Notes: Hassop Station was situated on what became the Midland Railway’s (MR) main line between Ambergate and Manchester Central.

The station opened on the 1st of August 1862 as a temporary terminus of a MR line that had been authorised in May 1860 and completed from Rowsley to Hassop by that date. The line was completed through to Buxton by 1863 and it opened on the 1st June of that year. From that date Hassop became a through station.

Ever since the 1840s there had been a desire by the MR to reach the important industrial town of Manchester. Inter company rivalry, finance and landowner objections had all delayed things and it was only the possibility that rival companies might build a route between Derby and Manchester that finally moved the MR to get their Act of 1860. The line

Hassop Station was located in a fairly isolated area about one mile to the south of the village of Hassop. Situated on the east side of a road overbridge that carries the modern day B6001 across the line the station had two platforms. The main station building, a single storey stone built structure with an extensive range of facilities, stood on the southbound platform. It was linked to the Hassop Road by its own approach road which also gave access to the station's goods yard with three sidings running behind the up platform and a stone built goods shed to the south of the station on a loop. Access to the yard was controlled by a signal box on the up side of the line south of the station. There was a 5 ton crane in the yard. The station building had a canopy on the platform which protected passengers from the elements. A two storey station master's house stood adjacent to the northbound platform.

One of the main reasons that Hassop, in such an out of the way location, was provided with a wide range of facilities, including first class waiting rooms, was because the MR had thought that the Dukes of Devonshire would use it. As things turned out they did not, preferring Rowsley.

The station's goods facilities were extensive. Located on the north side of the line to the south of the station they included a large goods shed and numerous sidings. In an area as rural as this part of the Peak District the goods yard was guaranteed a healthy business in farm produce.

When the station opened it was served by trains that ran from Ambergate but on the 1st of June 1863 after the line had opened all the way to Buxton trains calling at Hassop traveled south to Derby; long distance trains nver called at Hassop. Passenger patronage at Hassop was as good as, and sometimes better than, that at Longstone from 1872 (when MR statistics are first

In 1923 Hassop became part of the London Midland Scottish Railway (LMS) and although that company found itself with two routes between Manchester and London, the other being the former LNWR route, Hassop remained as important as it had been in MR days for goods services. Passenger revenue though remained disappointing and the LMS closed it as a passenger station on the 17th of August 1942. When the station closed, just three trains in each direction called at Hassop (9.2am, 1.2pm, and 4.35pm in the Up direction; 8.30am, 11.32am, and 7.3pm on the Down line). This was not the sort of service to encourage people to travel, though it was wartime of course, and Great Longstone only had one extra train in each direction.  Shortly after closure the LMS partly demolished the platforms, effectively cutting them back away from the lines. This ended any hope of passenger trains ever calling again. The goods yard remained open for business.

In January 1948 Hassop became part of the nationalised British Railways (London Midland Region).  For the next fifteen years Hassop remained open for goods services. Indeed as a main line the former MR was even considered for electrification in the early 1960s. It therefore came as a surprise when all of the local stations between Matlock and Chinley were earmarked for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report. The Beeching report included the closure of all stations between Matlock (exclusive) and Buxton (inclusive)/Chinley (exclusive), other than Bakewell. Hassop of course was already closed.

Hassop station closed completely in 1964. In the same year the station master's house was sold into private ownership. Through goods services were withdrawn on 3rd October 1966, with the expresses being withdrawn on 1st July 1968 after which the line from Matlock to Peak Forest Junction closed completely. Track lifting began in 1969.

In 1982 the Peak District National Park established the Monsal Trail, a long distance path that uses many miles of the former MR route including the section that passes through Hassop station.

Hassop's station building and its cut back platforms have survived closure, and the building was used as the Country Bookshop and café. This closed at the beginning of January 2010. The new owner has refurbished the building, reopening in June 2010 with a café, smaller bookshop, and cycle hire establishment. Initial work concentrated on sandblasting the outside

Other web sites: Peak Rail now providing a regular steam service between Matlock and Rowsley. David Hey's Collection - Transition from BR steam. Includes railway photographer ER Morten's photographic tour from Buxton - Derby. Hassop Station web site.

Eight and a half miles of the Matlock - Buxton line now forms the Monsal Trail starting at Coombs Road Viaduct, one mile southeast of Bakewell and finishing at the head of Chee Dale, about three miles east of Buxton. There is a diversion round the tunnels.

Further reading: Railway from Buxton to Bakewell, Matlock and Ambergate (Scenes from the Past) by JM Bentley, 1992. Railways around Buxton by JM Bentley, 1987. Hassop: A Chronology of Railway History by Laurence Knighton, (Midland Railway Society), 2004 ISBN 0-9537486-5-0.  (Available from Midland Railway Society)

Additional notes and photo captions by Glynn Waite/Rowsley Association. Click here for a more detailed history of the complete closure process of the Derby - Buxton/Manchester line.

Additional source Glynn Waite. Tickets from Glynn Waite & Michael Stewart, route map drawn by Alan Young. Click here for a list of Hassop Station Masters.

To see other stations between Manchester Central & Matlock click on the station name:Manchester Central, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Withington & West Didsbury, Didsbury, Heaton Mersey, Cheadle Heath, Hazel Grove (Midland), Buxworth, Chinley (2nd site) STILLOPEN, Chinley (1st site), Chapel-en-le-Frith Central,
Peak Forest, Cheedale Halt, Buxton (Midland), Blackwell Mill Halt, Millers Dale, Monsal Dale, Great Longstone, Bakewell, Rowsley (Second site),
Rowsley (First site), Rowsley South PEAK RAIL, Darley Dale,
Matlock Riverside PEAK RAIL & Matlock STILL OPEN.
See also Stockport Tiviot Dale & Stockport Portwood