The Longdendale Trail starts in Hadfield near the train station 890m from where we'll start this walk where it crosses the Glossop Circular route. The Longdendale Trail is very smooth, gentle incline and wide, suitable for walking and cycling. Head east to Crowden and Woodhead.
Look out for the sound boxes with recordings by Brian Blessed OBE and activity posts near Torside Reservoir.
The Woodhead line was a railway line linking Sheffield, Penistone and Manchester. It was built by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway and opened in 1845 with stations at Crowden and Woodhead. Having seen major investment in the 1950s with electrification, the line was controversially closed to passenger traffic on 5 January 1970.
There was once a railway station for Crowden, continue along the Longdendale Trail to Woodhead. The station houses, platform and railings are still there.
View a 1921 map of Crowden railway station at Old Maps Online .
A local millowner, Brown & Co., donated £50 towards the cost of providing a station at Crowden. Plans were drawn up in April 1857, but the MS&LR decided that the sum of £400 was too much and dropped the idea, however, they did not return the donation. When Brown & Co. complained in May 1860 about their loss, the plan was revived and the station was built, with the MS&LR meeting the balance of the £450 total cost. George Benton of Glossop was contracted for the building work. The station was adjacent to the dam at the lower end of the Woodhead Reservoir, which belonged to Manchester Corporation. The station was opened on 1 July 1861 and closed on 4 February 1957.
At the end of the Longdendale Trail are the Woodhead tunnels and where Woodhead railway station was, the platforms still remain. The journey back is all downhill.
When completed in 1845, Woodhead 1 was one of the world's longest railway tunnels at 3 miles 13 yards (4,840 m). It was the first trans-Pennine railway tunnel to be built, cost roughly £200,000 (£21M today) to build. The human cost was high, 30 people lost their lives and 650 were injured. Woodhead 2 opened in 1852 with the loss of 28 lives. Woodhead 3 was a bit longer than the other two, at 3 miles 66 yards (4.888 km), it was completed in 1953, six people lost their lives during the work. Only 17 years later the final passenger services ran through the tunnel and the last goods train ran on 17 July 1981.
Please let us know if you spot any issues along the route or any errors in the directions.
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