A new Derwent Valley Line website has been launched to promote the summer return to rail travel on the route between Derby and Matlock. The new website address is www.derwentvalleyline.org.uk
The scenic Derwent Valley Line links Derby through the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site to Matlock and the Peak District National Park, serving towns and villages along the way, as well as numerous tourist attractions. Trains currently operate hourly Monday to Saturday between Derby and Matlock and slightly less frequently on Sundays.
The new website features over 100 Things To Do along the route, most of which are within a short walk of their nearest station. There are a wide variety of both indoor and outdoor visitor experiences to be enjoyed including Gulliver’s Kingdom and Heights of Abraham in Matlock Bath, Cromford Mills, Belper River Gardens and Derby’s Museum of Making.
All the Things To Do can be searched for by station or from a selection of tourism and leisure categories – Culture and Entertainment, Heritage and Museums, Nature and Parks, Shopping, Sport and Adventure and Themed Attractions.
The website includes over 50 walks suiting all ages and abilities including family activity walks, linear station to station walks, canal-side strolls, nature reserve walks and long-distance walks. The walks are categorised by difficulty and can also be selected by station.
Cllr Trevor Ainsworth, chair of the Derwent Valley Line Community Rail Partnership said “Our new website shows the amazing range of places that can be visited by train along the Derwent Valley Line. From the train, passengers can enjoy the wonderful scenery and stop off at any station for a walk or to visit a place of interest. The Derwent Valley Line is the perfect choice for a day out or evening walk this summer”.
There are many great ideas for the school summer holidays and full details of the scenic journey on the Derwent Valley Line are featured, including travel advice, ticket options and onward bus travel to even more places, including exploring the Peak District National Park.
Chris Wright, commercial director for East Midlands Railway, said: “We are proud to support this website and help showcase the beautiful area the Derwent Valley Line serves. The site does a great job highlighting the numerous visitor attractions along the line, from museums, historic mills and cavern tours to a cable car, nature reserve walks and theme park rides, the area has a lot to offer our customers.
The EMR service to Matlock has a journey time of just over 30 minutes from Derby, and is also easily reachable from other destinations across the East Midlands and beyond, making the Derwent Valley a perfect destination for a day trip this summer.”
There are details about all 13 stations on the route including passenger information, local events, onward travel, station history and station adoption activities, as well as interesting facts about each place.
Richard Morris, regional director East Midlands & Anglia, CrossCountry, said “We are delighted to support the launch of the new Derwent Valley Community Rail Partnership website. Our long distance services conveniently link with the scenic Derwent Valley line at Derby, which means many towns and cities across Great Britain are just one change of train away”.
Community rail activities are also featured including the work of the Community Rail Partnership, station volunteers and community projects.
The website has been created by the Derwent Valley Line Community Rail Partnership and funded by Community Rail Network, CrossCountry Trains and East Midlands Railway.
Paul Webster, support and development manager from Community Rail Network said “Community Rail Network are excited to see the new Derwent Valley CRP website launched today. We encourage visitors to travel by rail and to use the website for planning their visit to explore the many attractions in the area, to download the walks from stations, travel deeper into Derbyshire on connecting bus links or simply to enjoy the sights from the train window along this very scenic railway line. The splendid images on the website will inspire passengers and the wealth of information on each page will enrich a visit by rail to any of the towns and attractions nearby each station. We are very pleased to have been able to fund the development of the website through the DfT’s Community Rail Development Fund“.
