The Churnet Valley Railway (1923 - 1948)
In 1923, all of
Britain’s regional railway companies were grouped into four major companies
that covered the whole of the UK. The North Staffordshire Railway Company thus
became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company (LMS), which
was not universally popular as local people felt robbed of a train service they
regarded as their own. In reality though this resulted in a minimal amount of
change to the level of service provided along the Churnet Valley
Line, and public services were to remain predominantly the same under
the LMS as they had been under the NSR.
The LMS saw
excursion traffic as being a big part in the potential success of the line, and
having closed in 1901 Alton Towers was re-opened on Easter Monday 1924
following its sale by the Shrewsbury family to a group of local businessmen led
by H.C. Cowlishaw. This led to a subsequent rebranding, and following
heavy promotion, saw a steady increase in visitors that required
the LMS to increase the frequency of excursions to the station to
meet the new demand. Upwards of a dozen trains could arrive at the station over
the course of a summer weekend, bringing in hundreds of visitors from outside
of the Valley.
The biggest change to
the line came with the LMS selling the NSR’s golf club
and Rudyard Hotel at Rudyard Lake, and then renaming the
connecting station from Rudyard Lake to Cliffe Park
on 1st April 1926, with Rudyard station
becoming Rudyard Lake at the same time. Cliffe Park was to
become an unstaffed halt in September 1936, with visitors being encouraged to
visit the southern end of the lake where a number of attractions aimed at
day-trippers were built such as a dance floor and boat hire.
The passenger service
did see some alterations, with the railmotor service being
discontinued after the summer of 1923! The LMS then extended the
main Churnet Valley services; with them now originating from Manchester
instead of Macclesfield and the number of services was increased to
five each way per day. Two additional Manchester to Leek services were
introduced on market days as well, in an attempt to try and increase the number
of traders coming to the town from outside the immediate area.
Leek
and Uttoxeter saw an increase in services on Saturdays, and in the
summer an additional trip from Rudyard Lake
to Uttoxeter operated on Saturday evenings taking people home from a
day at the Lake.
LMS days saw
the Churnet Valley Line gain its first named Express service, with
the Summer-only Eastern Counties Express being introduced to the
route in 1927. Operating between Manchester & the
East Anglian holiday resorts of Cromer, Yarmouth
and Lowescroft, the 10.50am departure from Manchester called at Leek on
its way to Nottingham. This joined a portion from Liverpool
at Uttoxeter before continuing to Norfolk, but the Liverpool portion
ceased operation in 1934. After this the returning train was then routed via
Stoke from Leek, avoiding the Northern half of the Churnet Valley
Line. This service was to fall victim to the wartime cuts however, and was not
to be revived once World War 2 had ended.
In 1928 the 12.10pm
Manchester to Euston Express service was named
“The Lancastrian” with booked stops at Macclesfield and
Stoke. However it achieved fame amongst enthusiasts as during periods of heavy
traffic levels, a portion originating from Colne, which was normally
attached at Stockport, would be routed via the Churnet Valley Line on
its way to Euston and miss being attaching to the main express
service. The title was also bestowed upon the 6pm return departure
from Euston to Manchester, but this was routed via Crewe and so
completely missed the lines of the former Knotty.
The new era saw goods
traffic increase along the Churnet Valley line, as it was seen as a
more direct route to reach London that could be utilised to take the
pressure off the Crewe to Nuneaton corridor. No less than four
additional express goods services were booked along the line in both directions,
supplementing the local traffic calling
at Froghall and Oakamoor plus all of the goods yards at
each of the stations along the route.
Services reduced
slightly during the Great Depression of the 1930s, which resulted in the
quarry at Cauldon Lowe closing briefly. When it re-opened, the
narrow gauge line to Froghall was closed leaving all output
being transported via the Waterhouses / Cauldon branch to
Leek Brook Junction.
The
narrow gauge Leek & Manifold Railway lost its main source of
income with the closure of the creamery at Ecton in 1932. Two years
later the full narrow gauge line was closed in March 1934, and in
1935 the LMS withdrew all passenger services along
the Waterhouses branch, with the section from Caldon Junction
to Waterhouses being formally closed on 1st March 1943.
This left the line into Cauldon Lowe quarry, with its pickup goods
service calling at Bradnop, Ipstones and Winkhill plus the quarry traffic
for Cauldon Lowe. The LMS would later donate the L&MLR
trackbed to Staffordshire County Council, who were to convert it into a
footpath branded as the Manifold Trail.
The outbreak of World
War 2 saw an emergency timetable implanted on the Churnet Valley Line
as per the rest of the country. However the line was unusual in that the basic service
was improved with an increase in the number of trains per day, as Thomas
Bolton’s Copper works became an important munitions manufacturing site whilst
Alton Towers became the 121 Officer Cadet Training Unit for the Royal
Artillery. Unadvertised workmen’s trains were operated to coincide with the
24-hour shift pattern of Bolton’s, and Oakamoor became the unloading
point for training equipment.
After the war the
line returned to its 5 trains a day service, with a brief increase in traffic
between 1946 and 1947, as it was utilised as a diversionary route
whilst the Manchester to Sheffield “Woodhead” Route was electrified.
The Churnet Valley
Line (1948 – 1989)
As
of 1st January 1948, the entire British Railway network
was nationalised, and the Churnet Valley came under the
jurisdiction of the newly formed London, Midland region (BR(M)) section of
British Railways. The railways though were tired from the hardships of the war
effort, and savings needed to be made. Competitions from road transport were forcing
service reductions, and so British Railways commissioned a study into the
inherited network and learning how to make it more profitable.
For
the Churnet Valley Line, falling passenger numbers saw the advertised
public passenger services withdrawn with a handful of workmen trains surviving
for the copper works at Oakamoor and Froghall.
The Ashbourne Line lost its passenger services
from 1st November 1954 onwards, with Leek to Stoke services being
completely withdrawn on 7th May 1956, and then services between Macclesfield and Uttoxeter withdrawn
from the 7th November 1960 onwards. The sole passenger service
retained along the Churnet Valley Line became the non-advertised
workmen’s trains between Leek and Uttoxeter.
Dr
Richard Beeching’s report “The Reshaping of British
Railways” was published on 27th March 1963, and recommended the
closure of over 5000 miles of rail lines and more than 2000 stations in order
to reduce overheads and start making a profit. Sadly for
the Churnet Valley and its associated branch lines, the majority of
the 27-¾ plus miles were included in this.
The Ashbourne Line
closed first on 1st June 1964, quickly followed by the North Rode to
Leek section on 15th June 1964 that was lifted almost immediately.
All local goods facilities were withdrawn as well along both
the Churnet Valley & Cauldon lines, except for the
facilities at Leek. The withdrawal of all remaining passenger services between
Leek and Uttoxeter was to then follow on the 4th January
1965, with Standard 4 4-6-0 no. 75035 becoming the last locomotive to haul a
passenger train into Leek from Uttoxeter. The removal of the workmen’s
trains also brought about the closure of the line
between Oakamoor Sand Quarry and Uttoxter that was to be lifted early
in 1966.
The remaining southern
section became a single line section in 1968, and goods traffic to Leek ceased
in July 1970 with the 1-mile section from Leek to Leek Brook Junction being
closed at the same time.
The only section left
now was the Leek Brook Junction to Oakamoor quarry, serving the
British Industrial Sand Quarry, with the connecting line from Stoke to Leek
Brook Junction being left in place to allow these freight trains to get to the
West Coast Mainline from the Churnet Valley. The branch
to Cauldon quarry was also still active, with limestone traffic
continuing to be produced up until February 1989 when the quarry turned to road
transport and the line was mothballed as a result. However in 1994 two
enthusiast railtours, organised by the Branch Line Society, ran
up the Cauldon branch, before the line was returned to its mothballed
status with Cauldon Quarry being categorised as a Strategic
Freight Site by BR.
The sand traffic
from Hepworth’s Sand quarry at Oakamoor saw sand be
transported to St Helens in Merseyside for use in glass making, before the
quarry was closed on 30th August 1988, which brought an end of
commercial services along the Churnet Valley Line after 139 years.