Description:The Railway first arrived in Leek with the opening of the Churnet Valley Line from Macclesfield to Uttoxeter in 1849. Initially, there were stations at Rushton Spencer, Rudyard and Leek. In 1867 the Railway came to Longsdon with the opening of a line from Stoke-upon-Trent to the Churnet Valley at Leebrook. Stations were soon opened at Wall Grange and at Endon, and a residential area for commuters to the Potteries was developed nearby.
The Sutherland Papers contain a variety of archival material relating to the development of the Churnet Valley Line in Leek from 1846 onwards. In addition to correspondence and plans, the collection includes a wealth of information about the Churnet Valley Railway and the Leveson-Gower family's estate at Wall Grange.
Contextual information from ‘A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 7 Leek and the Moorlands’ accessed at:
[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22910]