Miles without Stiles: Rosedale Railway and Kilns

History

The Rosedale Railway was built to carry ironstone from the mines of Rosedale across the moors, and this walk follows its old trackbed, with information panels at Blakey Junction and at the Stone and Iron Kilns. The National Park Authority says the railway first opened in 1861 and carried over 10 million tonnes of stone from Rosedale before it closed in 1929; the Yorkshire Post gives its cost as £24,500, built by contractors for the North Eastern Railway Company. After closure the tracks were taken up and salvaged and the trackbed was left, and it has since become a popular recreational route. The walk is on a level stone and cinder surface and the Authority lists it as suitable for all-terrain wheelchairs and Trampers.

The Authority's Land of Iron pages say mining on the east side of the valley, where the Stone and Iron Kilns stand, began in 1860, that seams there were up to 14 feet thick at first but the quality soon fell, and that mining left Rosedale in 1926 after about 11 million tonnes had been taken. The Land of Iron project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund between 2016 and 2021, conserved the Iron Kilns at Rosedale East and added interpretation showing what the site looked like when working.