Above: A view up the incline with the cottage on the right. The engine house would have been to the left.
I’ve always been intrigued by a grainy photo of a building which once lay about half-way down the Bunsall Incline, the long and steep road that today leads into the Goyt valley from the Buxton to Whaley Bridge, Long Hill Road.
Trains on the Cromford & High Peak Railway were hauled up and down the incline using a combination of steam-powered cables and counterweight wagons. Opened in 1831, the 33 mile track was one of the earliest railways in the world, connecting important canals in Cromford and Whaley Bridge.
The Bunsall Incline was the longest of six similar slopes on the route and was originally split into two; a 660 yard long upper section with a gradient of 1 in 7.5, and a 455 yard lower section with a gradient of 1 in 7. There was an engine house fed by a small reservoir at the head of both sections.
The two sections were combined in 1857. Which meant that the lower engine house was no longer needed. So I’m not sure why the cottage – which must have provided shelter and accommodation to railway staff working the engine – survived so long.
Above: Click the Now button, or drag the green slider, to compare an 1890s map of this part of the Incline with today’s landscape. The reservoir for the engine house at the head of the lower section is clearly marked, along with the cottage. But the engine house itself has long gone.
John Bingham recently posted a map which must date to around the time the two inclines were combined on the Cromford & High Peak Railway Facebook Group.
Above: This map from around 1855 shows the layout of the railway before the two sections of Incline were combined. The proposed, single section route is shown between the dashed lines. Drag the slider to see today’s satellite view.
John also pointed me towards a fascinating collection of old photos on the Railway & Canal Historical Society’s website which includes views of the Bunsall Incline dating back to the early 1930s.
Above: This 1931 photo from the RCHS’s collection shows a view down the Incline with the edge of the cottage just visible on the left.
John has been researching the C&HPR for many years and I’m hoping he’ll allow me to share more of his discoveries in the future. One of his interests is in Fell’s Experimental Railway, a revolutionary method of helping trains run along relatively steep slopes which was tested in the Goyt Valley in the early 1860s. (More to follow.)
