Abandoned Cromford High Peak Railway Bridge - Whaley Bridge, UK
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member dtrebilc
N 53° 19.818 W 001° 58.964
30U E 567745 N 5909497
This bowstring arch bridge was built to carry the Cromford High Peak Railway over the River Goyt.
Waymark Code: WMM0J2
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/27/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member 8Nuts MotherGoose
Views: 2


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.
Original Use: Railroad

Date Built: 1831

Construction: Iron

Condition: Fair

See this website for more information: [Web Link]

Date Abandoned: 1925

Bridge Status - Orphaned or Adopted.: Adopted

Visit Instructions:
Tell of your visit and post unique photo(s).
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Orphaned Bridges
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
Gushoneybun visited Abandoned Cromford High Peak Railway Bridge - Whaley Bridge, UK 07/03/2016 Gushoneybun visited it