0:00:15 > 0:00:20Britain is a country that owes a great deal to its rail empire.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23For 100 years,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26the railways dominated the development of this country,
0:00:26 > 0:00:30the network that supported a global superpower.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38But today, our island is home to 10,000 miles of disused lines -
0:00:38 > 0:00:43a silent network of embankments, platforms and viaducts.
0:00:47 > 0:00:53For me and many others, they've become a perfect platform for exploring the country on foot.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16I've come to an area close to where I grew up, the Peak District in Derbyshire.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20This is Peak Rail, one of the country's many steam heritage lines.
0:01:20 > 0:01:25Today, it attracts over 40,000 visitors a year, and most of those are tourists.
0:01:25 > 0:01:32But once upon a time, this route was filled with buxom, busy express trains.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Almost 140 years ago,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Victorian railway engineers were set the unlikely task of creating a mainline
0:01:44 > 0:01:50between London and Manchester that ran straight through these twisting valleys and rocky hills.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56Today, that same route is a favourite for walkers, climbers
0:01:56 > 0:02:00and those just seeking to escape the surrounding hubbub of the Midlands.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05HORN BLARES
0:02:05 > 0:02:10I'm following a line today that cuts right through the heart and geology of the Peaks,
0:02:10 > 0:02:12through its history, through everything.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16I'm trying to find out why on earth anybody would choose to build
0:02:16 > 0:02:18a main railway line through this landscape.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30My walk today is known as the Monsal Trail,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34an eight-mile route from Bakewell almost as far as Buxton.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39And this popular walk owes its existence to the Midland Railway.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43In 1867, they completed their line from London to Manchester.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46It became part of Britain's booming rail empire.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51In 1914, this was how the country's rail map looked.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55But after World War II, when the railways were nationalised,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57the situation went into reverse.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02To date, Britain has lost an incredible 10,000 miles of railway.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07But just like the Monsal Trail, many of those miles are perfect for a day out on foot.
0:03:12 > 0:03:18So that's the map, but before I set off, let's take a closer look at the route I'll be following.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Leaving Bakewell, I'll head north across rolling farmland,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30dominated by the local estates of Hassop Hall and Chatsworth House.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37Turning west, the railway headed to the village of Great Longstone, once with its very own station,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41a facility shared with neighbouring Thornbridge Hall.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47The drama of the Wye Valley soon takes over.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52And for the Midland Railway, this meant building the glorious Monsal Viaduct.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58At Cressbrook village, I'll follow the riverside footpath
0:03:58 > 0:04:02whilst the railway disappears deep under the Derbyshire hills.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Rejoining the old line at Litton Mill, I'll follow it
0:04:07 > 0:04:11on a straight run to the unusual double viaduct at Miller's Dale.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17This is now limestone country - old quarries are obvious
0:04:17 > 0:04:20amongst the hills as the Wye Valley gets deeper
0:04:20 > 0:04:22and enters the gorge at Chee Dale.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28The end of my walk is simply stunning.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32A dramatic natural corridor through rock, and the junction where trains
0:04:32 > 0:04:35from London turned either to Buxton, or to Manchester.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41This quiet rural ending once rumbled with the sound of locomotives -
0:04:41 > 0:04:44a fitting end to my first railway walk.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Back in Bakewell,
0:04:49 > 0:04:54my walk starts in a small industrial estate on the outskirts of town.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Why here?
0:04:57 > 0:05:01This was Bakewell Station of course, and it's where I'm meeting Christian Wolmar,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04one of the country's leading authors on transport history.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07How much did the railway change Bakewell?
0:05:07 > 0:05:09This gave people access to
0:05:09 > 0:05:11St Pancras, two-and-a-half hours away,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14and Manchester, three quarters of an hour away.
0:05:14 > 0:05:20The railway transformed places like Bakewell from sleepy little towns
0:05:20 > 0:05:25into bustling places that were really part of the Victorian world.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28For example, I've got this book on the Bakewell Show,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30and this shows the trains in the 1950s.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35And there's 22 extra trains just within a few hours in the morning
0:05:35 > 0:05:39from places like Leicester and Manchester and Newcastle and all that.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41They brought in 40,000 people...
0:05:41 > 0:05:46- Shipping them in! - So without the railway, that was completely impossible.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49It does seem a pretty strange idea, though, in the first place,
0:05:49 > 0:05:54to try and run a rail network through the Peaks, through the Peak District!
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Why that plan?
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Yes, the railway wasn't built like it would be today,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02with the Government saying, "Let's build a line there,"
0:06:02 > 0:06:04and getting planning permission to do it.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07It was really built by competing railway companies
0:06:07 > 0:06:09who would try and outdo each other.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12The Midland wanted to have its own line through to London,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15that was an absolutely crucial point.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18So it decided to build a line and it had to find somewhere to build it,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22and the Peak District seemed an obvious place to do it. Of course,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24it gave a fantastic, scenic route.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Why did the line close? It was so important to Bakewell.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32In the 1950s and 1960s, British Railways was losing a lot of money,
0:06:32 > 0:06:38and the Government appointed a certain Dr Richard Beeching
0:06:38 > 0:06:40to be in charge of the railways,
0:06:40 > 0:06:45and he produced his famous report, which was called Reshaping Of Britain's Railways.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50And he decided that basically about half the railways should shut down,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54several thousand stations as well, and this was one of them.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58I suspect, on my railway walks across this series,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01I'm probably going to encounter a few Beeching enemies.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Yes, well, Beeching did cut a lot of railways,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07but there is one advantage - they've given us fantastic walks.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11- Which is good for me.- Absolutely.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13And so my first railway walk begins.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19As the line heads north, I enter an area of fine country estates.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22The Dukes of Devonshire and Rutland were both keen
0:07:22 > 0:07:24to make use of the new railway,
0:07:24 > 0:07:29so long as it didn't upset the tranquillity of their country seats.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Up the road from here, though, the Devonshires of Chatsworth
0:07:33 > 0:07:37always had the protection of being a good couple of miles from the line.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40You can just catch a glimpse through those trees
0:07:40 > 0:07:44of another fine Derbyshire country manor.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46I'm sure it's got perfectly landscaped gardens.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49That is Thornbridge Hall.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54There's been a private estate here
0:07:54 > 0:07:57outside the village of Great Longstone since the 1100s.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59In the past 200 years, it's passed through the hands
0:07:59 > 0:08:01of several entrepreneurs,
0:08:01 > 0:08:06many of whom have been keen to emulate nearby ducal estates -
0:08:06 > 0:08:08acquiring panelling, household items
0:08:08 > 0:08:12and even a fountain from the likes of Clumber Park and Chatsworth.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18But unlike the Duke of Devonshire, the owners of Thornbridge Hall
0:08:18 > 0:08:21had the advantage of being right next to the railway line.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26This actually feels like a real railway station.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30You almost want to look behind you because you half expect a train to be coming.
0:08:32 > 0:08:38But at Great Longstone, it's the building next door to the station that raises a few questions.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40It was once part of Thornbridge Hall,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43so who better to ask than the present owner of the Thornbridge estate,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46local businessman Jim Harrison?
0:08:46 > 0:08:50What on earth is this magnificent building doing plonked
0:08:50 > 0:08:53right next door to an ordinary-looking railway station?
0:08:53 > 0:08:56It was the idea of George Jobson Marples, and having built
0:08:56 > 0:08:59the hall, he decided to build himself a railway station.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02- Build himself a railway station?! - He didn't want to mix with the ordinary folk.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07- So this man was quite a dude in his day.- He made lots and lots of money in steel
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and being a barrister, and he moved out to Derbyshire to be a gentleman.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15What was his thinking behind this building? That he didn't want to walk 500 yards?
0:09:15 > 0:09:16200 or 300 yards away,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20He didn't want to go to the ordinary station, so he built himself something
0:09:20 > 0:09:27where his staff could come but he could actually pull his carriages up through the entrance-way there.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30He could get out at his leisure, wait in his waiting rooms,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and then move the train a few yards up so he could get on.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36You've got some pictures of him. Let's see how handsome he was.
0:09:36 > 0:09:42This is one of Marples' weekend parties, where he's got all his friends round for a shooting party.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44This is the man himself.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49He's not a great looker. But he's got something about him, a bit of a Toad of Toad Hall.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Lots of ladies in there as well.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56One of his girlfriends could have been in there, because he had quite a number, apparently.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Let's have a look at the building itself.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00That's the building as it was being put up,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02these are his foremen who were running it for him.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06Look at the builders. They were posh, almost wearing dicky bows.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08They've all got ties and hats on.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11In relation to the railway, how do we date this building?
0:10:11 > 0:10:14It's probably about 30-40 years after the railway came by.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17This was put up as recently as 1900.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20It may look a lot older, but he was copying an older style.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- Will you take me down to the station platform?- Sure.
0:10:23 > 0:10:29- And we can imagine how it would have been for George and his ladies in that day!- Yes.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35So he actually got the train to stop there and then here?
0:10:35 > 0:10:39That's right. Just a few hundred yards, not even that.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42I'm going to go a few hundred yards that way.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45- Jim, thank you very much. - Nice to have met you.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49- Thanks for telling me all about Mr Marples.- It's been a pleasure. - Bye-bye.- Cheerio.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57With two stations passed, my walk reaches a point where it begins to change in character.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02The gently rolling fields begin to run out as the gritstone of Bakewell
0:11:02 > 0:11:06turns into classic Peak District limestone.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10And for the railway, that required some serious engineering.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19The peaks between here and Buxton meant that this part of the Midland Railway included six tunnels.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Who wants to walk through long, dark tunnels
0:11:21 > 0:11:24when you've got this splendid national park around you?
0:11:24 > 0:11:29Well, nobody, but I felt to really understand the history of this railway walk that I should.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33So I picked the longest one, and I phoned one of the National Park's wardens.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36"Steve," I said, "Will you hold my hand?"
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Hi, Steve. Thank you for showing me the dark side. I need this.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46- From now on, there could be some loose rocks.- Right, OK.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48I shall follow your lead, then.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52The Headstone Tunnel is sadly closed off to the everyday walker.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56The odd guided tour takes place, but for the most part, it is a dark
0:11:56 > 0:12:02and silent world, largely untouched since Dr Beeching's axe came down.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Obviously, we don't go straight into the tunnel.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07No, we have the cutting first, then we reach the tunnel.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12It's very beautiful. It's a shame that not everybody can do this, of course.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15No, we've got rocks like this one which occasionally come down.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18That's the reason why the general public aren't allowed in.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23- You're not telling me my hard hat's going to help!- Not with that one!
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Imagine, though, if the trains are running, and something
0:12:26 > 0:12:29of that size fell onto the track. I mean, it would be a disaster.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31I'm sure there were chaps in here
0:12:31 > 0:12:34who checked it daily to make sure they weren't on the track.
0:12:34 > 0:12:40The cutting gets deeper and deeper as you walk further into the new limestone surroundings.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43But as the hills got higher,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45the builders of the Midland Railway
0:12:45 > 0:12:47were left with only one course of action.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49And there she is. Up ahead...
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- The tunnel.- The tunnel!
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Oooh!
0:13:01 > 0:13:05- Wow!- There we go, Headstone Tunnel.
0:13:05 > 0:13:06It's big!
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Oooh!
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Steve, do me the honours. Hey, presto!
0:13:20 > 0:13:22- And how long is it? - We've got 533 yards to walk.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26Right, we'd better get going... in the dark.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30These are presumably little cubby-holes, just to...
0:13:30 > 0:13:36That's where the men working on the line would have had to stand out the way when the trains came.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41The thing that strikes you most inside the Headstone Tunnel is its immense height and width.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47Easily enough space for two large express trains to pass each other at full steam.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53We're in the middle of the tunnel. There's a shaft of light at that end,
0:13:53 > 0:13:59and I can't see anything at the other end. 120ft of limestone above me.
0:13:59 > 0:14:06And if you look down here, this is the actual surface that the railway tracks ran on.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08Come on, Steve.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Ooh, look at our big shadows.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Ooh!
0:14:13 > 0:14:18It's hard to imagine a more disused railway line than this.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21The Headstone Tunnel is a ghostly relic of one of the country's
0:14:21 > 0:14:26main lines - a giant structure that symbolises the Beeching era.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33Ah! The big doors at the other end. I'm quite pleased to see these, actually!
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Let's see what we've got.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Now, what can I expect?
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Well, we're going to emerge 80ft above the river.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Cor!
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Look at the light!
0:14:46 > 0:14:48A completely different landscape.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Thank you for my sneaky little walk through the tunnel,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and thank you for leaving me at such a magnificent point.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58It's truly beautiful here, isn't it?
0:14:58 > 0:15:04For 100 years, this was the moment when trains from London would have burst out from the darkness,
0:15:04 > 0:15:09with passengers enjoying one of the most extraordinary stretches of line in the country.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15But it's the view looking down on the viaduct that has become
0:15:15 > 0:15:18one of the most famous images of Britain's lost rail empire.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24That pub was built originally for the railway workers,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27but there aren't many of those left to keep it going any more.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Now it is like the Peak District's honey trap for tourists and photographers and walkers.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35I've been there many times myself.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39Not a bad spot.
0:15:41 > 0:15:47As with so many industrial developments, though, this view wasn't always held in such regard.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55John Ruskin, poet, author and general social critic of the 1800s,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58once moaned that "the valley is gone, and the gods with it,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02"and now, every fool in Buxton can be in Bakewell in half an hour,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05"and every fool in Bakewell at Buxton."
0:16:12 > 0:16:15To be fair to Ruskin, though, with the tracks gone,
0:16:15 > 0:16:20there's a strange romance and beauty about the mellowed remains of the railway.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26From the flat-bottomed valley of Monsal Dale,
0:16:26 > 0:16:31the railway soon runs into one of the old industrial centres of the Peaks.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Cressbrook is dominated by the enormous buildings of the old cotton mill.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44At the peak of its output, workers were brought in to Cressbrook on the railway,
0:16:44 > 0:16:48some arriving each week all the way from St Pancras.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56You can still make out the bell on the top of the building, but it rather looks as if
0:16:56 > 0:17:02yesterday's factory has been turned into today's Peak District plush apartment complex.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08The factory relied of course on the power of the River Wye.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12And whilst the railway disappears into another long tunnel,
0:17:12 > 0:17:17there's a chance for me to take a trip down to the water's edge.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23I thought this would be the most appropriate place
0:17:23 > 0:17:25to meet the person who brought me here in the first place.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Here's my dad. Hello, Dad!
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Hello, daughter. Nice to see you!
0:17:30 > 0:17:32So when did we first come here?
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Well, I first came here,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38cos I was born here, in Tideswell, just three miles away.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41But you first came when you were four or five.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44What was I like as a young...? Cos that must be a pain...
0:17:44 > 0:17:46You were rather independent.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Occasionally, you would tamely follow me,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53other times we were walking down a dale, and you'd be up on the cliff top...
0:17:53 > 0:17:56- Strange.- ..waving and saying, "Hello, here I am!"
0:17:56 > 0:18:01What is it about Derbyshire, what is it about this neck of the woods?
0:18:01 > 0:18:05I mean, the Peak District is just one of those places where you want to walk.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07For most people, it's...
0:18:07 > 0:18:14It is the easiest place to reach to, if you've been in Manchester or Leeds or Sheffield.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18- Now, trout...- Trout. - Let's talk a little bit of trout.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21What's so special about this river? Why do the trout love it so much?
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Well, the Wye is one of the great limestone rivers of the Pennines.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28There's a huge waiting list to fish this bit of river,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30partly because it's such a fine river,
0:18:30 > 0:18:35partly because you've got the cachet of the Duke of Devonshire's ownership around here.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37And it is just a great place to fish.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43I go on and on quite a lot about my first trout tickling experience with you.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48Yes, I hasten to say that was in a small stream, far away from the bailiffs, in the Hope Valley.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Of course, we don't encourage trout tickling.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53But in any event, you need to be in small streams
0:18:53 > 0:18:56where the trout can't run too far away.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Here, they've got too much escape.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02I remember it vividly, my first trout tickling moment.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Touching your first trout gently under the gills
0:19:04 > 0:19:07is like touching your first woman.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11It's smooth, soft, sometimes slippery, but very exciting.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16I can't believe my dad's just said that!
0:19:16 > 0:19:18I'm going to carry on walking.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Thank you again, lovely to see you. Bye-bye.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28As you head around the large basin at Cressbrook,
0:19:28 > 0:19:31the path takes you right down to the water's edge.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35The Wye Valley tightens dramatically as you follow the river upstream.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Gone are the surrounding meadows of Monsal Dale,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45replaced by narrow ledge paths and vertical cliff walls.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51(This is a bit of a strange place, and it's got a strange name as well.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55(It's called Water-come-Jolly Dale.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00(And it's strange because it's completely calm here,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04(the air is calm, the water is calm. Listen to the birdsong.)
0:20:05 > 0:20:07BIRDS TWITTER
0:20:09 > 0:20:14(It's almost like a sort of a tropical mangrove.)
0:20:19 > 0:20:23As this riverside section of my walk comes to a close,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27you reach a second cotton mill at Litton.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31But this one had a very different reputation to Cressbrook.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35One child apprentice here said that he'd rather see his own child
0:20:35 > 0:20:40shipped to Australia than work in such a factory.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43This comment of harrowing industrial hardship
0:20:43 > 0:20:46is said to have been the inspiration for Dickens' Oliver Twist.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Stepping off the railways gives you a real sense
0:20:51 > 0:20:55of how this part of Derbyshire has changed over the past 200 years.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00Both Litton and Cressbrook owe their very existence to the once-thriving cotton industry.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04But today, they are well-maintained, incredibly quiet, pin-up villages.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09And of course in those 200 years, the railways have been and gone.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15With no trains, no cotton mills and a large number of second homes,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18the Wye Valley is an altogether more peaceful place today
0:21:18 > 0:21:21than it has been for centuries.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24As I reach the next station on my route, there would have been
0:21:24 > 0:21:28yet another industry to contend with - limestone.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33The old limekilns once served by the trains are still clearly visible,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35one reason why Miller's Dale Station
0:21:35 > 0:21:38was the biggest on this stretch of the line.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Hi, Alistair, nice to see you.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Shall I lead the way up here?
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Absolutely.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47This is where I've arranged to meet Alistair Lofthouse,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51a local publisher who's been given access to the lifetime's work
0:21:51 > 0:21:53of a genuine Midland Railway fanatic.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Many of the black-and-white images you'll have seen in this programme
0:21:57 > 0:22:00come courtesy of the late Ray Morton.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06- So this is the man himself. - Yes, that's Ray, and that's his grandson, Jonathan.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10- He was a true railway anorak! - Yes, I think so.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15We've come to this spot because there's a great picture that shows the then and the now.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20This is Miller's Dale Station, which was the biggest station on the line, with five platforms.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24- We can see the station as it was, the two viaducts.- Look at that!
0:22:24 > 0:22:28And this is probably the 1950s.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32- Why two viaducts? - Well, originally there was only one,
0:22:32 > 0:22:37but by 1900, the line was so busy they needed to increase capacity.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42So around 1903, they built a second viaduct to allow the freight trains,
0:22:42 > 0:22:46which were getting more and more, to pass the express trains.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Ironically, the older of the two viaducts at Miller's Dale
0:22:51 > 0:22:53is in far the best condition today.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59The newer one is still owned by Railtrack,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02and its long-term future seems uncertain.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06- It makes me tingle a bit. - Yes, it does!
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Over the course of 35 years,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Ray Morton provided a complete historic record of the Midland Railway,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19firstly in black and white, then in colour.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26But Miller's Dale was clearly a favourite spot for him,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28not just the express locomotives,
0:23:28 > 0:23:35but lowly freight trains pulling wagons away from the massive limekilns.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39And then, as the mid-'60s arrived, he documented the slow decline
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and degradation of a line now earmarked for closure.
0:23:48 > 0:23:54This is one of my favourite pictures. The old, enamelled signs, which today would be worth a fortune.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Yeah, we need to try and track those down!
0:23:56 > 0:23:59And we've got the old train in British Rail green.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03The only things left of course are the wall over there, the railings...
0:24:03 > 0:24:07And all of this class canopy, of course, that we can see in the shot.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09It's all gone.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12I love that, that's one of my favourites.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16- Thank you, Alistair. - No problem.- It's been really lovely.
0:24:19 > 0:24:25And so to the final and most dramatic stretch of the Monsal Trail.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30The hill of Chee Tor means another locked tunnel.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36And so the trail takes its second diversion off the railway,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40and from the air, well, you can see that it's quite an adventure.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46I quite like being pushed off the path,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48because it gives you the chance to have an adventure,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51and also to appreciate the engineering
0:24:51 > 0:24:55that goes into building a railway through this really complex landscape.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58As you can see, the viaducts these days
0:24:58 > 0:25:01have got another really good use - a bit of an abseiling hot spot.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03That looks like fun!
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Chee Dale is for me one of the very best spots in Derbyshire.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13A river walk through a classic valley that culminates in a full-blown gorge.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Terrible for an intercity railway - ideal for a walker.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41I said at the beginning that the good thing about railway walks
0:25:41 > 0:25:44is that they are long and flat and straight.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47I'm happy to say that I've had two little climbs on this one.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50And that is the cause of the second diversion.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59This short stretch of the Midland Railway was undoubtedly
0:25:59 > 0:26:05the most ambitious and complex in the whole of the company's network.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07In the space of six miles,
0:26:07 > 0:26:12it went through six tunnels and crossed the River Wye six times.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Walking along the route today, you can't help but admire
0:26:15 > 0:26:17the determination there must have been
0:26:17 > 0:26:20to add this route to the Midlands portfolio.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24And having built the thing,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27it's staggering that it lasted just 100 years.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32But one line does remain in the area.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36It's a freight line serving the modern limestone quarries nearby.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40It still occupies the route of the Midland Railway from this point on,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42and means that walkers like myself
0:26:42 > 0:26:45never quite make it to the spa town of Buxton.
0:26:46 > 0:26:52Instead, the Monsal Trail ends here, at Blackwell Mill -
0:26:52 > 0:26:55a junction where trains once thundered all around,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58heading to London, Manchester or Buxton.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13It's quite fitting that my walk should end here,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16surrounded entirely by the Midland Railway.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21In its past, it supported ducal estates, agriculture and industry.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25It expanded spa towns and improved communications across England.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27But for me and many walkers,
0:27:27 > 0:27:32this old railway that ploughed its dirty, noisy path through the Peak District
0:27:32 > 0:27:36has become a doorway for some of central England's most spectacular countryside.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:27:59 > 0:28:02E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk