An Online Exhibition
Buxton still benefits from a passenger train to Manchester with stops at the Derbyshire towns of Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge that offer gateways to the national park beyond. However, there was a time when you could catch trains to other local settlements such as Bakewell, Matlock, Cromford, Hartington, Tissington and Ashbourne. Like many other railways nationwide, the lines were eventually closed in favour of “progress” and we can now only imagine what it must have been like to chug through those characteristic hills on a steam-powered locomotive. There are fading vestiges of the lost railways in the landscape if you know where to look. The collections of Buxton Museum and Art Gallery contain further evidence of this golden age of travel.
1) In the 1950s, High Peak Borough Council was making a concerted effort to attract tourists to Buxton via train, splashing out on advertising such as this rather jolly poster. The design emphasises Buxton’s fitness benefits although its heyday as a health resort were arguably far behind. This poster is officially on loan to Buxton Museum and Art Gallery. High Peak Borough Council still retain licence and copyright.
2) Like some classic Ealing Studio comedy, Buxton used to have two train stations on opposite sides of the road run by two different companies that arrived within days of each other in 1863, extending existing lines. The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Midland Railway (MR) looked at the town as one of strategic importance. It is said that the drivers and engineers from both companies thought of their trains as superior and this soot-coated rivalry must have been intense, considering that they were in spanner-throwing distance of each other. This frozen moment from the photograph collection shows soldiers marching between the two stations.
3) There cannot have been much conflict over who had the nicest-looking station, however as they both had identical designs by Joseph Paxton, with the characteristic fan-shaped window. MR’s version closed 104 years later and was subsequently demolished, narrowly avoiding becoming a grade II listed monument, like its twin. The camaraderie of the railway men can be seen in this photograph of the Railways Riflemen’s Club; gentlemen sharing a passion for suits, moustaches and firearms.
4) As well as those who mourn the passing of the other Paxton window, there are probably an equal amount of people who regret the closure of the catchy-titled Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway which ran across the magnificent Headstone Viaduct in Monsal Dale. The bridge is now part of a walking, cycling and horse-riding trail which you can follow from Blackwell Mill near Buxton to Bakewell, or vice versa. A computer-generated steam train speeds across it in Universal’s 2010 remake of The Wolfman. Buxton Museum cares for this this rendition in watercolour. Local history nuts may wish to know the Iron Age fort of Fin Cop rises inconspicuously in the background.
5) It’s not all about the passengers. To this day, the quarries surrounding Buxton still use rail to support their industry, mainly the exportation of lime which can be found in everything from roads to toothpaste. Nearby Tunstead Quarry is considered to be the largest limestone quarry in Europe; an impressive fact which also explains why Buxton is placed just outside of the Peak District National Park rather than within it. Local Dowlow Quarry doesn’t have the same claim to fame but is celebrated nonetheless with this miniature wagon, made by PECO in the 1980s.
6) These items were recently catalogued and photographed by museum volunteer Margaret Atack. There is a luncheon invitation to mark the opening of the Buxton to Ashbourne line, providing us with a very specific date of August 1st 1899. There are also some first and third class tickets, but no second class. What differences did each class of traveller experience I wonder? Sightseers could journey from the spa resort of Buxton to gawp at the wondrous sight of Dovedale via rail, alighting at Thorpe Cloud Station. Buxton Museum cares for many wondrous objects that have been found in Dovedale, from fossils that are millions of years old to flint tools used by ancient people who once inhabited its caves.
7) This recently restored oil painting by artist Maurice Alfred Kelly (1920-2025) isn’t a local scene but a glimpse into a bygone era from anywhere in industrial England. Flat-capped workmen march off to a hard day’s work on the railways in the shadow of towering picket fences and a gloomy sky, leaving their wives far behind. Kelly evokes a sense of grim purpose and at the same time, an existential crisis.
8) Thor’s Cave in the Manifold Valley is another archaeological site and destination for a walk. It was not until I stumbled upon these photographs in the museum collection that I even knew it once had a train station. The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway was a short-lived narrow-gauge line that operated between 1904 and 1934. Its purpose was to deliver milk to villages but there was a passenger service, providing access to other beauty spots along the way such as Wetton Mill and Beeston Tor. What a day out that must have been!
9) Another spectacular railway poster to conclude the exhibition, again, to promote Buxton as a destination. This time, for the London Midland and Scottish Railway. Anyone who lives in Buxton can forgive themselves for not recognising the view. It seems to be a mishmash of various local features and you wonder if the artist, Samuel John Lamorna Birch, even visited the town or if he has deployed what is commonly known as artistic licence. Its somewhat dramatic and topographically incorrect description as “the mountain spa” only adds to the bemusement.
If you would like to use any the images from this online exhibition, please contact Buxton Museum and Art Gallery.
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery 