The Peak District was already a busy industrial area before the railway between Buxton and Matlock arrived, seeing extensive mining of coal, lead, copper and other minerals, along with limestone quarrying. Covering this line, which originally opened in 1849 as the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway, our journey starts at Ambergate, the junction with the main line between Derby and Chesterfield, and runs as far as Rowsley. Although the line survived the 1963 Beeching report, which saw the closure of numerous lines and over 2000 stations, the section between Buxton and Matlock was closed to passenger traffic in 1967. Since the mid 1970s the Peak Rail heritage line has operated between Rowlsey and Matlock, with much of the remainder being taken over by the Peak District National Park Authority in 1980 and turned into the very popular Monsal Trail, a walking and cycling route.
