Cliffe Park railway station was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) in 1905 on the Churnet Valley line to attract visitors to Rudyard Lake (actually a reservoir), which the NSR were trying to develop as a leisure and tourist attraction including a golf course. The station was originally named Rudyard Lake and was at the northern end of the lake. There were no settlements nearby and consequently the station had no goods facilities. There was one siding but this was used more for stabling excursion trains rather than freight vehicles.