Created in 1981 along an 8.5 mile section of an abandoned railway track between Bakewell and Buxton, the Monsal Trail is one of the Peak District’s most popular routes, attracting walkers and cyclists of all ages, as well as wheelchair users and horse riders.

It would be another 30 years – in 2011 – before the six tunnels along the route were finally reopened, meaning visitors no longer had to make wide detours around them, and increasing its popularity even further.

From railway to trail

• 1862 – Work begins on the line through Monsal Dale, years late after the Duke of Rutland objected to it passing his home at Haddon Hall. He agreed only if the track ran through a tunnel as it passed the Hall – the full story is in A brief history.
• 1863 – The line reaches Buxton. Headstone Viaduct, striding across Monsal Dale, provokes John Ruskin’s famous complaint that “every fool in Buxton can be at Bakewell in half an hour”.
• 1867 – The Midland Railway opens its route on to Manchester, making the line part of a main line between London and Manchester, with stations such as Miller’s Dale and Bakewell busy with passengers and freight.
• 1968 – The line closes, and its stations and trackbed lie derelict for twelve years.
• 1981 – The Peak District National Park opens the trackbed as a trail for walkers and cyclists.
• 2011 – The tunnels are reopened, so the trail no longer has to detour around them. Headstone Tunnel, at 533 yards, is the longest.

Today there are proposals to bring trains back to the line – you can follow the latest in Reinstating the railway.

Find out more

• A brief history of the line – the full story, from the railway companies’ rivalries to the trail’s opening
• The disused stations – from Blackwell Mill to Bakewell
• Historical sites – mills, mines and ancient monuments near the trail
• Headstone Viaduct
• Getting there – parking, buses and trains
• Circular walks from the trail