Longcliffe railway station

Longcliffe railway station was a railway station on the Cromford and High Peak Railway serving the villages of Longcliffe and Brassington in Derbyshire, England. It was located on the former line between High Peak Junction near Cromford and the Parsley Hay near Buxton. The former station is a Grade II listed building. The track now forms part of the High Peak Trail.

History

The line through the station was opened in the 1830s to meet the Cromford Canal at Cromford on the River Derwent on the eastern part of the Peak Forest in Derbyshire. It was then extended to meet the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge in the Peak District at the western side of Derbyshire. The opening of this line allowed for goods traders from Manchester and the surrounding areas to trade with the wider East Midlands and offered a more direct connection than the canal, making it much easier for traders to transfer and receive goods by rail than boat.

The station at Longcliffe opened in 1855, along with the stations at, Middleton, Hopton and Friden. It was located midway between the Hopton Incline and the Gotham Curve. Due to the line being primarily used for movement of freight and goods, passenger services were not given priority and thus, due to the amount of sidings and shunting movements along the line, journeys were very slow.
Due to the sparse population in this part of the Peak District, few stops were opened. A parliamentary bill to introduce through-passenger services between Buxton and Steeple House was not successful. The main populated places along this route were Cromford, Wirksworth, Buxton and Whaley Bridge, and the line did offer a connection at Parsley Hay for both the Ashbourne Line and the former Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway.

The station was closed to passengers in 1877, the line remaining in use for mineral and freight traffic until complete closure in 1967.

Longcliffe Goods Yard was a goods station located on the Cromford and High Peak Railway in Longcliffe, Derbyshire, principally for mineral and quarry traffic. It closed in 1967 along with the rest of the line. Nothing remains of the goods yard except the former single platform.

After closure of the line, in 1971, the trackbed was purchased by Derbyshire County Council and converted into the High Peak Trail. The station building was given Grade II listed building status in 1983 by Historic England and is now a private residence. The High Peak Trail now passes through the station site.