhibition open at all times when the café is in operation.

The hamlet of Millers Dale is still dominated by the two large disused viaducts over the Wye valley, the older of which became part of the Monsal Trail.

See also

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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 "1859-1866". Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts: 203. 1914. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  7. 1 2 "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 249. 1871. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "Retirement of the Miller's Dale Station Master". Derby Mercury. England. 3 August 1898. Retrieved 30 December 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ "Presentation to Matlock Station-Master". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 8 April 1904. Retrieved 30 December 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ "District Items". Sheffield Evening Telegraph. England. 5 September 1908. Retrieved 30 December 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "Derby and Derbyshire and Elsewhere". Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal. England. 5 March 1920. Retrieved 30 December 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. 1 2 Railway Magazine October 1963 p. 680
  13. ↑ "The Refreshment Room - The Monsal Trail, Millers Dale Station". www.blueberryfood.co.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  14. ↑ "Millers Dale Goods Shed". Peak District National Park. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
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