The Churnet Valley Railway is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway running through the Staffordshire Moorlands and the valley of the River Churnet in Staffordshire, England. It operates along part of the former Churnet Valley Line, which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway in 1849, and the Waterhouses branch line which opened in 1905. The section from Kingsley and Froghall to Leek closed to passengers in January 1965 and to freight from Oakamoor to Stoke-on-Trent in 1988; and the Waterhouses branch closed to passenger traffic in 1935, with the final freight running in 1988. The preservation society began in 1971 with a small demonstration line in the goods yard at Cheddleton, before beginning operations over the former Churnet Valley Line in 1996 following withdrawal of the final freight services in 1988.
The line is approximately long from Kingsley & Froghall to Ipstones. The line from Leek Brook Junction to Ipstones was opened by Moorland & City Railways (MCR) in 2010 after they took a lease out from Network Rail. This has subsequently been purchased by the Churnet Valley Railway. The main stations along the line are Kingsley and Froghall, Consall, Cheddleton, Leek Brook and Ipstones (which is only used as a run around loop).
An extension to the town of Leek which will act as the northern terminus of the CVR was completed in late 2024.
Preservation history
Early days of preservation: Cheddleton station (1964–1977)
The Cheshire and Staffordshire Railway Society (C&SRS) was formed in the 1970s by Ken Simpson and others to try to save some of the lines built by the old NSR, which first began to close in 1964. Their original target was the Biddulph Valley route which branched north from the Stoke-Leek line at Milton Junction, and headed north to Biddulph Wharf and Congleton, but Cheshire County Council showed only lukewarm interest. Leek station was also considered for a heritage line north of Rudyard Lake but was demolished in 1973.Leek Library, newspaper cuttings 1972–8, pp. 78, 119. The society then aimed to re-open the Oakamoor to Alton Towers section, using the former Oakamoor Tunnel for stock storage.
The council intended to demolish the station at Cheddleton in April 1974, but local businessman and parish councillor Norman Hancock parked his car on the level crossing in front of the bulldozers, preventing the demolition. This delay allowed the building to be Grade II listed on 14 May 1974 after a campaign by the C&SRS, Sir John Betjeman and the Victorian Society. In 1976 the former station building was let to the C&SRS to use as a museum.
The C&SRS became the North Staffordshire Railway Society (NSRS), Cheddleton station became Cheddleton Railway Centre, and the Churnet Valley Railway in effect began. The plans for the Oakamoor to Alton Towers track were put on hold, the old siding and goods yard at Cheddleton was purchased, and workshops were created with the first locomotives arriving in 1977. British Rail (BR) was at the time still using the adjacent railway to move industrial sand from the quarry at Oakamoor. This all resulted in the unusual sight of a Fowler tender being delivered to the NSRS at the rear of a sand train, arriving from Bescot, being uncoupled, and then left for the NSRS volunteers to crane over from the mainline into the NSRS yard before the sand train returned.
Developments to first running: track bed acquisition (1978–1996) In 1978 the NSRS became the "North Staffordshire Railway Co. (1978) Ltd", which gained charity status in 1983. The bay platform area at Cheddleton was acquired in 1984 and the former NSR signal box from Clifton was put into use at the site, allowing demonstration runs to operate around the former goods yard. A commemorative plaque at the restored station acknowledges Norman Hancock and his role in ensuring the survival of the Jacobean-style building.
British Rail ceased using the remains of the former Churnet Valley Line in 1988, and the NSRC sought to purchase the stretch from Oakamoor to Leek Brook Junction. In 1992, the charity NSRC incorporated a subsidiary company: Churnet Valley Railway (1992) plc. In 1996, the company was granted a light railway order to run between Leek Brook Junction to Oakamoor Sand Sidings. (This was the last such order before the implementation of a new legal framework in the Transport and Works Act 1992.) The company was also responsible for applications for planning permission and other legal necessities. The first public share issue was launched in 1995, to fund the purchase of the land and track, following an agreement with the British Railways Board. Share Issue 1 was well supported, particularly by the local community, and raised over £120,000. The purchase was completed on 4 July 1996. The trading activities of the NSRC were subsequently transferred to the CVR following this initial success.
The track was then made ready for passenger trains, and on 24 August 1996 LMS Fowler Class 3F 47383 departed Cheddleton for Leek Brook Junction, a distance of roughly .
New stations: Consall and Kingsley & Froghall (1998–2003)
Share issue 2 in 1998 aimed to raise £160,000 to upgrade the line south from Cheddleton to Consall for passenger services, which was successfully achieved on 11 July 1998.
Shortly after this, the next section south to Kingsley & Froghall station was rehabilitated to provide an alternative to Cheddleton for visitors' car parking, and thus allow the business to expand. The third share issue was launched in the summer of 2000 in order to raise £185,000, and on 14 October 2000 "top and tailed" diesel-hauled passenger specials ran. Floods in November 2000 damaged at least three sections along the extension, but by 11 August 2001 the section of line was restored sufficiently to allow CVR's passenger regular operations to extend over the line to Kingsley & Froghall, and on 19 July 2003 Kingsley & Froghall's re-constructed station building was opened by Pete Waterman.
Upgrades and extension (2008–2011)
This single platform at Kingsley & Froghall station was supplemented by the restoration of the second platform in 2008 using grant money. The wooden waiting shelter was re-built to the original 1849 design and incorporated the original brick foundations. A new foot crossing at the south of the platform (there never was a footbridge) replaced a previous foot crossing at the north end. The restoration project jointly won "The National Express East Coast Volunteers Award" at the National Railway Heritage Awards 2008.
In 2010, the of track from Leek Brook Junction to Cauldon Lowe was restored to passenger-carrying standards, allowing services to run by November. The signal box at Leek Brook Junction was restored externally, and the platform and surrounding area were cleared of vegetation. Planning permission for full restoration of the site was granted in November 2011. Extension to Leek (2018-2025)
Also see "Leek (Churnet Valley) railway station" about the future of the proposed station.
It has always been the CVR long-term aim to re-open the line back into the market town of Leek, and after the Froghall extension of 2001 the railway made it clear that the extension into Leek was the next priority in terms of physical expansion.
The CVR have taken on the Leek project themselves, and after much dialogue with the council received outline planning permission for their own proposal in May 2018. They then launched their own project publicly on 1 February 2020. The Railway received a £1.4 million grant from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and as of the 25 August 2023 have reinstated a rail triangle (only the second in preservation in the UK after Norton Fitzwarren on the West Somerset Railway).
A separate company was proposing redevelopments of the Barnfields estate in Leek, which is the mooted location for the new station. These plans were given Outline Planning Permission in December 2014, and include the construction of a new platform for the railway, new Marina connecting into the Leek branch of the Caldon Canal as well as a new restaurant and potentially a dedicated North Staffordshire Museum.
In late 2024, track laying was largely completed towards Leek, with the first passenger service to the site of the new Leek station planned to run in early 2025 On 31 December 2024, a train operated by Churnet Valley Railway travelled for the first time from Froghall to the new temporary terminus at Leek, carrying 400 invited guests.
Route of the CVR
Most CVR passenger trains run between Kingsley & Froghall station in Froghall village (Kingsley is a further away) and Ipstones loop via the intermediate stations at Consall, Cheddleton and Leek Brook , passing through the 531-yard (486 m) Cheddleton tunnel and passing over Leek Brook junction, this was a four-way junction serving railways from Stoke, Leek, Alton, and the quarries at Cauldon. The former platform for the old St Edwards Hospital tramway has been restored, and the station building has been reconstructed. Three of the lines through Leek Brook junction have been restored to passenger use, with trains passing through to Leek, Kingsley & Froghall, and Ipstones. Additionally a railway triangle has been restored at the junction allowing trains to be turned.
Stations Passengers may join the railway at three stations: Cheddleton, Consall and Kingsley and Froghall. Cheddleton is the site of the motive power depot, engine shed and the carriage and wagon restoration workshops. The original Victorian station building houses the North Staffordshire Railway museum archive and an original booking office and waiting room. Consall is a small rural station with Victorian buildings and waiting room. There is also a passing loop. There is a run-round loop of track and a water column. Kingsley and Froghall is the main operational headquarters of the railway and where most passengers start their journey, there is a refreshment room and other public facilities on site, as well as a run-round loop and water column.
The CVR's stations at Leek Brook and Leek are in passenger use, but there is no access to the platforms at these stations other than the railway, Leek station currently consists of a temporary platform to facilitate occasional public visits, while Leek Brook has limited public facilities for use on selected event days.
Regular passenger trains terminate at ipstones loop, just short of ipstones station (closed to passengers in 1935) and ipstones summit which at above sea level. was the high point of the entire North Staffordshire railway system. Leek Brook-Waterhouses section Bradnop Ipstones Winkhill Caldon Low Waterhouses Former Leek & Manifold signal box now a cycle hire Start of the Manifold Way footpath and cycle trail
Awards 2005: National Railway Heritage Awards, Ian Allan Publishing Award, awarded for Consall station and signalling and Kingsley & Froghall station 2008 National Railway Heritage Awards, National Express East Coast Volunteers Award, awarded for the reconstruction of the Up platform and waiting shelter at Kingsley and Froghall. The project was joint first with the Great Central Railway. 2013: Winner of "ACES Best Dinner Award 2012" 2015: Winner of "Best Use of Production Music in Radio Advertising" at Library Music Awards for Signal1 Radio "1940s Event" advert 2016: Winner of Daily Mirror Top 10 UK Steam Train Trips 2019: 9th in Telegraph Travel "Best One-Day Rail Journeys in the World"
Media coverage
In 1983, Simon Groom visited as part of the BBC programme Blue Peter to cover the movement of the former signalbox from Clifton to Cheddleton In July 1985, Cheddleton station was used as the fictional Fuddlewich in the BBC series Happy Families starring Jennifer Saunders In April 2001, Vince Henderson visited to record the annual wartime event for an episode of Discovery Real Time's Off the Rails