Peak Rail Annual Report and Action Group

As the A6 was the "normal" route by road when I used to drive up to stay at my Grandparents near Warrington, I used to call in to see what progress was being made. Here are a couple I took in March 1989.....





I've never even travelled on the line since it was rebuilt!

 

I recall making several visits to the Peak Rail Buxton site in the late 1980s. There seemed at the time to be much optimism that rebuilding of the whole Buxton-Matlock line was achievable. But it is now very difficult to see how Peak Rail will ever extend beyond the Matlock to Rowsley section. As well as taking on a series of major viaducts and tunnels and re-instating the Rowsley A6 crossing, they would need to negotiate arrangements not only with Network Rail (for section east of Buxton) and Peak Park Planning Board (for Monsal Trail footpath/cycleway) but also Haddon Estates (who I believe now own most of the Rowsley to Bakewell trackbed and have removed a couple of the bridges).

With the benefit of hindsight, it is unfortunate that Peak Rail did not acquire the route under the A6 into the original 1849 terminal station at Rowsley, which would have made a better northern terminus for Peak Rail than either the high-level 1863 station or the current Rowsley South. The 1849 station building still exists but is now in the middle of a shopping centre.

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/r/rowsley/index0.shtml

 

That second picture by Johann Marsbar is quite a historic one, the start of the tracklaying up Red House Cutting, the gentleman in the blue hat is Dave "Scud" Morris. The cutting was probably the biggest challenge on the Matlock section. It had been used for grazing horses for years, and they had trampled down the sides of the cuttings, blocking the drains. The cutting slopes down hill so what was left of the ballast was full of smelly mud and was several inches deep in water. Over a thousand tons of spent ballast was dug out of the cutting and used to extend a farmyard up at Winster, not something you would be allowed to do so easily today.

You can see the raw earth where the cutting sides have been cut back to the correct profile; a layer of ballast a foot thick has been laid. If I remember correctly, the rails were purchased from the MRT at Butterley, who had got them from Cadeley Hill Colliery. The track started on the right hand side of the trackbed to get the maximum number of sidings in the old goods yard, and then swung to the left in order to keep as far as possible from the river, which gets very close a bit further on.

 

Indeed. I should have caveated my fantasy lottery win by saying that there would need to be a serious spring clean of the current regime rulers, starting with the Dear Leader.

The irony is that many of the improvements that would transform PR are actually fairly modest, especially if the railway’s leadership would harness the collective goodwill and support of volunteers, shareholders and external organisations. Many shareholders are passive though and that suits the Board just fine. Dazzling folks with grandiose promises of reopening studies, rebuilding consortiums and the magical appointment of Dr Waterman has long been PR’s strategy.

 

I used to give Dave Morris a lift to and from Darley Dale at weekends, nice chap, when I joined PR we were building the toilet block and surfacing the platform. I’m quite tall, Dave was quite rotund, it was a squeeze getting us and our gear in an Austin Metro!

 

Dave was also famous for building the Scud Hilton (a pway hut) near Bridge 37. Nice bloke

 

I am hearing rumours of the resignation of one of the key positions from Peak Rail. Is there any truth in the rumour?

 

I don’t suppose it’s ‘she who can’t be named’ ?

 

Only from the Association I think. Still listed as a director of the PLC.

 

On further digging it seems that it's just from PRA.

 

Yes that is now what I am hearing too

 

One tentacle loosened a tiny bit

 

I misread that at first!!!!! Ooops!!

 

I suspect that the shareholders will need some large crowbars to prise the beast off altogether.

 

Can we check she is still alive and well before we go further.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

According to the Peak Rail Association website news section, she resigned on 9th April as she did not want to commit to attending future evening meetings, a time of day that best suited the other officers.

 

Just in time for a small, socially distanced celebration! There is at least some hope now for the PRA, let’s see what happens to the Plc.

 

In case it hasn’t been mentioned in the thread, PR was successful in being awarded £114k from the Culture Recovery Fund. This is a good result, I understand the application was instigated by the PRA. Also it’s a staged payment and the funds are earmarked for specific projects / tasks, which should increase the visibility of where the money is being spent and reduce the opportunity for the Plc Board to use the windfall for its own ends.

 

Things are starting to rise up. A ballsy move all round.