Monument record MDR14119 - Peak Avenue signal post, Riddings

A railway signal post appears here on the 1st edition 25" OS map of c. 1880. It is no longer extant on modern OS mapping. (1-2) A signal post situated some way up the cutting side on the east of the former Swanwick Colliery Railway [SMR 31800], which ran from the Midland Railway Company's line at Butterley to the former Swanwick Colliery [SMR 16216]. Until tree clearance works in December 2013, this signal post was largely obscured from view. Like the Cray's Hill post to the north [SMR 31810], it too has extra timber supports at the base. The tree clearance work has revealed what appears to be the end of an old signal fixed in a permanent position by three bolts at the top of the post. The reason for its location up the cutting side is that it was to be viewed by trains approaching from the south and needed to be seen over the top of the adjacent foot bridge [SMR 33415]. It is likely that it was a yellow distant signal permanently down to warn of the approach to either the Cray's Hill signal [SMR 31810] that protected the level crossing gates, or the passing sidings just slightly to the north of the post. Here the single track expanded to three parallel tracks for about 281 metres before joining back to a single track on the approach to Cray's Hill. (3)