SideTracked – Ambergate
Flanders and Swann Slow Train event No 20.
After a break, the Slow Train series continues with a geocaching meet-up between 2 and 4pm on Saturday 6th June, at the Hurt Arms in Ambergate.
This is the next in a series of SideTracked events based on the song Slow Train by Flanders and Swann. Written in 1963, the song laments the closure of many stations and railway lines under the Beeching cuts of that era.
"The sleepers sleep at Audlem and Ambergate,
No passenger waits on Chittening Platform or Cheslyn Hay..."
About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found at the SideTracked Website.
About Ambergate station
Ambergate station, c. 1910
Ambergate station is one of the few stations mentioned in Slow Train that is still open, but it is only a mere shadow of its former self. Situated on the junction of the Derby-Sheffield main line and the former Midland Main Line across the Peak District to Manchester, the station used to have platforms on all three sides of what was a triangular junction. Following the closure of the through-route to Manchester, the line into the Peak District became a lightly-used branchline to Matlock only, one side of the triangle junction was removed and the platforms on the Sheffield lines were also removed. Now the station exists as a single platform unmanned halt on the Matlock branch.
The event
The event will take place in the recently reopened Hurt Arms, opposite the station. There should be a table booked for us, and there will be food and drink available, but it is not necessary to purchase these to attend the event.
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