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Railway Walks & Explorations - Aston On Trent TramwayA rough, illustrated, guide to the former Aston on Trent Tramway - and what it looks like today. By clicking the icon in the top left of the map window, you can select/deselect other options to view or click the icon top right to view full screen.
The Flickr photos for this map are also viewable HERE.
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The tramway route is shown in
orange
and my circular walk in
green
.
You can right-click and download my walk GPX file here for use in your GPS, Sat Nav or phone mapping. The route is easy walking throughout and a public footpath where I have shown. Unfortunately the end of the tramway in Aston ended in what is now private pasture and the wharf end is also now private access to a fishing pond. However, the wharf site is visible from the publically walkable canal towpath opposite. Access is from a public bridlepath down a lane a short distance west from the circular route shown.
I have found a number of websites with more information on the railway and its
history. The following are just samples.
For a historic map of the route, follow this link and then adjust the
transparency on the slider scale to view the present day appearance:
The best starting point is probably to park in the village centre - which is convenient for both pubs and shops. This website https://www.astonontrenthistory.org.uk/history.php?series=201803141521059694 has some history of the tramway and gypsum workings. I have struggled to find much information about this tramway - much less any photographs - but a little more can be gleaned from the last paragraph here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston-on-Trent#The_railway - which, although it is from an entry about neighbouring Weston On Trent, does refer to the Aston tramway. Otherwise, information is limited to that in 'Stone Blocks & Iron Rails', (Bertram Baxter, 1966, David & Charles, p176) which gives opening as 1813 but closure is unsure believed to have worked 'within living memory' in 1966. |