Whitehall Works – Chinley, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 20.183 W 001° 56.630
30U E 570326 N 5910211
This sign tells the story of Whitehall Works alongside the Peak Forest Tramway.
Waymark Code: WMKZYQ
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/24/2014
Views: 1
Bugsworth Basin
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 this point, but the final rise to the quarries was too high for a canal. So a horse drawn tramway was built to form a connection between the canal junction and the quarries themselves.
The canal and tramway operated between 1796 until the 1920s. The canal and this basin was closed down and allowed to become derelict. However in the 1960s and 1970s leisure boating became popular and many canals were renovated and re-opened for leisure purposes.
A stretch of the tramway has also been converted into a walking trail, known as the Peak Forest Tramway Trail. The sign has a map of the trail and also shows where the rest of the tramway used to run.
The text of the sign
Whitehall Works
You are on the Tramway Trail – the original route
Of the Peak Forest Tramway. Here above the
Twisting Black Brook, you are standing on a vast
Earthwork built by Benjamin Outram. He was the
Brilliant young engineer responsible for the Peak
Forest Canal and the Tramway.
| Born in Derbyshire, Benjamin | |
Here in the Black Brook valley |
| Outram was the son of an iron | |
Outram’s first proposal was for |
| Manufacturer and soon | |
the canal to stretch as far as |
| established himself as a pioneer | |
Chapel Milton. However in re- |
| of tramways throughout the | |
surveying the line, he decided |
| country | |
to start the tramway at |
Bugsworth, thereby avoiding the expense of constructing
locks and reservoirs, it proved a sound decision, as the tramway
was an instant success from when it opened in 1796.
Soon new industries grew up along the route of the tramway
attracted by this efficient transport system. Many of the
mill buildings are still in use today, two hundred years after
they were built.
On the other side of the lane stands Whitehall Works
built as a paper mill it once boasted it made the longest
lengths of paper in England.
The mill had its own sidings for deliveries of coal. This was
delivered by the wagons on their return trip up from the
basin at Bugsworth.
Many of the mills in the valley have adapted to changes in
industry over the years. After the paper mill closed, Whitehall
Works became a cotton weaving mill and then a dye
works. It is currently a plastics factory.
”Hello! In case you haven’t met me
down the track at Bugsworth Basin,
I’m Hary the ‘nipper’!
A nipper is a young assistant who helps the gang working
the line.
My boss, Tom, the waggoner, is responsible for getting the
wagons down safely with their load. It’s a real skill! I’ll tell you
how he does it further on. But, while we’re near Green Lane,
I’ve a tale to tell.
It’s a gentle downhill ride most of the way, but this stretch here
is almost level and wagoners like to build up speed to get
through here. That’s how the crash happened. A ganger had just
released his last brake as he passed the Forge Mill, when he
spotted a horse and cart in front of him on Green Lane.
Too late to stop, the wagons hit the horse, the cart
flew into the air and a local doctor found himself
thrown onto the top of a loaded wagon.
A nasty business – and no one even remembers
what happened to the horse! “
As well as a picture of Whitehall Works the sign also has a picture
of a wagoner riding the loaded wagons. It looks a terrifying ride.