Monument record MDR5946 - Inclined plane (remains of), Tupton

SK 4025 6515 Tupton, Inclined Plane. Near the site of Clay Cross Station is the track bed of an inclined plane running north-east from the Midland Line to join the network of colliery lines connecting William Thorpe, Grassmoor, Alma and Lings Pits (now all derelict). The incline was built soon after the Midland Line was opened but was derelict by 1914. (1) The remains [as described in 1970] consist of a grass grown trackbed for a double track with a rusty steel running up the side with occasional pulleys. At the top it levels out and there is the site of what could either have been a winding engine or a balancing mechanism. Some way away (SK 420 665), on the site of Lings Colliery, is a stone sleeper block, wrongly attributed by Nixon to Joseph Butler's Ankerbold and Lings tramroad, which must be something to do with the old mineral line to the pit. The incline could have originally been laid with these blocks, although later wooden sleepers were used. (2)