In 1872 he married his cousin, Margaret Effie, daughter of the Reverend George Sumner, Rector of
Alresford in
Hampshire, and set up home at Duffield Bank, near
Duffield, Derbyshire near
Derby, the headquarters of the
Midland Railway. Since many of the directors lived in Duffield, he soon developed an interest in
Derby Works. He became aware of experiments by the
Royal Engineers in building railways in warfare. These first experiments had been distinctly unsuccessful, as had previous attempts dating back several decades to build "portable railways" for agricultural use. Thus, at what was known as the
Duffield Bank Railway, Heywood developed what he called the "
minimum-gauge railway". He settled on as the optimum, his previous line having proved to be too small to carry people in a stable manner. Built on a steep hillside, the line was an ideal testing ground and, to gain the adhesion for steep gradients and the ability to negotiate small radius curves, he built six-coupled locomotives with what he called his "radiating axle." Though the line remained in use for many years and was visited by many potential buyers, the only interest came from the
Duke of Westminster for whom he built the
Eaton Hall Railway. Sir Arthur also had a keen interest in
campanology (bell ringing) and in 1891 he founded the
Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. He often joined the ringers at
Duffield St. Alkmunds church where he was a churchwarden and sidesman. In 1887 he augmented St. Alkmunds'
ring of bells from eight to ten. He was a board member of the
Derbyshire Royal Infirmary and the president of the Infirmary in 1895. He was the chair of the Derbyshire police Standing Joint Committee for a number of years,
High Sheriff of Derbyshire for 1899, a
Justice of the Peace for Derbyshire and later for Staffordshire by virtue of his seat at Dove Leys. Sir Arthur's father died in 1897 and he inherited Dove Leys, where he began to build another railway between the road, where there was a coal store, and the house. His intention was to extend to
Norbury railway goods yard, but Colonel Clowes who owned the land in between refused to give him wayleave. Sir Arthur then extended the line southwards to nearby Dove Cliff farm, which was part of his estate, and thence to
Rocester station. However he was again unable to obtain wayleave from his other neighbour, Colonel Dawson. When
World War I began in 1914, all three of his sons went on active service, as did many of his staff. Sir Arthur carried on, particularly with work on the Eaton Hall Railway. One of his last acts was to present the
Volunteer Training Corps with 50 rifles. He was unwell in the early part of 1916 and took a turn for the worse on 19 April during a visit to Duffield Bank where he died that afternoon, aged 66. Sir Arthur Heywood was buried at Denstone on 22 April 1916. == Heywood radiating axle locomotives ==