Bakewell was almost bypassed by the railway – the Duke of Rutland, owner of the surrounding land, was opposed to the belching iron horse. When he eventually relented and authorised a route out of sight of his baronial hall, the town’s imposing station had to be built high above the town. The Midland Railway pandered to the Duke by carving his coat of arms into the stonework. It boasted elegant canopies which were reputedly designed by the architect Joseph Paxton, director of the Midland Railway and responsible for many of the line’s buildings.