Woodhead, Derbyshire

Woodhead is a small and scattered settlement at the head of the Longdendale valley in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the trans-Pennine A628 road connecting Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, 6 miles (10 km) north of Glossop, 19 miles (31 km) east of Manchester and 18 miles (29 km) west of Barnsley. It is close to the River Etherow and the Trans Pennine Trail. Although part of Derbyshire since 1974, like nearby Tintwistle and Crowden the hamlet was in the historic county of Cheshire. Woodhead is the location of the western portals of the Woodhead Tunnels, three former railway tunnels on the electrified Woodhead Line between Manchester and Sheffield. There was formerly a railway station and signal box at Woodhead. The Woodhead railway line closed in 1981; the trackbed between Woodhead and Hadfield now forms the Longdendale Trail. The platforms are still intact, although the track has been removed. Among the remains in the graveyard of St James Church, a small 18th-century chapel, are the unmarked graves of navvies who died during the construction of the tunnels. Adjoining the church is Bleak House, a Grade-II-listed 19th-century dwelling. Two miles to the east, the Lady Cross marks the highest point of the former packhorse road from Longdendale to Rotherham. Only its base and the bottom of the shaft survive.

The hamlet gives its name to Woodhead Reservoir, the highest in the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs.

On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France, from York to Sheffield, passed through the hamlet.

1. References

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Woodhead railway station

Woodhead railway station served the hamlet of Woodhead, in Derbyshire, England; it was a stop on the now-disused Woodhead Line between Manchester and Sheffield.

Historic Site Landmark

Longdendale Chain

The Longdendale Chain is a sequence of six reservoirs on the River Etherow in the Longdendale Valley, in northern Derbyshire. They were constructed between 1848 and 1884 to a design by John Frederick Bateman to supply the growing population of Manchester and Salford with fresh water. The top three reservoirs (Woodhead, Torside and Rhodeswood) and Arnfield are for drinking water, and the lower reservoirs (Valehouse and Bottoms) are used as compensation reservoirs to maintain the downstream flow of the river. There was originally a seventh – Hollingworth Reservoir – which was abandoned in 1990, and has become part of the Swallows Wood nature reserve. Water flowed by gravity through the Mottram Tunnel to the Godley covered reservoir where it drops to the service reservoirs at Denton, Audenshaw, Gorton and Prestwich.

Landmark Maritime

Woodhead Reservoir

Woodhead reservoir is a man-made lake near the hamlet of Woodhead in Longdendale in north Derbyshire, England. It was constructed by John Frederick Bateman between 1847 and June 1877 as part of the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs to supply water from the River Etherow to the urban areas of Greater Manchester. It is at the top of the chain of reservoirs and was the first to be started, though, due to construction problems, it was the last to be completed.

Landmark Maritime

Crowden railway station

Crowden railway station served the hamlet of Crowden, in Derbyshire, England, between 1861 and 1957. It was a stop on the Woodhead Line between Manchester London Road and Sheffield Victoria.

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