The Cromford & High Peak Railway (C&HPR) was completed in 1831, to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal at Cromford Wharf and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge, thus linking the East Midlands to the developing industries of the North West before the main line railways were built. Josias Jessop, the son of William Jessop, was asked to survey the route. He, his father and their former partner Benjamin Outram had gained wide experience in building tramways where conditions were unsuitable for canals. It was laid out with level sections connected by nine steep rope-worked inclines.
Much of the line has now been converted into a walking and cycling trail, whilst the workshops alongside the Cromford Canal at High Peak Junction, which can be visited, are the oldest surviving railway workshops on the world.