Geology of the Ashbourne & Buxton Branch of the London & North Western Railway:—Ashbourne to Crake Low

Abstract

The railway from Ashbourne to Buxton, when completed, will cover a distance of about 20 miles. It runs nearly due north, passing near the villages of Fenny Bentley, Thorpe, Tissington, Parwich, and Alsop-en-le-Dale, and will enable visitors from the north to reach conveniently some interesting parts of the limestone-district, besides rendering the beauties of Dovedale more accessible to the tourist. For the first 6 miles the railway runs on the Bunter Beds, Boulder Clay, and Yoredale rocks, and for the remaining 14 miles on the Mountain Limestone. The northern section, from Buxton to Parsley Hay, was completed several years ago, and I believe that no geological description of it was published. The southern section is now in progress of construction. The cuttings as far as Crake Low, about 6 miles from Ashbourne, are practically completed, but farther north there are several through which a passage has not yet been made. For this reason, I confine myself in the present paper to a description of the geology of the line from Ashbourne to Crake Low. Undoubtedly the most interesting portions are the three cuttings near Tissington, Highway Close Barn, and Crake Low. Sir A. Geikie, speaking of the latest traces of volcanic activity in Derbyshire points out that ‘though no contemporaneous tufts have yet been found among the Yoredalo rocks, coarse agglomerates do traverse the Yoredalo group at Kniveton.' A careful examination of these cuttings has enabled me to fill this gap in our geological knowledge. The railway-excavations bring to view