Plan to create a ‘European-style cable car’ to ferry shoppers up the falls

Businessman Ian Sanderson and butcher John Crawshaw both worked closely on the proposal, which would have been funded under the £24million Stocksbridge Town Deal.

Ian sits on the board of the Stocksbridge Towns Fund and co-chairs the town center sub-committee with John.

At the time, they said that it would be a very original solution to the problems of topography of the steep valley, carrying pedestrians and bicycles, in addition to being a tourist attraction.

The 27m long track would have run from the land adjacent to Liberty Steel to the High Street.

But plans fell through because it was too complex to secure the land needed to deliver the funicular on time.

A spokeswoman for the city’s fund board said: ‘Anyone familiar with Manchester Road in Stocksbridge will know that one of the main issues for shops and businesses is access to parking.

“Board members explored the idea of ​​using part of Liberty Steel’s land to create a new public parking area which would have direct access to shops and facilities on Manchester Road using an innovative elevator system due to the significant height difference between the two – something other towns with similar topographical issues have used to good effect.

“A number of options to create an accessible link were considered and an inclined lift was the most practical solution which would certainly have created a point of difference for the city.

“Unfortunately, this element of the wider city center plans has now been removed from the City Fund’s bid due to the complexities of securing the land needed to deliver the project on schedule.”

The spokeswoman added that an alternative parking system could still be considered in the future.

Ian came up with the idea after seeing inclined lifts in Europe, Wales and Scarborough to solve transport problems on steep terrain. It was enthusiastically supported by Welcome to Yorkshire.