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Cromford & High Peak Railway Walk - Burbage to Whaley Bridge
I walked 12 miles today 10/06/2018 from Buxton to Whaley Bridge, as far as possible along the alignment of the Cromford & High Peak Railway (C&HPR), which (except for a short stretch at Whaley Bridge) closed over this section in 1892. It opened in 1830/1831. This section is much less well known than the sections nearer Cromford.
The first part of the walk was through the back streets of Buxton then onto the quiet lanes in Burbage. A steep public footpath leads over the hill to the north end of Buxton (or Burbage) tunnel. Just to get here required a net climb of over 450 ft in 3 miles, but most of the rest of the route is flat or downhill. At this point the railway was 1254 ft above sea level.
The line was mostly level, with engine-worked inclined planes at Bunsall (originally two inclines, later combined) (457 ft total descent), Shalcross (240 ft) and Whaley Bridge (40 ft).