[1] There were attempts in the early 1800s to improve the moors for agricultural use, but by the time Makin Durham, one of the chief protagonists, died in 1882, there was a shift towards extracting peat for commercial purposes.

This anomaly was noted by the Local Government Act 1888, which moved the county boundary so that the Crowle turbary land was included in Lincolnshire.

The farm was bought by Clifford Cowling in 1940, who initially used the 26-acre (11 ha) site for agriculture, but in 1947 set up the Scientific Peat Company with William Thomas.

Turves were conveyed to the mill on a trailer pulled by a Fordson Major tractor, although a short section of tramway was used on the moors between 1954 and 1957.

Fisons gave 2,340 acres (9.5 km2) of moorland to English Nature in 1994, in a climate where there was relentless pressure from environmentalists to recognise the ecological value of the moors.

[14] However, the scheme did not meet with the approval of Natural England, although they were supportive of the aims of the society, and donated the locomotive and bin harvesters to them.

Two visits were made to inspect them, the second on 16 February 2015, after which a price was agreed, although the locomotives, together with three slave units, remained at the premises of the dealer Ray King until a suitable location could be found to store them.

[16] The Poly-Peat site was now owned by North Lincolnshire Council, and became the base for the operation, while the Society was renamed Crowle Peatland Railway.

The Partnership obtained a grant of £1.84 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which benefitted a number of local projects, including the railway.

[17] The Schoma locomotives were moved from Norfolk to a Romney hut, also used as covered accommodation for a herd of goats, on 10 May 2016, and were subsequently joined by the Simplex.

[16] Meanwhile, the Simplex locomotive was moved to North Lindsey College, for engineering students to carry out the restoration work as part of their course.

[20] In June 2019, the railway received £107,000 from North Lincolnshire Council, to fund a visitor centre, education facilities, a shop, toilets and a cafe.

They were regauged to 2 ft 6 in (762 mm), and eight of them are in private collections,[23] while one Lister, works number 53977, built in 1964, was loaned to Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery in 2007.

[26] During restoration at North Lindsey College, the main bearing journals were found to be completely worn out, which was probably the reason for it being abandoned on the moors.

[33] In June 2020, the railway purchased a Lisbon tram, number 711, which had been imported to Britain and stored at Walton-on-the-Naze for some years for a project that did not materialise.

The powered vehicle is a type 17A trolley, works number 4091, which was built in 1961 for the Lochaber Railway at Fort William, Scotland.

It was rescued for preservation in 1978 and spent some time at Gloddfa Ganol in Blaenau Ffestiniog and at Statfold Barn Railway in Tamworth before being moved to Crowle.