Hulme End
Hulme End is a picturesque hamlet nestling beside the River Manifold just over a mile from the Staffordshire border with Derbyshire.
Apart from a small cluster of character houses and cottages, Hulme End has a village shop, a Visitor Centre with pay and display car park, a campsite, and the Manifold Inn which is a 200-year old former coaching inn with attached holiday cottages that used to be called the Light Railway Hotel.
At the side of the river bridge is a quaint little toll house where a levy would have been paid for use of the bridge and the turnpike road in the 19th century. An earlier drover’s road is thought to have passed through Hulme End which led from Congleton to Winster. Cattle, sheep and geese would have been driven in large numbers over the Staffordshire and Derbyshire hills to fairs and markets following these ancient tracks. In later years the herders would have avoided the main turnpike roads to evade paying heavy tolls.
Hulme End was originally known as Hulme Lee until a railway line was constructed in 1904 when the little settlement became the northern terminus of the Leek and Manifold Light Railway. The 2’6” narrow-gauge line with pretty primrose painted carriages and maroon coloured tenders was designed to transport farm produce from the upland district west of Hartington as well as milk from a creamery at Ecton. It also provided a passenger service for nearby villages and tourists. The section of track followed the Manifold and Hamps valleys on its journey south from Hulme End to Waterhouses, where it met up with the standard-gauge branch line from Leek, of the North Staffordshire railway.
The scenery on the 8-mile route from Hulme End was spectacular and the stations or stops simplistic. Thors Cave Halt had a little low platform and wooden shelter. However, the line was a financial failure and closed in 1934 from a combination of reasons. Many of the villages between Hulme End and Waterhouses are situated high above the valley on the hilltops, therefore for local residents to use the railway meant a climb back up to their homes. Lorries became a favoured mode of transport to collect churns of milk from farms around the Manifold and the Ecton creamery closed in 1932. Visitors to the area began to arrive by either bus or their own transport, and so sadly the railway became redundant.
Ironically, one of the labourers working on the original construction of the line said “It’s a grand bit of line but they wunna mak a go on it, for it starts from nowhere and finishes up at same place”. The former railway line is now called the Manifold Way and is accessible to walkers, cyclists and horse riders, providing a fabulous trail from Hulme End to Waterhouses passing through the Manifold Valley with its spectacular scenery including wooded slopes, high tors, crags and caves.
Next to the Visitor Centre at Hulme End which is located in the former ticket office and waiting room is the refurbished engine house which is now occupied by Tea Junction, a tea-room which opened in August 2009. This also sells locally sourced crafts and products and has a function room for hire to groups for parties and educational visits.
From Hulme End you can clearly see Ecton Hill which rises to a height of 1212 feet. Now an area of beauty with SSSI’s sites of national importance, this was at one time a thriving industrial site with mines, mills and machinery. With evidence to suggest that copper was first mined here thousands of years ago following the discovery of a primitive antler pick, Ecton became famous for its vast reserves of copper ore making it one of the most profitable and productive copper mines in the world.
The fist established workings were in the mid 17th century but the introduction of black powder led to an increase in the mines activity. By 1764 the mineral rights belonged to the Duke of Devonshire and the 5th Duke is said to have built the Crescent at Buxton on its profits as well as to have furnished Chatsworth with many of its treasures. Between 1776 and 1817 nearly fifty four thousand tons of copper ore worth a staggering £677,112 were produced at Ecton with a profit of £244,734.
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