Cromford High Peak Railway Bridge - Whaley Bridge, UK - Railroad Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Peak Forest Canal
The 18th Century had seen the development of the canal network in the UK to carry heavy goods, and led to towns such as Manchester become the first large industrial towns.

There was a demand for limestone and grit stone from the nearby quarries to be transported to Manchester and beyond and so the Peak Forest Canal was built with a connection to the Ashton Canal at Ashton-Under-Lyne.

The canal had a series of 16 locks to lift the canal a height of 209 feet from Ashton-Under-Lyne to Buxworth.

There is also a small half mile long side arm of the canal from Bridgemeount to Whaley Bridge. Even before the canal, there had been coal mines at Whaley Bridge and the canal became a useful way to move the coal and other goods.

Cromford High Peak Railway
After the canal opened it was proposed that a link should be built to connect it with Cromford at the end of the Cromford Canal. However the steep terrain and lack of a water supply made it impractical and a tramway was built instead. The tramway was built along the proposed route of the canal and there was a series of inclines built where the locks would have been. These inclines had static steam engines used to haul the train wagons up the inclines.

Competition from road transport led to the closure of the canal in the 1920s but the railway continued to carry coal to nearby gas works until 1952.

The bowstring bridge
This bridge near to the end of the line at the Whaley Bridge Wharf carried rail trucks on the tramway over the River Goyt before reaching the first incline. At this point the tramway was single track and although most of the track has been removed the rails can still be seen on the surface of the bridge.

The bridge has bollards at each end to prevent vehicles using it, and is now only used as a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists.

Bridge Type: Arch Bridge Usage: Pedestrian Moving Bridge: This bridge is static (has no moving pieces)

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