OFF THE SHELF
Country Railway Routes: Cromford & High Peak by Rail and Trail
By Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith (hardback, Middleton Press, 96pp, £18.95, ISBN 9781910356357)
HERE is the latest in MP’s recent fact-packed historical/ geographical guides to lines in the White Peak.
This route is the most unusual by far, covering a cross-country line built only because linking the canals at either end would have proved too high for boats.
As it was, the Cromford & High Peak carried only freight on a regular basis during its 167-year lifespan, although passengers were conveyed in a brake van from 1855-77 until a fatality brought that particular operation to a swift end.
Three enthusiast brake van trips were run on the last day, April 30, 1967. Afterwards, local authorities bought the trackbed and turned it into a leisure trail for all
