Millers Dale Goods Shed

The Millers Dale Goods Shed is a European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)-funded £320,000 project which has seen the full restoration of this once derelict heritage building at Millers Dale Station.

The funding has allowed for a full restoration of the building keeping many of its classic features; along with a completely new roof and a brand new interactive interpretive scheme taking visitors on a journey through the wider area’s industrial history, wildllife and right up to date with its role as home to the nearby Monsal Trail attracting over 300,00 visits each year.

Last in use as part of the working Midland Railway line during the late 1960s, the painstaking restoration of the Goods Shed has included:

• Extensive craftsmanship, re-building and repairs to the original walls, brickwork and stonemasonry on many parts of the building.
• A new roof built with state-of-the-art glue-lam timber beams but retaining the cathedral-like appearance in this large space – the roof is completely visible to visitors from within the shed itself.
• Modern solar panels to the new roof, supporting a wider sustainable approach to energy use at the Millers Dale site which also includes a biomass boiler.
• Replacement of the huge timber loading and access doors to the same style and operation of the original shed when it was in use.
• Lighting and other features that are reminiscent of the Shed’s heyday of operation during the early-mid 20th century.

All change - a walk through history to the modern day Millers Dale

The interpretive scheme can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages and abilities and includes:

• Huge visual storyboards telling not only the tales of the Goods Shed, but also a peek into the lives of those who passed through Millers Dale Station during the bustling 1950s and 1960s.
• A soundscape to the Goods Shed, which welcomes visitors as you enter through the crew door where locomotives and rolling stock wagons once rattled in to offload their wares.
• A guide to nature on the doorstep of Millers Dale, and an insight into the new lease of life the neighbouring disused line now has as the hugely popular Monsal Trail; for walkers, cyclists, horse riders, disability users and more.
• Maps and handy hints on great locations and places to visit close to Millers Dale and further afield in the Peak District National Park, with wifi-enabled links to more information online.
• A chance to have fun as a family, with a vintage dressing-up area and giant postcard so you can say ‘wish you were here!’.
• Hop, skip and jump along the specially marked rails on the floor where huge goods wagons would have rolled in to load onto all manner of road going vehicles driven by keen local tradesman.

When can I visit?

The Goods Shed can be explored whenever the Refreshment Rooms café is also open on the Millers Dale station platform. Please be aware the Goods Shed is a self-guided interpretive centre and there are no staff or rangers present.

There is full, level disabled access throughout the Goods Shed from the entrance door off the Millers Dale car park, and via the station platform down a small surfaced ramp.

More information: customer.service@peakdistrict.gov.uk