Description: Cromford station looking north towards Willersley Tunnel. The station was constructed as part of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock & Midlands Junction Railway, which despite its imposing title only managed to construct a branch line between Ambergate and Rowsley. This opened in 1849 but was later taken over by the Midland Railway and used as the basis for its main line linking Derby and Manchester. Cromford station was originally little more than a wooden halt, but seems to have grown organically in the middle years of the nineteenth century. The French-style station master's house in the right background came first (1855) and was followed by the pointed roof platform building in 1860. The latter provided the main facilities for passengers until the larger structure, just visible on the left, was added in 1874. The station was completed by the provision of the footbridge in 1885. This scene is largely unchanged today, apart from removal of the right-hand set of rails, the line having been reduced to a single track branch from Ambergate to Matlock.