Glossop used to have one of the biggest tourist attractions for miles around.

Dinting Railway Centre - less than half a mile from the town centre - attracted people looking for a day out with a difference.

Steam train fans from across the country with a passion for locomotives more than 50 years ago gathered at the site.

From 1968 until it finally closed in around 1990, the centre on Dinting Lane was the headquarters of Stockport Bahamas Locomotive Society.

Its engine shed, that was once the beating heart of the adjacent Dinting station, was home to huge, gleaming black steam locomotives.

Some were being brought back to life by Bahamas enthusiasts, others were in steam, regularly giving rides to visitors on a stretch of track.

There were regular visits from steam railway’s ‘big names’ - the word famous ‘Flying Scotsman’ was the main attraction at a three day ‘steam weekend’ that brought in thousands of people.

The ‘Scots Guardsman’, complete with a piper, was another working exhibit.

The old British Railway buildings were transformed into a visitor centre, cafe and a shop selling souvenirs.

It was a magical place that was popular with all ages.

Sadly, for whatever reason, the centre closed and most of the collection moved to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Today, 30 years on, the site is overgrown and unkempt, with the buildings showing more than a few signs of vandalism.

But for many of us those memories of the romantic age of steam linger on.

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