 Hello, thank you for joining me. I'm standing above the River Goit on the Manalian Wartway in New Mills. Today we've come to the town to walk along the old railway line which once ran from here to Hayfield. We have been to New Mills before and I did a video all about this Manalian Wartway, so have a look at the link on screen now. That video tells you all about the Manalian Wartway. What we've come here to do today is follow the railway as I said. So up there, that is the current railway line. Going to Manchester in that direction, but probably directly above us now is where the junction was for the three mile branch line to Hayfield. So I'm going to keep walking down here. We're going to go up to the railway station and from there I'll be able to show you from a different angle where the railway line went off. I've then got to make my way around the town and we'll end up on the trackbed and We shall walk the three miles to Hayfield. So I'm going to make my way now up to the railway station. So here we are at New Mills Central, complete with a PASA couple to a 150, about to work a train service to Manchester. Now just beyond the platform, there's a reversing siding, so the terminating trains go into that siding to let other trains pass. Now if we look this way, under the latticefoot bridge and the road bridge, you can see two tunnel mouths. Now the one on the left, that is the old Hayfield branch. That's a branch. We're going to be walking up, although at this stage we won't be able to walk through the actual tunnel, and then the other tunnel on the right is the one which is still an operational railway. The railway closed in 1970. I'll get more on to when it opens as we go up the railway. There was talk of it being a heritage line. They had it being a heritage line. You never know. These PASAs might have ended up working on it. So I'm going to let the PASA go off to Manchester. I'm going to find my way over to the town and we're going to find the other end of that tunnel. Or as close as we possibly can get to the other end of that tunnel. Walked through New Mills Town, just coming down this cobbled back street to where we find the Set Valley, which is what the old railway line followed up towards Hayfield. Now have a look here on this viewpoint. There's a viaduct. That is the railway line that we saw at New Mills Central that went through the right bore of the tunnel. The other end of that tunnel is literally behind that tree there. As you can see, there's houses above there. Now, as for the left bore, which carried the old Hayfield line, we're going to go and find that. So down there, which you can't really see, it's in the trees, is the River Set. When you get down there, it joins up with the River Goit. I did another video on that area where the two rivers join and you've got the viaducts of the town. So have a look at the link on screen now. Have a look at that video. We're going to walk along here. You can see the river down there and the waterfall. And we're going to go just along here to find the old railway line to Hayfield. So apart from this section here, where obviously we couldn't walk through the tunnel, the rest of it, I'm pretty sure we're going to be able to walk all the way to Hayfield. You can see all these bucktoes like walls, pretty much holding the town up above us. There's a lovely view down there of River Set. So as we come to here, in front of us is the track base. You just see it stretching off down there. You can see another bridge and it says you might be able to see it. The camera's not picking out, but on that bridge, it says Set Valley Trail. Now, turn around here and what have we got? We've got the other end of that tunnel. I can just about see a bit of daylight. What I'm going to do when I finish recording this clip. Yeah, I think I can do that. There's a very mildly looking pusher. I don't know if you can see that behind all the behind all the Himalayan balsam weed. I'm going to climb down, try and stand on that rock and try and get a picture looking through and looking through this tunnel. So what I'll do, I'll insert that now. So there's the picture I took after filming this shot. Yeah, a bit complicated, I know, but that's how I did it. We're going to go over the bridge now, over the river. So the river's down there on one side. It's quite a long bridge. It's almost like a tunnel for the river. And then you can see the river carries on over that way. We're going to go up under this bridge and follow the line up towards Hayfield. And as we get going, I'll tell you a bit about the history of the railway, et cetera. So this bit of the old railway, it looks rather different to what I was imagining. They built doctors here on the old railway trackbed now, and they've also filled it in. So while I'm standing, I'm pretty standing about where the roof of the train would have been or maybe perhaps a bit lower, actually. Have a look here, though. This is a rather steep road bridge. And to remind us, we're on a railway line. Have a look here. You can see the top of the arch here. You can see where they've started to fill it in. And some of the masonry has fallen out. So, yeah, that is the road bridge. What I'm going to do now, I'm going to go to the other side of the road bridge. And I believe from there it becomes more of a proper trail. So if you want to walk along the trail like I did, from where we were from the tunnel now, the footpath takes you along the top around there. It sort of went up a hill. So you could tell the cutting had been partially filled in and I suppose to make it easier for people to walk along. So crossing, this is that steep road bridge, which once went over the railway. We go through this gate here and what have we got? Well, we've got, again, a cutting that's obviously been filled in after the railway to form this path going down here. Twice for the other side of the bridge. The arch would have been about there somewhere in front of us. So this is all being completely, well, mainly filled in. So if they were to ever reopen this road, I'd have to dig all of this out again and demolish the doctors. So that'd be a lot of work, but I believe the rest of the track bed is intact. But we should find out as I go along. I've not actually been along here before. So I'm not entirely sure what to expect. This is interesting. So we're coming down here. I think what's happening now is we're going down below the level of the track bed. I think there's probably a bridge here that's been demolished because then we go up a hill. Now, this hill, we've gone down and the hill about to go up. That is way too steep for a train to go up and down. So I'd say there was possibly a bridge here. You know, if you know otherwise, please do tell me if there wasn't a bridge here. But I know this railway wasn't this steep when this isn't the Cromford and High Peak railway. So, yeah, this is fairly unnatural for an old railway. Possibly once we get to the other side of the gate here, we might get on to a more, you know, walking along an old track bed that really feels like an old railway line. And so we should find out soon. Someone's done painted a lot of stones. They all look really quite nice all the way down there, all the way to the other bridge. So we get to here and again. Maybe there was a road bridge here. I'm not sure maybe level crossing and go through this gate here. So says Payfield. Payfield, two and a half miles. New Meals Town Centre. So I'm going to carry on walking to get to Payfield. So now we've left the outskirts of New Meals and it really does feel, you know, like we're walking along an old railway walking at track bed level. Not filled in or dug out as we found back there. So as for this railway, as I said, it's not a very long line. It's only a three mile branch line. It was opened in 1868 by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. They later went on to become the Great Central Railway. The Midland Railway also was running its trains up here. So it must have been quite an interesting railway in steam days. And then into British Rail where it was run by the London Midland Region of British Rail. So it then carried on steam ended and it would have been probably a DMU. I've seen some pictures of DMUs working up here, first generation DMUs. I don't know if it was ever and, you know, there ever were any local diesel's up here. If you know and want to comment, tell me, you know, please do. I believe Beach and try to close it. He didn't succeed. But sadly, he's still got his wish because it did close. So really, I think from here onwards, kind of almost could be opened. It's just that bit back there that's the problem. Once it closed, though, in 1970, a group did talk about trying to preserve it. But, you know, it came to nothing and the track was lifted. And that was that really. But I'm sort of thinking, well, when we were back at New Mills and we saw that pacer and that 150 that come from Manchester, they came into the station. They reversed into the side until a couple of trains passed. They came back into the station and then formed a train to Manchester. Almost might as well have just carried on up here to Hayfield. And, you know, so as things go, maybe one day they will return the railway to Hayfield. But until then, it's a rather pleasant footpath. I'm going to carry on walking. Next intermediate station we're going to go and find is Birchvale. So keep walking till we get to Birchvale station. I'm now about halfway along the railway and we're just coming up to a survivor of the original railway. Here we have a crossing Keepers Cottage. I feel like I have a look at the sign. New Mills, one of the course miles, Hayfield, one of the quarter miles. Hayfield Road, an eighth of a mile up the hill. Fonset, a quarter of a mile down the hill. So here we are with a railway Keepers Cottage. Cobbled Road, going down. So across the rail line here, I just thought I'd show you that because it is a surviving building from when the railway was first built. So what I'm going to do now, I'm going to continue on walking down here. It won't be too far now till we come to the other station, the intermediate station, Birchvale, and then we'll carry on till we get to Hayfield. I'm now approaching the site of Birchvale station. So as for the actual trap bed, it have run probably somewhere just to the side of me there and gone across a skewed bridge over the road here. So obviously all that's been demolished and it's just the path really to take us through. So what I'm going to do, I'm going to go over the road here through the gate on the other side of the road. So if you imagine looking there now, imagine a bridge crossing there. And I believe the entry to the station would have been about where this gate is here. So I'm going to go through this gate and what I think I'm going to actually do is walk across where the trap bed would have been. That gate can close itself. Yeah. So I think to get onto the platform, you have walked straight up a path there. There was only one platform. So what I'm going to have to do is this is how the path goes. I'm going to be walking through where the bridge would have been. So you can clearly see the trap bed. Just there, but the abutment of the bridge has gone and the road goes up there into the village of Birchvale. It's a very small village. There's not a lot there, but it was the intermediate station on the Fremont branch line. It's about now. I'm probably standing where the trap bed would have been, although the trains are moving a bit above my head still. So we go up here and we should have a look at the site of the station for what I understand. There's nothing left of the station at all, but we can try and imagine what was there. Here we are. That is something to tell us. It was a station. Sign says Birchvale Station. So that's quite good. At least anyone walking along at least knows it was a station. So we get to here walking back onto the railways trap bed. Now I think the platform would have been along here. So imagine the platform stretching out in front of us. There'd have been a small waiting shelter and then all this bit of land here. There'd have been a couple of sidings and a good shed. Can't have gone any further really than just behind those trees because there's some Victorian houses. So I'd say about now I'm probably walking where the train would have been and the platform would have been probably just in where the trees were. I cannot see though that there's anything left to remind us of it, apart from really that sign out there saying Birchvale Station. Now, if you have a look here, they've built some newer houses. So if you can see them, I know it's hard to see, but through the trees, I can see what definitely some newer houses. They've been built on the site, the good shed. They've reopened the railway. Well, you could definitely put a single track and a platform in, but I suppose the way things are and there wouldn't be a requirement for a good shed again. So as I get to here, probably about somewhere around here, I'll be walking off the end of the platform or I'll be stepping onto a train and just pulling out the station in the latter days. I said that they've been first generation DMU and I've enjoyed the next mile, mile and a quarter to the end of the line at Hayfield. I'm now coming to the end of the former Hayfield branch. I'm just coming up towards the site of Hayfield Station. So you can see the track bed behind me. Get to here with the path going off that way. I'm going to carry on this way there through these gates. This is where the station once stood. So it was always for the majority of the time, it was the determinants of the branch, as I said, there was that brief extension when I built in the Scout Reservoir. But for the majority of the time, it has been determinants of the branch on up from new mill. So it really is quite a pleasant little walk up from new mills. It's three miles long, so you can easily walk here and back in a day. I could walk back. I'm thinking I'm probably going to get a bus back because I'm looking up at the sky. It looks like it might rain and also if it's a double deck of us, it might be quite nice sitting upstairs, you know, enjoying the views of the area. So as it comes to here, here we come to the station site. It's now a carpark. So yeah, not that exciting really that this was once a railway station. Now it's a station carpark. But in a way, what's quite nice is that people who come to Hayfield, they come here, they park their car here and they, you know, they step into Hayfield in the same place as if they'd come by train. So in a way, that's quite nice. So you can just imagine they're being possibly not really exact layout, but there'd been a platform somewhere station building probably a signal box at the end, a few points for the in the early days for the locomotive to run around its train and then head back the other way in later years when it was just a DMU train with a stop drive, go out to the other end and walk back. Have a look here, though. This building here and here is a bus turning circle. So what are we going to do? I'm going to have to come back here to get a bus. But before we do that, I just thought might as well show you the village centre. So the bus turned round here. Oh, and have a look at that. There's even a silhouette of a steam train giving a nod to the site's former use as a railway station. So there's the village. You can see the church and see the hills looming in the distance. And this is the bypass, not this road here, but the road to the other side of the fence, that's the village bypass. So I'm going to take you across there. I think actually I've come, yeah, this is the horses crossing but things with no horses about. That's the pedestrian crossing. This is the horses crossing. So even says wait, it shows the outline of someone on the horse. And I don't know if you can see that there's a red horse, not a red man. I'm going to yell, yeah, there we are. There's the green horse and that probably would be my bus. I'm probably going to have to miss that one and get the next one because I just want to show you a little bit of Heyfield Village. But the buses are fairly very good. So if I miss this one, it doesn't matter. It's giving me a chance to go and have a pint in one of the pubs. So we get to here. The village is that way. I'm going to take you through the church yard, through St Matthew's church yard so we can have a look at the church. So we come into the church yard here. See the path is former gravestone of the church tower. So I'm going to go around here and just show you the heart of the village. So show you what there is an offer because it really is to me I've driven through this village. I have stopped in the past and always thought what a nice place but I've never ever got round to walking the old railway line. Now known as the Set Valley Trail. I've never got round to doing that. So I'm just taking you there through St Matthew's church yard. I'm looking up the village that way. When we come to here, this is the very heart of the village and it's very attractive and picturesque. No cars coming. You can show you one of you here. Now we have the War Memorial, the Royal Hotel. And there's the river down below us. Now if we come round, there's St Matthew's Church, who's church yard we just walked through. The cross here will go over the pedestrian bridge over the river because I think the view you get from this bridge is really nice. Well, on this side, you've got some rather nice flowers. But have a look down there. Must be nice. I've never been there. You've got a river at the back of your garden. But this isn't where I want to finish the video. I'm going to carry on down there and show you a really nice, really beautiful little area around the back of the buildings in Hayfield. So again, we're here in the very same place. I want to show you. It's just not just past here. So it says maybe I'll see there's a sign there. I'll show you what it says. I'll see if we get there. Memorial gardens. Now, these aren't just any old memorial gardens. They're a bit different than what you might expect. So go down these steps. We go around this corner. And the first part, you think, oh, it's unusual. There's like a pool of water. Complete with a load of mal-arbed ducks. It's actually a waterfall on the river. So wherever a moment can go, we were up there on the bridge. All these ducks seem very keen to be on camera. And then we've got a rather spectacular waterfall going off the edge. And then this is the memorial gardens going down here. So I'll take you down here. Look at that, though. That is just a really cool area behind the back of the houses here in Hayfield. I really like that. I'll take you down here. And here, I really cannot go any further. So here we are in the middle of Hayfield. You know, a rather large weir. So I hope you enjoyed this video. You know, if you're out this way, why not come on the train like I did for Manchester. Walk up the old railway. You could have a drink here and then walk back or get a bus back. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do. Definitely going to have a drink, no. May walk back, I might get a bus back. But you know, why not come do this day out for yourself. I've really enjoyed it. Thank you very much for watching. Please do feel free to like, subscribe, and comment from the Memorial Gardens in Hayfield. Thank you very much for watching. Goodbye.