TISSINGTON TRAIL

The 'Tissington Trail' is a bridleway and walk/cycle path in Derbyshire, England. Opened in 1971, and now a part of the National Cycle Network, it runs for 13 miles (21km) from Parsley Hay in the north to Ashbourne in the south, along part of the trackbed of the former railway line connecting Ashbourne to Buxton. It takes its name from the village of Tissington, which it skirts.
At Parsley Hay, a small settlement to the north-east of Hartington, it is joined by the High Peak Trail, a walk/cycle trail which runs 17 miles in total from High Peak Junction near Cromford, Matlock, to Dowlow, near Buxton.
Hartington signal box, beside the trail, though some distance from the village, has been converted into an Information Centre, open in summer on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Although not greatly noticeable, the trail runs gently downhill from Parsley Hay southwards. The surface of the trail is firm, and easy level access at various points mean that it can be used by walkers of all ability, and even by wheelchair users.
The Park Authority operates cycle hire at both ends of the Trail, i.e. at Parsley Hay and Ashbourne.
From Hartington station northwards, the route is also part of the Pennine Bridleway, a 130-mile leisure route which includes 73 miles through Derbyshire to the South Pennines. The Bridleway has two southern starting points, the other being at Middleton Top, near Cromford, on the High Peak Trail.

Contents

History of the route

See also

Reference

External links

History of the route

Built by the LNWR, the line opened in 1899, and linked with the Cromford and High Peak Railway at Parsley Hay, a line completed nearly 70 years earlier to link the Cromford Canal at Cromford Wharf and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. It was the last of the railways to be built in the Peak District. Whilst the section from Parsley Hay to Ashbourne was single track (north from Parsley Hay north to Buxton it was double) the formation was constructed to allow for doubling if necessary, but this never happened. There were passing loops at Hartington, Alsop-en-le-Dale, Tissington and Thorpe Cloud.
Despite the relatively short length of this branch line, it was deservedly popular with walkers and ramblers, enjoying its heyday in the 1930s. Apart from the elevated views over the Peak itself, a large attraction was that this line passed close to Dovedale. The line for a time also carried a through-service (i.e. without changing carriages) for passengers from London Euston, (via Nuneaton, Uttoxeter and Ashbourne), to Buxton and Manchester. A daily train also transported local milk to London. However, the line suffered from passing through a sparsely populated area, and it was closed to regular passenger traffic in 1954, and all services between Ashbourne and Hartington, including excursion traffic and specials (such as run during bad weather, or Well dressing specials), ceased in October 1963. The route between Hartington and Parsley Hay survived until October 1967.

See also

★ Cromford and High Peak Railway

★ Cycleways in England

Reference

Blakemore, M. & Mosley D., ''"Railways of the Peak District"'', Atlantic Publishers, 2003, ISBN 1-902827-09-0

External links

★ Tissington Trail site

★ Tissington Trail - access and facilities

★ The Pennine Bridleway