Churnet Valley Railway

The Railway in the Valley

The Churnet Valley Railway is a volunteer-run organisation. The operating company, the Churnet Valley Railway (1992) plc, is supported by the North Staffordshire Railway Co (1978) Ltd., a Charitable Trust.

This is not an exhaustive history of the various bodies association with the Churnet Valley project, rather a brief explanation of some events leading to the organisation in place today.

Cheddleton Railway Centre was established in the mid-1970s by the (then) North Staffordshire Railway Society, as a railway museum displaying small artifacts of the original North Staffordshire Railway Company (the "Owd Knotty"), and a restoration base for, initially, ex- National Coal Board Hunslet "Austerity" loco No.8 (later "Josiah Wedgwood"), ex-LMS Fowler 4F loco 44422 and a small collection of goods vehicles and passenger coaches.

In 1978 the NSRS became a company limited by guarantee, the North Staffordshire Railway Co. (1978) Ltd., and Charitable Trust status was granted in 1983. (Some photographs of early days at Cheddleton are available in the Photo Galleries.)

Over the ensuing years the Cheddleton site expanded, with the acquisition of further land, until it encompassed the station area (with a bay platform added in 1983-84), a signal box recovered from Elton Crossing near Sandbach in Cheshire, a 300 yard demonstration line, a three road locomotive museum building/shed and associated sidings. The NSRC had however been established with the aim of running a railway and it must be said that the Steam Centre, although popular, was hardly an adequate substitute for the "real thing". Envious eyes were often cast over the fence at the adjacent British Rail mineral line, the sole remaining stub of the former NSR Churnet Valley main line.

The closure of the mineral line came in 1988, some 22 years after the closure of the remainder of the route, and immediately members of the NSRC began the long campaign to save the line. Plans were drawn up and contact established with various bodies including British Rail and the County Council. Eventually agreement was reached in principle for the sale of the line. A public share issue would be required to raise the necessary capital for the purchase of the line and associated land. Due to the legal niceties of company law, however, a charitable body such as NSRC may not enter a "risk taking" venture such as a public share issue - it was therefore necessary to promote a Public Limited Company for this purpose. This was incorporated on 30th October 1992 as Goldenlaunch plc, the name of the company being changed to the Churnet Valley Railway (1992) plc on 15th December, 1992. This was initially a non-trading "shadow" company which was a subsidiary of NSRC, until the first share issue was launched, and the trading activities of NSRC were taken over by the CVR.

The promotion of a public limited company was also necessary in order to make an application for a Light Railway Order, which incidentally was the last application made under the old legislation before the onset of the new Transport and Works Act. The plc also needed to be in place for applications for planning permission and numerous other legal necessities. The way ahead was now clear for the launch of the public share issue, and subsequent purchase of the railway and associated land between Leek Brook Junction and Oakamoor Sand Sidings.

The first passenger services outside the confines of Cheddleton yard began on August 24th 1996, this being a "push and pull" operation of a little over a mile between Cheddleton and Leek Brook Junction, the latter being the junction with the mothballed Railtrack line between Stoke on Trent and Caldon Quarry. Trains were initially operated by hired-in "Jinty" tank loco 47383, this and resident 4F 44422 being the mainstays of the service for the first season's operations. Although only a short run, this operation proved to be an ideal training ground for the railway's staff, and got everyone used to operating outside the goods yard.

Saturday 11th July 1998 saw the first southward extension of the railway, when the section between Cheddleton and Consall was reopened for passenger traffic. This brought the railway's operational length to approximately 3 1/4 miles. The next extension, to Kingsley and Froghall, opened to traffic on 11th August 2001, giving an operational length of approximately 5 1/2 miles. This work has been funded by the Company's third Share Issue.

The Churnet Valley Railway is an organisation operated almost entirely by volunteers. We always welcome new staff - you don't need to have any railway knowledge to come along and help. We need people to do all sorts of jobs - from gardening, painting, working in the souvenir shop, making tea/cakes/sandwiches, right through to being a driver, guard or signalman. Feel free to come along to Cheddleton Station any weekend, or contact us for further details of jobs available. Please note that you may need to undertake a medical examination and/or training courses to undertake certain jobs.

If you are unable to work on the railway but wish to help, you can still support us by purchasing shares in the railway (click for details of the Froghall Extension Project Share Issue) or by joining our support organisation, the North Staffordshire Railway Co. (1978) Ltd.

www.churnetvalleyrailway.co.uk