Wirksworth Railway Station is a heritage railway station that serves the town of

Wirksworth Wirksworth is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population of 5,038 in the 2011 census was estimated at 5,180 in 2019. Wirksworth contains the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The town was granted a mar ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. It was the former terminus of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

Wirksworth branch line, leaving the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

at . The line was reopened as the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway.

History

The station was opened by the

on 1 October 1867. The station was designed by the

company architect

John Holloway Sanders John Holloway Sanders FRIBA (1825 – 16 October 1884) was an architect based in England and chief architect of the Midland Railway until 1884. His date of appointment as Chief Architect to the Midland Railway is not known, but he is recorded as ...

. Dale Quarry was opened in 1874, west of the station yard. Stone was initially conveyed by horse and cart, but plans for a tramway were unpopular as it would have passed through the town. A standard gauge tunnel was built under the town, linking the quarry and the station yard and was opened on 17 November 1877. The final timetabled service ran between and Wirksworth on 14 June 1947, although the line remained listed as 'suspended' for another two years before final closure in 1949. The station yard remained in use for the carriage of stone, as the surrounding quarries and mineral lines were still operational. This resulted in the demolition of the station buildings in 1968 as the space was needed for construction of freight facilities. In mid-1984 the station was the terminus for a number of test runs of the then newly introduced BR class 150

diesel multiple units A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

, which were later combined with charity fund-raising special excursions known as the ''Wirksworth Phoenix'' The station was reopened on 1 October 2002 by Mr George Repton, who had been an engine driver on the line and the Wirksworth deputy mayor.

Film and TV appearances

In June 2007 Wirksworth was used as the fictional station of ''Lightbourne'' in the BBC television series

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

, season 22, episode 05. In August 2009, the station was also used under the fictional guise of ''Castlebury'' for a new BBC Drama aired between 1 and 5 March 2010 called "Five Days II".

Operation

The service runs regularly at weekends, holidays and special events. Several separate services are provided from Wirksworth, depending on the event and the day. Platform 3 is reserved for the shuttle service to . Services to Ravenstor leave from platform 3 and the services to Duffield operate from Platform 2. Platform 1 is not generally used for passenger services due to the lack of pointwork locks at the southern end of the platform.

Station Facilities

*Booking Hall with seating area *Rest facilities *Buffet/café facilities (open 7 days a week all year) *Children's play area *Picnic area *2 ft Narrow Gauge line and 5 inch gauge miniature railway (open when staffed) *Charity gift shop (open operating weekends) *Historical railway museum (open operating weekends) *Model Railway layouts, including N and OO scale (open operating weekends)

Route

References

External links

{{commons category, Wirksworth railway station
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway official websiteYouTube video of reopeneing of Wirksworth station in 2002Pictures of the station in 1953
Heritage railway stations in Derbyshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1867 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1947 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2002 1867 establishments in England Former Midland Railway stations John Holloway Sanders railway stations Wirksworth