Matlock Cable Tramway was a cable tramway that served the town of Matlock, Derbyshire, UK between 28 March 1893 and 30 September 1927.
A cable car is a type of cable railway used for mass transit where rail cars are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required. Cable cars are distinct from funiculars, where the cars are permanently attached to the cable, and cable railways, which are similar to funiculars, but where the rail vehicles are attached and detached manually.
Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England. It is situated at the south eastern part of the Peak District, with the National Park directly to the west. The town is twinned with the French town Eaubonne. The former spa resort Matlock Bath lies immediately south of the town on the A6. The civil parish of Matlock Town had a population in the 2011 UK census of 9,543. The population of the wider Matlock urban area is approximately 20,000. The Matlock area is considered to include Wirksworth, owing to the close proximity of the towns.
History
Tramway barn in 2006.Tramway barn plan in 1893.
The principal purpose was to serve the Hydro Spa Hotels, bringing customers from the railway station near the River Derwent. One of the tramway's directors, Job Smith got the idea for a steep-gradient tram for Matlock while in San Francisco in 1862. The original plan for the tramway was to run between Matlock railway station and the Hydro Spa Hotels of Smedley's and Rockside. The risk of flooding forced the terminus to be set up on Crown Square.
The Derwent is a river in Derbyshire, England. It is 66 miles (106 km) long and is a tributary of the River Trent, which it joins south of Derby. Throughout its course, the river mostly flows through the Peak District and its foothills.
Matlock Railway Station is a railway station owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains in the town of Matlock, Derbyshire, England. The station is the terminus of both the Derwent Valley Line from Derby and Peak Rail who operate heritage services to Rowsley South. Both lines are formed from portions of the Midland Railway's former main line to Manchester. Through running is technically possible but is not done in normal service.
The tramway was financed by locally born newspaper owner Sir George Newnes, at a cost of £20,000[1] (equivalent to £2,179,000in 2018).[2] The tram depot was designed by the architect James Turner, with a chimney 100 feet (30m) high. The engine-house was 60 feet (18m) by 38 feet (12m), the boiler-house 54 feet (16m) by 25 feet (7.6m), a car pit 74 feet (23m) by 33 feet (10m), a waiting room 16 feet (4.9m) by 16 feet (4.9m) with ladies’ and gentlemen's retiring rooms, and two warehouses as lock-up shops. This was all erected for the sum of £2,600.[3] The boilers were by L.T. Wildgoose, the building contractor was W. Knowles and Sons, the sub-contractors were Soter and Derbyshire. The cable machinery, tramway and vehicles were supplied by Dick Kerr and Company. The engineer for the line was George Croydon Marks, 1st Baron Marks, the consulting engineer W.R. Colan, and the resident engineer was Edward C.R. Marks.
Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet was an English publisher and editor and a founding father of popular journalism. His company, George Newnes Ltd, continued publishing ground-breaking consumer magazines such as Nova long after his death.
James Turner was a British architect based in Matlock.
Dick, Kerr and Company was a locomotive and tramcar manufacturer based in Kilmarnock, Scotland and Preston, England.
The line was inspected by Major General Charles Scrope Hutchinson of the Board of Trade on 1 March 1893 and services started on 28 March 1893.[4] It was the steepest tramway in the world on public roads, featuring a 1 in 5½ grade slope (18%).[5] The tramcars had no independent power but were pulled by a cable situated below and between the tracks.
Major General Charles Scrope Hutchinson (1826–1912) was Chief Inspecting Officer for Railways from 1892 to 1895.
The depot was situated on Rutland Street and contained a boiler and a stationary steam engine, which pulled the cable and lifted the trams 300 feet up Bank Road. Fares used to be Tuppence up, Penny Down. Bank Road was not wide enough for two tracks, so a single track was used, with a passing place where the trams met. The up and down cables had to run in the same tube between the rails. The trams averaged 5½ mph, and had the advantage of the down-tram balancing the up-tram, and saving power in the Depot steam engine. A spare tram was kept in the Depot.
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central heating, boiler-based power generation, cooking, and sanitation.
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force is transformed, by a connecting rod and flywheel, into rotational force for work. The term "steam engine" is generally applied only to reciprocating engines as just described, not to the steam turbine.
A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used.
In 1898 Sir George Newnes gave the tramway as a gift to Matlock District Council.[6]
Preserved tram stop in Hall Leys Park.
The tram shelter and clock tower in Crown Square were the gift of R. Wildgoose JP and opened on 12 December 1899.[7]
In the calendar year 1900, it was reported that the receipts were £1,139 12s 11d, and the expenses were £1,191 14s 0d, a loss of £52 1s 1d.[8]
In 1912 the service was suspended for 3 days because of a break in a strand in the cable. One of the tramcars had failed to take the points of the loop at the bottom of the line, and was derailed. The driver of the following tram pulled up at the Crown Hotel and alighted from his tram. The tram restarted on its own account and crashed into the derailed car. During the subsequent investigation it was discovered that a strand in the cable had snapped.[9]
In the 1920s the losses sustained by the tramway were reported as 1921 - £2,920 (equivalent to £127,200in 2018),[2] 1922 - £1,260 (equivalent to £67,600in 2018),[2] 1923 - £205 (equivalent to £11,500in 2018),[2] 1924 - £1,120 (equivalent to £62,700in 2018).[2][10] The council decided in 1927 to replace the tramway with motor bus operation, and tramway services ended on 30 September 1927. The Council agreed in February 1928 to put the tramway up for sale.[11]
The tram shelter from Crown Square has been preserved, and is now standing at the head of Hall Leys Park.
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Bank Road is a road in Matlock, Derbyshire which runs from Crown Square up Matlock Bank, a steep hill which gives the road its name, to Wellington Street. Although many consider the whole incline to be Bank Road, beyond Smedley Street, just over halfway up, the road is called Rutland Street.
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References
↑ History of Matlock - Matlock, Manor and Parish. Benjamin Bryan. 1903. London. Bemrose & Sons Ltd, p 238.
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