Summary
An incline built in 1901 by the Derwent Valley Railway Company to link Bolehill Quarry with the Midland Railway and Grindleford.
Identification Images (0)
Monument Types
- RAILWAY INCLINED PLANE (To 1900 AD and From 1901 AD)
Description
The incline was built in 1901 by the Derwent Valley Railway Company to link Bolehill Quarry with the Midland Railway at Grindleford from where the stone was taken to Thornhill where the D.V.R.C. line headed up the valley to the Derwent and Howden dams where the stone was used.
The incline comprised twin tracks with a large winding drum at the summit around which ran a continuous steel wire. Wagons were attached to the wire and as a loaded wagon descended, its speed checked by a brake on the drum an empty wagon was hauled up on the other track. A photograph of the incline at work shows a crossover half way up and two points near the bottom of each line have short sections of rail leading into the banking, presumably to derail a runaway wagon before it reached the main line (Greenwell; 1913). The cutting for the incline at the bottom of the slope has been filled where a track crosses it but the piers for the original bridge can be seen on the downslope side. The incline is grassed over and self-sown birch have grown on it.
The incline was originally 750 feet (c. 228.6 m.) long, and had a gradient of 1 in 3. This connected with a zigzag railway at the top, with a gradient of 1 in 25, running to the quarry faces (Greenwell; 1913).
SZE78: This inclined plane tramway runs straight down the hill, the upper half comprising a causeway, the lower part in a cutting, with spoil to one side (site 65152) and temporary housing to the other (site 60257). Old photographs show the plane had two standard gauge tracks and was gravity operated (Bowtell 1977). At the lower end it is now blocked by the embankment of the later road. Originally it ran to sidings adjacent to the 1888-1894 Midland Railway line from Sheffield to Manchester via the Totley Tunnel. From Padley the stone waggons were taken up the main line and then along a purpose built branch to where the Derwent and Howden Reservoirs were being built. The inclined plane was built in 1902-1903 and took stone out of the quarry until 1910. Between 2 and 5 stone loads of stone were taken per day. The rails and equipment were not sold until 1914 (Bowtell 1977)
References
- SZE216 - Map: Ordnance Survey. 1922. 25" Map (Derbyshire Sheet XVII,I). 2500.
- SZE5107 - Monograph: A Greenwell. 1913. Practical stone quarrying.
- SZE6197 - Serial: R Barlow. Article in Sheffield Morning Telegraph re. Longshaw Estate.
- SZE78 - Unpublished document: J Barnatt. 1993. Greenwood Farm, Hathersage, Derbyshire; Archaeological Survey 1993.. Ref 4 page 2.
Designations
None Recorded
Other Statuses and References
Associated Events
- ENA8646 - Field Survey, Archaeological Survey of Greenwood Farm, Longshaw Estate
Associated Finds
None Recorded
Related Records
None Recorded