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 From its earliest days Rowsley station was firmly on the tourist trail. The Midland line from Ambergate opened in 1849. Even before it was extended in 1863 it brought as many as 60,000 visitors a year to Haddon Hall and Chatsworth. Almost every farm and large house in Rowsley offered refreshments or accommodation.
Over Easter 1899 The Matlocks made a tremendous start to the tourist season. Every establishment was full to overflowing. One proprietor declared: ‘Nothing short of a live Prince would have been able to lay hold of apartments for Eastertide.’
On Easter Monday a record number of special, relief, express and slow trains brought 25,000 trippers into Matlock and Matlock Bath.
The London & North Western Railway ferried 1,600 excursionists to Buxton, with a further 800 arriving by the Midland Railway.
August Bank Holiday weekend brought almost a mass invasion of the Peak. All the Matlock hydros were full. The larger ones even had clients ‘sleeping out’ at family-run establishments. Smedley’s Hydro had recently purchased a villa for use in such ‘times of pressure’.
Groups of Ashbourne townsfolk took rail excursions to Belle Vue, Blackpool and Buxton. The new Ashbourne/Buxton railway had opened on 4 August and crowds of people took the opportunity to take a trip to Dovedale.
The carriages were packed every day over the holiday. Cramped travellers agreed that the sooner London & North Western laid down a double line between Ashbourne and Parsley Hay, the better.
More Information
Excursion Trains
Matlock Bath Trippers
Whitsuntide in Matlock
More Pictures
Railways
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