Proposal to reinstate historic cafe after 85 years and build new holiday lodges at motocross site in disused quarry on edge of Peak District

Planning permission is being sought for the comprehensive development at Butts Quarry, Ashover which comprises three holiday lodges to supplement the motocross business that operates 14 days a year and will be retained under the proposal, reinstatement of an historic cafe for use as a reception, heritage and information centre (with occasional kiosk/cafe) and barn conversion into two-bedroom accommodation for a manager.

The thinking behind the proposed lodges is to create a unique holiday destination close to the Peak District. The timber framed lodges, supported on timber legs set into concrete pad foundations, would have views of the River Amber and the main quarry faces. There would be a bedroom on the first floor with a sofa bed at ground floor level.

A cafe opened at the site in 1926 in an octagonal building which is shown in photos submitted as part of the application to North East Derbyshire District Council.

The cafe, named Where The Rainbow Ends, was a wooden structure with multi-coloured roof tiles and was adjacent to the picturesque terminus of the Ashover Light Railway. According to the Ashover Light Railway Society website, the cafe was the brainchild of General GM Jackson, who owned the railway and Clay Cross Company, and wanted to provide facilities for the many tourists who were using the seven-mile rail line to escape the noise and pollution of Clay Cross. Regular passenger services on the Ashover Light Railway stopped in 1936 and the cafe trade took a hit, with the business only opening at weekends in the summer until 1939 when it ceased operating. During the Second World War the former cafe building served as a school room for evacuees which was its last major use at Butts Quarry.

The Clay Cross Company dismantled the building in 1950 and rebuilt it at the end of its sports field adjacent to John Street in Clay Cross where it stayed for more than 50 years until the company became part of Biwater Industries and the land was sold for redevelopment.

In 2007 the building was dismantled again, this time by a band of volunteers and contractors who placed it into storage. Members of the Ashover Light Railway Society (ALRS) launched a Rainbow Appeal to move the building back to Ashover, estimating that the reinstatement would be in the region of £100,000. The society’s website states: “The cost of storage is currently draining the ALRS revenue so the sooner we can move forward with this project the less revenue will be expended.”

Proposals to rebuild the salvaged cafe are included in drawings which accompany the planning application for Butts Quarry which has been submitted by motorcross track owners Mr and Mrs Dring of 12a Hockley Lane, Wingerworth.

The design and access statement says: “The reinstatement of the original cafe building is an appropriate next step in the timeline of Butts Quarry. This proposal gives the opportunity to bring this building back to the site as well as providing the opportunity to introduce heritage information boards. It will also improve the existing toilet and welfare facilities on motocross days.

“Given its location on the edge of the Peak District and set within unique, attractive countryside the holiday accommodation is likely to prove very popular and would serve as a welcome source of revenue for the tourist/leisure businesses in Ashover and surrounding villages.

"The barn conversion is an excellent re-use of an existing, structurally sound, vernacular building and is clearly large enough to accommodate a modest dwelling.”

Butts Quarry is home to one of the oldest motocross tracks in the country and has hosted bike events since 1965. Barry and Jenny Dring own the bike track and were forced to reduce racing from once a fortnight to just 14 days a year after being served with a noise abatement notice by the district council in 2020. The Drings spent two years and around £25,000 appealing the abatement notice only to have to withdraw it after discovering that the appeal had been submitted a day late.