Absolutely fantastic! 😊👊😎👍

@petermugridge27

Ай бұрын

Thank you.

Excellent film of what was an enjoyable journey through North Staffs.

Memories of childhood in North Staffordshire and my love of REAL rsilwzys.

Great footage. Leek gas works closed in 64 and it looks shut, no smoke. Great views of Bosley locks then North Rode junction, Macclesfield Moss peat works Macclesfield Central and Hibel Road stations, the view of the track in between the two with the DMU in the loop is rare I think and will be much loved in the town alright. Thanks for posting this, always been interested in the railways in the old North Staffs Railway area. My quest is to find pictures or footage of the line from Congleton Brunswick Warf through Biddulph to Stoke its even rarer than the Leek line, which apart from Alton Towers station is seldom seen from other viewpoints.

I wish the line was still there and hadn't been closed. A better way of going to the Theme park at Alton towers that didn't result in a massive amount of car traffic through the villages.

@paulwilson3083

2 жыл бұрын

To travel to Alton towers by train could still be a possibility if the mothballed Stoke to Leekbrook junction line was reinstated then reinstate through Oakamoor tunnel and into Alton towers station, surely the amount of congestion from road traffic would make councils more popular if they funded the project and a discounted entry price to the theme park if they traveled by train, it isn't a far fetched idea.

This is great! Thanks for sharing. I'm always trying to picture what this line used to look like with it being before my time. Its great that so much of it has been rebuilt or preserved.

Thank you for sharing ... I know the line well ... the castle on the hill is Alton Castle Boarding School (now used as an Adventure Centre for disadvantaged kids), where I went as a boy in the 50’s and early 60’s. Cotton College and Denstone were also boarding schools. Not quite Harry Potter - but magical all the same!

This is such an interesting video!!! I'm a volunteer at the Churnet Valley Railway and it's so interesting to see what the line was like back then!

@petermugridge27

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you; feel free to pass the link around at the railway. I did e-mail it to them at the time I uploaded it, but never had a reply.

@60836

5 жыл бұрын

@@petermugridge27 we've just found your e-mail! Hoping to share this footage online shortly across our various social media outlets :)

A marvellous and unique record of past times, thanks very much for sharing this.

Thanks for uploading this. We travelled from Liverpool on the train to visit Grandma in Alton. Steam Train as far as Leek or Uttoxeter. Then a red coach to Alton. An amazing trip around 1962. I'll ask an older relative which station was still open.

Really enjoyed this, especially from Leek via Rudyard Lake (where the steam railway still runs - just uploaded a video from 2009) - Rushton and Bosley into Macclesfield Central. I myself tend to agree on the 1957-59-60 timeframe.

Weir cottage at Crumpwood weir about 1.30 and the river ground on Crumpwood Farm - a lot more wooded then - after crossing river at 1.40. Thank-you, this is fantastic!

Wonderful footage. You ought to send it to B&R Video, he will add a soundtrack and use it on one of his excellent dvd's. As far as dating the film, as a gardener I notice (as your dad did) the oxeye daisies growing trackside. These, which are midsummer flowering, as well as the long grass on embankments, and the dark broad leaves of the trees, leads me to believe the filming was done in late July.

@petermugridge27

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you, so... July... we are now narrowed down to more or less one specific month. That's very helpful. :-)

Fascinating, I've not seen film of this line before.

wonderful time capsule thank you

One dating detail is that Spath Crossing has not yet got its automatic gates. They were the first in Britain and, if memory serves, they were fitted in 1961.

@kawasakikev8905

6 жыл бұрын

5th February 1961 the automatic barriers were installed , so this film is prior to that well spotted ..

Thank you to everyone for the comments so far. In terms of narrowing down the date, I think we need to look at 1959 or 1960. Someone on the UK rail forum points out that the type of diesel unit seen at the end of the clip was introduced in 1957 and the line closed to passengers in November 1960. The livery of some of the carriages suggests 1958. Now, it looks fairly summery in the film, so the latest possible date could be summer 1960. I am personally inclined towards 1960 as my late father in law's 13th birthday was in May that year and it occurs to me that as the 13th was a big birthday in those days, becoming a teenager, it would be more logical that this would have been when he was given a cine camera. Had he been using a borrowed camera, which is entirely possible for earlier dates, he probably would not have got away with shooting an entire reel in one go would he? Please keep the ideas coming - it would be really good if we could pin the date down more exactly.

Copper works in Oakamoor, cottages still there, signal box now a home. Walk the old trackbed now to Ramblers Retreat biggest lemon meringue in the area.

so sad nowdays to walk along where once there was a railway is not just a path with a couple disused stations

Thanks for sharing Peter.

Fantastic, how sad though that it has all been lost to so called progress.

Great to see this !

I'm pretty sure the sailing dinghies at 6:30 with the bright blue sails are 'Enterprise' class (I have an old one still) They were built from 1956 onwards.

The sailing dinghy at 6:11 has a sail number of 986 - I don't think it's a Mirror Dinghy, but if it was it would date it to 1964. Hopefully others may be knowledgeable!

@petermugridge27

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, but it's probably not that type of dinghy. In terms of narrowing down the date, I think we need to look at 1959 or 1960. Someone on the UK rail forum points out that the type of diesel unit seen at the end of the clip was introduced in 1957 and the line closed to passengers in November 1960. The livery of some of the carriages suggests 1958. Now, it looks fairly summery in the film, so the latest possible date could be summer 1960. I am personally inclined towards 1960 as my late father in law's 13th birthday was in May that year and it occurs to me that as the 13th was a big birthday in those days, becoming a teenager, it would be more logical that this would have been when he was given a cine camera. Had he been using a borrowed camera, which is entirely possible for earlier dates, he probably would not have got away with shooting an entire reel in one go would he?

@mikehebdentrains

2 жыл бұрын

@@petermugridge27 Agreed - it's possible someone with more knowledge of dinghies might recognise the sail markings (Mirrors had a different logo above the number) and be able to find a closer date, although having read the comments properly I can see that you've already narrowed it down considerably. I had use of a 'Standard 8' cine camera in around 1972 but never really captured anything useful with it! We spent a few days staying on Alton Station earlier in the month and it's fascinating to see what used to be on that part of the line. Best of luck.

Great video, I have subbed, further to the KZread adsense requirements discussion on railforums.

I have a DVD somewhere of footage from the footplate of a steam engine passing Rudyard lake. I don't know how I'd stand if I tried to upload it as I don't know if it's copyrighted or not

John, do you know the area well? It has changed a lot in the decades since. This has been shared to our Facebook page so we'll see what people come up with.

@petermugridge27

6 жыл бұрын

He did know the area well as he hailed from Stoke on Trent - but he will unfortunately be permanently unable to answer any questions... as he died in January 2016.

I'm sure most of the churnet valley railway is now single track

1:59 is at Alton (Towers) Station, on the Island platform, looking back towards the steps up to the road bridge. The building at road level is a wartime defensive position of some sort. The platform itself, steps and bridge still exist as do the platform and buildings on the other side - which you can stay in! Thanks for sharing!

Video not downloading for me.

@petermugridge27

2 жыл бұрын

That's odd - are the rest of mine working for you?

@alanclarke4646

2 жыл бұрын

@@petermugridge27 appears to be ok, now. Thanks anyway.

@petermugridge27

2 жыл бұрын

@@alanclarke4646 Good to hear; it must have just been one of those annoying internet glitches.