Railway Line Reopened

The return of the 'Knotty': the long lost North Staffordshire Railway is reborn at Cheddleton.

After an inauspicious start (the train over-runs the spot where the dignitaries at Stoke on Trent station are standing) things pick up for the first passenger train to travel the Churnet Valley line since the 1960s. Its destination is the village of Cheddleton, nestling in what is known locally as the lost valley. It seems a shame that the line was ever discontinued, particularly as it originally provided a way of reaching that popular tourist attraction: Alton Towers.

This train did not in fact lead to a reintroduction of passenger trains on the line, although the private North Staffordshire Railway does operate a preserved railway that runs from Cheddleton to Leek Brook along part of the line.