The Hurdlow Incline - Abandoned over 150 years ago

Welcome to the 10th part of this Cromford and High Peak Railway series. We're travelling down the disused Derbyshire railway line, this week on a bicycle.
Last time out we left you at the site of the former Hurdlow station. From here, we are leaving the current course of the High Peak Trail and and picking up the original 1832 alignment of the railway that was abandoned in 1869.
Straight from Hudlow, the line forked sharply to the left, behind where is now the Royal Oak pub. This was our next incline. However unlike the previous inclines of Sheep Pasture, Middleton and Hopton, this one only lasted a short number of decades. The LNWR soon found that they could reoute the line further down the valley and provide both easier gradients and curve. Meaning the Hurdlow incline was bypassed completely in 1869.
We can still see the line of the former railway and the incline is clear. At the top would have stood the engine house and abandoned reservoirs can be seen by the side of the embankment.
***
On this series we'll be following the disused railway line the 33 miles from Cromford in the Derbyshire Dales over to Whalley Bridge in the High Peak. In the first part we look at the section of the railway that was extended to meet with the main railway line.
During the conception of the Cromford and High Peak Railway, canals were in fashion and railways hadn’t really taken off yet. The line exists as there was a desire to connect the Peak Forest canal (Manchester's industry in the West) to the Cromford Canal and the various industry in the East Midlands. A canal was considered but the number of locks to cross the peak district would be enormous.
So instead, a tramroad, or tramway was decided to be the way forward. Horse drawn with rope inclines at several locations to pull the wagons up the steep gradients.
An extremely ambitious venture at the time coming only a handful of years after the Stockton and Darlington railway. This makes it one of the world oldest railways. The 33 mile long line opened at the turn of the 1830s connecting the two canals and shortly after the horses were replaced with steam engines. The inclines were powered by static steam engines that we will see in later episodes.
We’ll see as we progress down the line, various challenges that ultimately led to the line's closure. Apart from a few quarry lines, the railway closed in stages up to 1967.
These days a large portion of the line is accessible as the High Peak Trail.
Become a channel member - www.youtube.co...
Buy me a coffee - ko-fi.com/wobb...
Facebook - / wobbly.runner
Instagram - / wobbly.runner