Back on the REAL Church Lane

I unexpectedly found myself in Rowsley on the same day as a Gala at nearby Peak Rail. It seemed rude not to take a walk down that direction, it was a nice day.

It's been quite some time since I was last here. Back in my late teens I used to volunteer here on what was the Derbyshire Dales Narrow Gauge Railway every week. The change since then is remarkable.

I'll admit, it was slightly sad to see the state of what was the old narrow gauge railway. Back when I was here the setup was a fairly lengthy run round loop in front of the platform, the main running line following the line of trees towards the standard gauge shed. A spur from the loop ran parallel till it came to the shed area where the patch of grass is now, the line splitting into three, the first road leading to a long container converted into a shed holding four engines, the third road being the same but for the coaches, and the middle lane running between the two and leading to a couple of storage sidings packed buffer to buffer with restoration projects.

I think it's the remains of "The Break Van" snack bar that probably evokes the strongest reaction. There are many happy memories there, particularly during the 1940s weekends where at least five of us would be cooped up in there for two days! Cosy is an understatement!

Still, it's a very model-able structure, certainly a definite contender if I ever felt like making a heritage railway model.

08762 was happily plying back and forth on 'Driver for a Fiver' runs.

The ex-Bamford signal box now sits quite proudly at the yard entrance, looking in much better shape than the memories I have of it sat at the end of the platform at Darley Dale - A credit to all involved in the restoration.

And with it being around 2:30pm on a nice sunny day, it was time for tea! A very nice view to while away the time with, and very good cakes too! Highly recommend the flapjack!

The new water tower was a nice surprise, again I have really strong memories of engines filling up from the tanker wagon at the end of the platform.

The railway's DMU was waiting a turn nearby. I hear this unit has already proved its worth during the recent heatwave and also as a shuttle service during the Matlock Christmas markets. Looking at the current commuter trials over on the Severn Valley, perhaps that might be something that could happen here too?

The station throat also provides this nice photo point now that extra sidings are now being laid in what was always a rarely used area of the car park.

On this day there was an event on in the old station building at Darley Dale, which gave a nice purpose to what is always a mandatory 'call in' if I'm in the area to Church Lane.

This house is always a special place to me. I've never been in it, but back when the Ambergate - Buxton Line was in place this is the house where my grandparents and my dad lived. Grandad eventually rose to the ranks of 'Pass Fireman' at Rowsley shed and when that closed transferred to become a passenger guard based at Buxton. Prior to him Great Grandad was one of the top rank enginemen at Rowsley.

The new extension behind the car is weathering in quite nicely with the original structure at this point. 

And for comparison, a photo of Crossing Cottage as it was back in the day. It's an interesting comparison with the above photo to see how little has changed in 60 years!

I still have a set of scale drawings for this building from the July 2002 edition of Railway Modeller, and have built at least three versions of it before, perhaps it's time to have another go?