DERBY, &c. APPENDIX.

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ST. MICHAEL’S CHURCH, Queen street, Derby, is about to be rebuilt, and enlarged from the designs of Mr. H. J. Stevens, architect, at a cost of £2,650, towards which the Local Board of Health have given £340, the Lichfield Diocesean Society, £150, The Vicar, Family, and Friends, £200, the Church of England Society, £130, and the parish and congregation above £400. The number of sittings in the new building will be 350, of which number 130 are free. The increased accommodation will be 150 sittings.

THE SPEEDWELL MINE, about one mile west from Castleton on the Buxton road, one of the most interesting in the county, (see page 529) is now the property of Mr. Peter Kirk, Castle Hotel, Castleton.

RAILWAYS.

OWING to an unforeseen accident we were unable to give the subjoined valuable and in­teresting information under its proper head, (see page 23) but its authenticity and value, will, we trust, be a sufficient apology for its insertion here.

THE EREWASH VALLEY BRANCH OF THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.—This line commences from a junction with the Midland Counties or South Branch, between the Trent Junction and Long Eaton Station, and proceeds in a nearly northerly direction up the Valley of the River Erewash, on the borders of the county of Nottinghamshire; passing by Long Eaton, Sandiacre, Stanton-by-Dale, Ilkeston, Heanor, Codnor Park, &c., &c. in Derbyshire, and Toton, Stapleford, Cossall, Eastwood, &c. in Nottinghamshire, and terminating by two separate branches, respectively at Birchwood and Pinxton, near Alfreton. The line divides for these two places near the Pye-bridge Station, at a point distant 14 miles from its commencement, and exactly 1 mile 25 chains from each of its termini. At the Pinxton end, that branch of the line meets and runs into the Mansfield and Pinxton branch of the Midland Railway, thus forming a continuous line from Pye-bridge to Mansfield. At the Southern

APPENDIX.                                                                         991

extremity of the line, at Long Eaton, a short loop of about a quarter of a mile in length is constructed, running into the south branch in the direction of Nottingham, to enable traffic to be worked direct between the Erewash Valley and that place. At Codnor Park is the junction with the Butterley Railway, the property of the Butterley Company, commumca­ting with the immense coal and iron works of that company. This Railway opens up an im­portant mineral district, cutting through the centre of the southern portion of the great Der­byshire and Yorkshire Coal Field, and the whole district abounding also in iron. Numer­ous branches are constructed at various points of the line, in order to form a better commu­nication with the colleries and ironworks bordering upon it, constructed at the expense of of the various colliery owners, &c., and communicate with the line at different points. The Railway was originally commenced by an independent company, with a capital of £190,000 and powers to borrow an additional sum of £63,000, and who obtained the Act of Parliament in 1845; the act also enabling them to sell the undertaking to the Midland Company, who had previously (February, 1845) agreed with them to buy it, and who accordingly immedi­ately after purchased it at the price of a minimum guarantee of 6 per cent upon £145,000. Subsequently (June 26 1846) the Midland Company obtained a further Act, enabling them to extend the line from Pye-bridge, its proposed original termination, to Clay Cross on the north branch. This extension was begun but only carried out to Birchwood, although only about 6½ miles remain to be done. The extension, if completed, would reduce by nearly seven miles the distance between all stations south of the Trent Junction and north of Clay Cross. The Act for the construction of the several coal branches and also the branch to Pinxton, was obtained July 16, 1846. The whole length of the line and branches is 23 miles, and the cost was about £340,000.

THE RIPLEY AND ST. MARY’S BRIDGE BRANCHES of the Midland Railway. The Ripley Branch commences from the termination of a small branch of the North Midland at Little Eaton, about 4 miles north of Derby and called the Little Eaton Branch. and proceeding in a north-easterly direction, through a very important coal district, terminates in the township of Ripley, parish of Pentrich, at a point distant only about 3 miles from the Codnor Park Station of the Erewash Valley Line. It is 6½ miles in length, altogether a single line, and follows the course of the Old Tramway made in connection with the Little Eaton Canal. The coal district through which it passes forms part of the same as that through which the Erewash Valley passes, being in the southern portion of the great Derbyshire and Yorkshire Field. The St. Mary’s Bridge Branch (Derby) commences from a junction with the north branch at Little Chester, one mile north of Derby station, and terminates, as its name implies, near the St. Mary’s Bridge in the north-eastern suburb of that town, where an extensive wharf is formed for supplying the town with coal from the Ripley district, for which purpose the branch itself is constructed. This Line is half a mile in length—double line. The Act for these two lines was obtained in 1848, and by it also seve­ral coal branches were authorized, to communicate between the Ripley branch and various collieries in the district, none of which however have as yet been carried out, and though, as above stated, the Act was obtained in 1848, the whole undertaking was allowed to rest until the close of 1850, when further parliamentary powers were necessary for extending the time originally allowed for the compulsory purchase of lands. These were however obtained on the 24th July 1851, but even then the works were not commenced until August, 1853, and after some further delay, were completed in August, 1855. In September of the same year, the were opened for goods and mineral traffic, but owing to a disagreement between the Company and the Government Inspector, the Ripley branch was not opened for passenger traffic until the 1st of September, 1856. The cost of this undertaking, up to the time of the opening for passenger traffic, was about £70,000, although the original estimate was much less, the increased expenditure being probably, almost wholly owing to the delays which occurred in the prosecution of the undertaking. The Little Eaton Branch is 25 chains in length, and up to the time of the construction of the Ripley branch had its termination near the stone quarries and canal at Little Eaton. It was completed in the early part of 1848, at thc cost of £4,200. It is now merged in the Ripley branch. The distance from Little Eaton Junction to Ripley is nearly seven miles.

THE MANCHESTER, BUXTON, MATLOCK, AND MIDLAND JUNCTION RAILWAY.—This Railway was originally projected to run from the Ambergate Station of the Midland Railway, by Matlock and Buxton to the London and North Western Railway near Man­chester, length 45 miles; and the Act for the purpose was obtained 16th July, 1846. The line was, however, only constructed to a distance of 11½ miles from Ambergate, that is, to Rowsley, 4 miles from Bakewell and 3 from Chatsworth. This was opened 4th June 1849. The Cromford Canal, 17 miles long, was subsequently purchased by this Company, by powers conferred by their Act of Incorporation and the Cromford Canal Sale Act, 1846.

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The price was £101,200, and in 1852 the whole concern, Railway and Canal, was leased for 19 years to the Midland and London and North Western Companies jointly, at a rent of 2½ per cent, per annum upon the paid up Capital of the Railway, the two Companies also paying the interest on the Capital of the Canal. The lease dates from the 1st of July, 1852, and the Midland Company work and maintain the line on the joint account. The Railway runs from Ambergate in a north westerly direction up the valley of the River Derwent, to Rowsley. In its course it has no less than 6 tunnels, two of which pass under the celebrated Matlock High Tor. This Railway, still more than the North Midland, is an exception to the rule which holds good with most others, in respect to the uninteresting scenery generally met with along them. Throughout its whole course the scenery is of the most romantic description, the valley being bounded on each side by stupendous hills, flanked here and there with high rocks and clothed in many places with luxuriant masses of wood descending frequently almost to the edge of the river, so as to completely conceal the Railway. This is more remarkable in the first or lower half of its course, where nearly all the tunnels are met with, and where the valley often is so narrow that it has been found absolutely necessary to carry the Railway under or along the sides of the hills and rocks. The upper half is more open, and from that cause, though still presenting scenes of great beauty, the valley loses that appearance of wildness and seclusion which distinguishes the lower half. The view of Matlock Bath from the Station is remarkably fine, being decidedly the moat imposing on the whole line. In addition to the tunnels before mentioned there are some very expensive works on this line, consisting chiefly of extensive embankments, cuttings, and retaining walls, substantial bridges, and station buildings, chiefly built of stone. The cost of the line was about £453,750.

The foregoing are the only branches of the Midland Railway connected with Derby­shire, if we except the Leicester and Burton, extending from Leicester by Ashby-de-la-­Zouch to Burton-on-Trent, which crosses for a few miles the extreme southern portion of the county, between Ashby and Burton. There is nothing, however, in connection with it worth mentioning, and the only other railways in or connected with the county are as follow, viz.:—

THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE RAILWAY.—This railway is composed of numerous lines and branches, lying chiefly in the northern portion of Staffordshire, but partly along the borders of that county and Derbyshire, at the south-western edge of the latter. The various lines and branches composing this railway make a total length of 122 miles. It is, however, only necessary to mention here the following portions, as they only are connected with this county. They are as follows, viz.—that portion of the main line from Uttoxeter to Burton and Derby (Willington),—that portion of the Churnet Valley from Rocester Junction to Uttoxeter and the Ashbourne Branch.

THE MAIN LINE, coming from Crewe, through the densely populated district of the Potteries, first approaches the confines of Staffordshire, at Uttoxeter, where it enters the valley of the river Dove, and from whence it continues in a direction rather to the south of east, following the course of that river, and terminating by junctions with the Midland Railway by two separate branches respectively at, Willington (6 miles from Derby) and Burton-upon-Trent. The portion from Uttoxeter to Burton was opened for traffic Septem­ber 11th, 1848, the Willington Branch July 13th, 1849.

THE CHURNET VALLEY LINE, which, descending the romantic valley of the river Churnet (a tributary of the Dove,) from the direction of Macclesfield, by Leek and Alton Towers, approaches Derbyshire at Rocester, 3½ miles from Uttoxeter, at which place it is joined by the Ashbourne Branch. It was opened on the 13th of July, 1849.

THE ASHBOURNE BRANCH.—This branch commences from a junction with the Churnet Valley Line as already mentioned at Rocester, 3½ miles from Uttoxeter, and proceeding in a north-easterly direction for a distance of 6¾ miles, chiefly also up the valley of the Dove, terminating at the market-town of Ashbourne, in this county. This branch was constructed in a great measure for the accommodation of visitors to the celebrated scenery of Dovedale, about 4 miles from Ashbourne. The works were commenced July 2nd, 1851, and the branch was opened for traffic on the 31st of May, 1852. The Act was obtained in 1848, and its cost was about £60,000.

The foregoing are the only lines of railway in or along the borders of the county of Derbyshire. Those branches of the Midland not in Derbyshire are as follows, viz.

THE SHEFFIELD AND ROTHERHAM BRANCH, purchased from the Sheffield & Rotherham Company, at a price of a guaranteed dividend of 6 per Cent. upon the capital of the line £150,000. Length of line, 6 miles.

                                                                                APPENDIX.                                                                   993

THE LEEDS AND BRADFORD BRANCH AND EXTENSION to Colne—extending from Leeds by Shipley to Bradford, and from Shipley, 3 miles from the latter place, to Colne in Lanca­shire, with a branch of a mile in length to the North Midland at Leeds. Total length 42 miles.  Act obtained 1844; capital £400,000. Extension Act 1845; capital £500,000.  Lease of the Leeds and Bradford Railway Company at a rent of 10 per Cent. upon their total capital of £900,000.  Since, however, purchased outright by the Midland Company.

THE NOTTINGHAM, AND MANSFIELD AND PINXTON BRANCHES. The former extending from Nottingham to Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Mansfield, and the latter from Kirkby to Pinxton, where it forms a junction with the Erewash Valley Branch as already mentioned. The cost of the works was about £70,000. The cost of the Nottingham and Mansfield Branch was about £200,000. Length of line, Nottingham to Mansfield 17 miles, Kirkby Junction to Pinxton 3¼. Total, 20¼ mile.

THE NOTTINGHAM AND LINCOLN BRANCH, with branch to Southwell, &c., extends from Nottingham to Newark and Lincoln, a distance of 33 miles. Total length of Nottingham and Lincoln and branches, about 36 miles. Cost, upwards of £600,000.

THE SYSTON AND PETERBORO’ BRANCH, extending from Syston, by Melton, Oakham, and Stamford to Peterboro’.  Syston is 4½ miles from Leicester, on the South Branch of the Midland Railway. Length of line, 48¼ miles. Coat, nearly £1,000,000.

THE LEICESTER AND BURTON BRANCH, composed partly of the Old Leicester and Swannington Line. Single line, opened 1832, and leased by the Midland Company at a price of a guarantee of 8 per cent, upon their capital of £140,000, this Company taking also to their debt of £10,000; and partly of new lines constructed by the Midland Company themselves. This line, when the Leicester and Hitchin is opened, will form is through line between the South of England and the North Staffordshire districts. The new portions, with the altered portions of the old, line were opened for passengers, 1st of August, 1849. The cost of those works was a little more than £600,000.

THE BRISTOL & BIRMINGHAM BRANCH, composed of the former Birmingham & Gloucester, and Gloucester & Bristol Railways, with their branches, taken on lease 1st of July, 1845, but afterwards purchase outright, for a guarantee of 6 per cent, upon the amount of capital expanded and the recently constructed Gloucester and Stonehouse Junction Line. Length nearly 7 miles running from Gloucester to the point where the former Gloucester and Bristol railway branches off from the Great Western Railway at Stonehouse. The length of the Bristol and Birmingham, with branches, is 102 miles. The Act for the Gloucester and Stonehouse, was obtained in 1848, and the line opened for traffic on the 29th of May, 1854. Its cost, including that of laying a third line of rails from Stonehouse to Bristol, 30 miles, was about £141,000. In addition to the foregoing, the Midland Company have leased for 21 years, commencing from the 5th of April, 1852, the (Yorkshire) North Western Line, running from Skipton to Settle, Ingleton, and Lancaster—length 44 miles, and have also acquired the Ashby Canal (30 miles) and tramways (13½ miles), purchased for £109,900.  Making a Grand Total of upwards of 560 miles of Railway, 47 miles of Canal (including the Cromford), and 13½ miles of tramway, owned or maintained by the Midland Railway Company.