Disused Railway Walk in High Peak - The Hayfield Branch

Disused Railway Walk in Derbyshire High Peak - The Hayfield Branch, Sett Valley Trail from New Mills to Hayfield. Today’s explore comes from just south east of the city of Manchester. A region once bursting with lines. We are starting in the town of New Mills and ending at Hayfield. Although not technically in the Peak District National Park, we’re so close we can just about touch it. This line opened in 1868 and was the joint property of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway and the Midland Railway. It closed in 1970. After leaving New Mills Central, the Hayfield Branch leaves the Hope Valley line to Sheffield. We can see a two tunnel portals. The left hand portal is our Hayfield branch, and this is the 200 yard long Hayfield tunnel. After a quick walk down the Millennium Walkway, Torrs Mill and the wonderful array of old bridges that New Mills has to offer, we pick up the Sett Valley Trail again at the Eastern portal of the tunnel. The line here ran 2.5 miles down the Sett Valley to Hayfield. After around 1.5 miles, we reach the former station site of Birch Vale. Nothing left of the station now, which was a wooden platform. However we can still see the entrance to the old goods station and station house on the road. Another mile along the route and we arrive at our final destination – for passengers that is. We pass another Calico Print works – one of many on the line – before pulling into Hayfield station. Sadly the site of the station and building was cleared not long after closure in the 1970s. The station was very popular with walkers, especially during the summer. In 1932, over 400 ramblers alighted at Hayfield before taking part in the Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout. The only thing left to admire these days is the retaining wall and buttresses. One more thing to mention on the line, which at one time ran through Hayfield town centre. The extension of the railway up to the Kinder reservoir & dam construction site only ran between 1908 and 1912. Exactly like we saw with the Bamford & Howden Railway and the building of the Derwent Valley dams, the railway carried workers and materials from the town to the construction area below the dam. Very short lived, but a lasting legacy.