THE ECCLESBOURNE VALLEY RAILWAY
By Brian Spencer
We are fortunate in having three preserved railways in our part of the North Midlands . Peak Rail , the Midland Railway , Butterley and the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway , follow routes through attractive countryside , but arguably the Ecclesbourne line is through some of the best unspoilt farming countryside in Derbyshire . Part of its route is almost as though it is running through woodland , and there cannot be many places where trains have to slow down behind bouquets of cackling kamikaze pheasants .
Running between Wirksworth and the Midland Main Line at Duffield , the Ecclesbourne Railway was originally the idea of a group of coal mine owners in the Erewash Valley . Around 1856 they wanted a quicker route to take their coal to the textile mills around Manchester , but as the Midland line only went as far as Rowsley , the alternative was to link up with the Cromford and High Peak Railway . This line already ran across the high limestone moors of the Peak District and the intension was to build a line along the Ecclesbourne Valley . The new line would join the Cromford and High Peak , connecting with it at Ravenstor above Wirksworth and its rapidly growing quarries . The only problem was that the last part of the route , via Ravenstor , meant a steep climb up a 1:27 gradient . No doubt this would be possible ( and still is ), for lightly laden passenger trains to climb up from Wirksworth , but it would create problems for trains loaded with tons of coal . This was soon proved to be impractical and coal continued to move by canal to be off-loaded at High Peak Junction until road traffic took over .
Work began on the 9 miles ( 14.5km ) of track of the Ecclesbourne Valley line from Wirksworth to Duffield with the ceremonial cutting of a sod at Duffield . The line was opened on 1st October 1865 , much to the delight of the local businessmen who had thrown their weight behind the Erewash coal owners .
Planning the line was not without its problems , which in turn led to the building of what became known as ‘ Travis ’ folly ’. Up and until 1933 if you had travelled along the line you would have seen a much grassed-over 19 arch viaduct crossing the line . Simply linking fields on either side of the line , it was known officially as Hazelwood Viaduct , but more commonly as ‘ Travis ’ Folly ’. It was built , so folk lore suggests in order for Thomas ‘ Canny ’ Travis ’ cattle to get from one side of the track to the other . The ideal and much cheaper solution would have been to install a level crossing , but the railway company was forced to spend £ 10,000 building the bridge .
Like all folk tales , the story linking the bridge to ‘ Canny ’ Travis is not exactly true . As the land over which the line ran was owned by the then 7th Duke of Devonshire , it was his agent who insisted on this expense . The argument was that it was necessary in order to allow Travis ’ and a neighbouring tenant ’ s cattle to reach fields on the opposite side of the line from their farms . By 1933 and with a new duke ( the 9th ) at the helm , arrangements were made to demolish the hardly used bridge . Much to the delight of the huge crowd that had gathered , a detachment of Royal Engineers blew up the 19arch bridge . It was replaced by the more practical level crossing . Travis , whatever his involvement in this crazy scheme , for the rest of his life took advantage of the railway every day to send his milk to the dairy .
Very much a rural line throughout its existence , it cannot have paid its way purely from the number of passengers it carried . Most , if not all would join the train at Wirksworth in order to go shopping in Derby , or work . What would be profitable was the amount of tonnage carried from the quarries surrounding the end of the line at Wirksworth . As practically all the quarries were separated from the railway by the Wirksworth to Middleton road , all were connected , either by narrow gauge lines , or even , as in the case
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