Images of animals are common in fables and fairy stories. They’re not so common in the New Testament. Sheep and Shepherd’s appear now and then, but in today’s Gospel we have two in the space of a few short verses. Two very contrasting images – Herod the fox and Jesus, the mother hen.
Fox and hen are ancient foes, as many a tale tells us.
They often start like this…. “Once upon a time there was a little Red Hen, who lived on a farm all by herself. An old Fox, crafty and sly, had a den in the rocks, on a hill near her house. …” – You may have told tha kind of story to your own children – certainly many parents have.
Are you familiar with the story? If not, there is a version of it at the end of this article…
Fox and hen – cunning evil fox, gentle little clever hen. That’s the pattern. It must ever have been so! For Luke cleverly juxtaposes the two images. Herod, the fox, the creature who eats chicken for supper. Jesus, the mother hen, who desperately loves her silly chicks and does everything she can to protect them.
First the fox: this Herod is not the same Herod who massacred the innocents. This Herod is his son. This Herod only makes a few short appearances in Luke’s gospel, yet he has a pivotal place in it. Luke’s purpose in writing his Gospel is to answer just one question. And it is Herod the fox who asks the question in Luke Chapter 9 – “Who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And, says Luke, … Herod tried to see Jesus.
Luke the evangelist reminds us of the aim and purpose of evangelism -to invite just that question and to encourage that quest.
And Herod is still wondering who Jesus is when towards the end of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is brought before him at his trial.
We used to give our ancient Kings interesting and descriptive names Edward the Confessor, Ethelred the Unready. This Herod could be given a similar name. Herod the ambivalent, or Herod the undecided. For although he wanted to know more about Jesus he was never ready to act one way or the other. And in Luke 23, he sends Jesus back to Pilate for a final life or death decision.
Luke compares Herod, the cunning fox who stayed in power by careful political manoeuvring, with Jesus. Herod used Jerusalem as his power base, Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Jesus says that he longs for Jerusalem as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings in times of trouble.
This is not an image that we focus on so often…. Christ as lamb of God, or as the lion of Judah, resonate with our faith. Jesus the mother hen seems faintly ridiculous – why is that?
We know that God is neither masculine nor feminine – but God cannot be called “it” for the Bible reminds us time and again that God has a personality. Most often male imagery is used to speak about God, but by no means every time. … In our short Gospel reading, God is compared to a mother hen and the feminine image is important. God broods over Jerusalem with a depth of self-sacrificial love. He longs for their safety and eternal security and will do anything to give life to his children.
Perhaps this image of God, of Jesus, as the mother hen seems ridiculous because hens are seemingly brainless, clucking birds They are angular funny birds. It does seem … just ridiculous to compare God to a hen! But perhaps that is the point after all. For the hen destined for the pot is no more or no less helpless than the lamb led to slaughter.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that the “man of sorrows” had no form or comeliness that we should admire him. Isaiah suggested that if we had seen him suffering we would have hid our faces in embarrassment – “we hid as it were our faces from him.”
Yes, hens are silly little things. But there is a story told of a fast moving grass fire and of a hen caught out in the open with her chicks. As the flames approached the hen could see that she and her brood would never out run the danger and so she gathered her chicks under her wings and settles down as tight to the ground as she can. The flames rapidly passed over the place where she sat and moved on across the grassland. As the ground cooled around her roasted body there was movement under her wings and the young chicks pushed their way out into the open and began to forage for scraps in the scarred landscape.
Luke compares Jesus, the mother hen who would die to protect her chicks, with the political authority of the day, Herod, the Fox, who held onto power by ruthless cunning.
We worship a God who describes himself to us in the person of Jesus, who broods over us, longing for good for us, longing for our security and peace. In our prayers, and as we say the creed together we express our confident trust in that ‘mother-hen’ kind of love that God has for us.
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The Fox and the Little Red Hen
Once upon a time there was a little Red Hen, who lived on a farm all by herself. An old Fox, crafty and sly, had a den in the rocks, on a hill near her house. Many and many a night this old Fox used to lie awake and think to himself how good that little Red Hen would taste if he could once get her in his big kettle and boil her for dinner. But he couldn’t catch the little Red Hen, because she was too wise for him. Every time she went out to market she locked the door of the house behind her, and as soon as she came in again she locked the door behind her and put the key in her apron pocket, where she kept her scissors and a sugar cookie.
Once upon a time there was a little Red Hen, who lived on a farm all by herself. An old Fox, crafty and sly, had a den in the rocks, on a hill near her house. Many and many a night this old Fox used to lie awake and think to himself how good that little Red Hen would taste if he could once get her in his big kettle and boil her for dinner. But he couldn’t catch the little Red Hen, because she was too wise for him. Every time she went out to market she locked the door of the house behind her, and as soon as she came in again she locked the door behind her and put the key in her apron pocket, where she kept her scissors and a sugar cookie.
At last the old Fox thought up a way to catch the little Red Hen. Early in the morning he said to his old mother, “Have the kettle boiling when I come home tonight, for I’ll be bringing the little Red Hen for supper.” Then he took a big bag and slung it over his shoulder, and walked till he came to the little Red Hen’s house. The little Red Hen was just coming out of her door to pick up a few sticks for kindling wood. So the old Fox hid behind the wood-pile, and as soon as she bent down to get a stick, into the house he slipped, and scurried behind the door. In a minute the little Red Hen came quickly in, and shut the door and locked it. “I’m glad I’m safely in,” she said.
Just as she said it, she turned round, and there stood the ugly old Fox, with his big bag over his shoulder. Whiff! how scared the little Red Hen was! She dropped her apronful of sticks, and flew up to the big beam across the ceiling. There she perched, and she said to the old Fox, down below, “You may as well go home, for you can’t get me.”
“Can’t I, though!” said the Fox. And what do you think he did? He stood on the floor underneath the little Red Hen and twirled round in a circle after his own tail. And as he spun, and spun, and spun, faster, and faster, and faster, the poor little Red Hen got so dizzy watching him that she couldn’t hold on to the perch. She dropped off, and the old Fox picked her up and put her in his bag, slung the bag over his shoulder, and started for home, where the kettle was boiling.
He had a very long way to go, up hill, and the little Red Hen was still so dizzy that she didn’t know where she was. But when the dizziness began to go off, she whisked her little scissors out of her apron pocket, and snip! she cut a little hole in the bag; then she poked her head out and saw where she was, and as soon as they came to a good spot she cut the hole bigger and jumped out herself. There was a great big stone lying there, and the little Red Hen picked it up and put it in the bag as quick as a wink.
Then she ran as fast as she could till she came to her own little farm-house, and she went in and locked the door with the big key. The old Fox went on carrying the stone and never knew the difference. My, but it bumped him well! He was pretty tired when he got home. But he was so pleased to think of the supper he was going to have that he did not mind that at all. As soon as his mother opened the door he said, “Is the kettle boiling?”
“Yes,” said his mother; “have you got the little Red Hen?”
“I have,” said the old Fox. “When I open the bag you hold the cover off the kettle and I’ll shake the bag so that the Hen will fall in, and then you pop the cover on, before she can jump out.”
“All right,” said his mean old mother; and she stood close by the boiling kettle, ready to put the cover on.
The Fox lifted the big, heavy bag up till it was over the open kettle, and gave it a shake. Splash! thump! splash! In went the stone and out came the boiling water, all over the old Fox and the old Fox’s mother! And they were scalded to death. But the little Red Hen lived happily ever after, in her own little farmhouse.
In the first article [4] in this short series, we finished the first part of our journey from Oswestry along the Llanfyllin Branch just after passing through Carreghofa Halt with its adjacent combined canal aqueduct and road bridge. Just beyond the bridge we noted the Nantmawr Branch heading away to the North while trains for Llanfyllin ran round a short chord to meet what was the original alignment of the Llanfyllin Branch.
This photograph was taken from the road/canal bridge to the Northwest of Carreghofa Halt. Trains for Llanfyllin took the chord to the left. The Nantmawr Branch heads away to the North. [4]This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1900, published in 1902, shows the relationship of the old and new routes taken by branch trains for and from Llanfyllin. The earlier alignment is shown as dismantled and runs to the North of the later alignment. The chord linking the two is on the left of this extract with the line to Llanfyllin leaving the left side of the extract. [5]This satellite image picks out the routes of the lines discussed as they appear in the 21st century. Just to the North of Llanymynech, the original line of the Llanfyllin Branch can be made out. A line of trees gives way travelling westwards to field boundaries that follow the route of the old line. To the South of Llanymynech, the more recent alignment is highlighted by field boundaries becoming tree lined as it approaches the location of Carreghofa Halt and then passes under the modern B4398 and the line of the canal. Immediately to the North of the Canal/Road Bridge the chord connecting the newer line to the older alignment of the Llanfyllin Branch is still described by a line of trees and then by field boundaries. [Google Earth, 28th February 2025]
After leaving the 26-chain chord trains headed due West for Llansantffraid across “a tract of pleasant agricultural countryside.” [3: p635] Within a short distance the Grove Viaduct was reached. It was a 90-yard long viaduct which sat about 7.7 miles from Oswestry.
This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1900, published in 1903, shows the Llanfyllin Branch heading West over Grove Viaduct which is close to the centre of the image. The Afon Vyrnwy can be seen on the left side of the extract. [6]This satellite image covers approximately the same length of the Llanfyllin Branch as does the 6″ OS map extract above. [Google Earth, March 2025]
A minor road bridged the line to the East of Grove Viaduct. The railway cutting has been infilled but the bridge parapets and the deck under the road remain.
Looking North along the minor road in April 2024. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking East along the old railway from the bridge towards Llanymynech. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking West along the line of the old railway towards Grove Viaduct and Llansantffraid. [Google Streetview, April 2024]This is how the Grove Viaduct is shown on the 6″ OS map published in 1885 and surveyed during the years before that date. [9]The location of the Grove Viaduct over the Afon Tanat as it appears on modern satellite imagery. [Google Earth, March 2025]The line continues towards Llansantffraid. [6]A similar length of the line as it appears in Google Maps in March 2025. [Google Maps, March 2025]An aerial image looking Southeast showing Bryn Vyrnwy Holiday Park in the 21st Century. The access road running diagonally across the image follows the line of the old railway. [13]Looking West across Bryn Vyrnwy Holiday Park – the line of the old railway is paved, running between the two hedges. [13]Looking Southwest towards the hills the two hedge lines define the extent of the old railway land. [13]Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain Railway Station was the only passing place on the Branch. It is a large village about 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Oswestry (9.2 miles along the line) and 8 miles (13 km) north of Welshpool. It is at the confluence of the River Vyrnwy and the River Cain. The station can be seen just below the centre of this map extract. [6]
Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain
Jenkins tells us that Llansantffraid Railway Station was “the principal intermediate station on the branch. Its facilities included a single platform for passenger traffic on the up side of the line with a crossing loop immediately to the west, and a gated level-crossing to the east. The well-equipped goods yard included accommodation for coal, minerals, livestock, vehicles, and general merchandise traffic.” [4: p635]
The village of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain as it appears in Powys Council’s local development plan. [12]A closer view of the railway on the OS map of 1885 where it crossed what is now the B4393 to the North of the river bridge. [6]The same location as it appears on the NLS ESRI satellite imagery in the 21st century. [14]Looking North from the river bridge towards the A495. The old railway crossed the road at the near side of the white walled property on the left of this image. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking East, the line of the old railway is marked by the driveway protected by the green gates. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking West, the old railway ran to the left of the buildings. [Google Streetview, April 2024]
Llansanffraid (Llansantffraid) means “Church of Saint Bride” in the Welsh language; ym-Mechain refers to its location in the medieval cantref of Mechain and distinguishes it from other places with the same or similar names. [7]
“The name is based on the story of St Bhrid, who is said to have floated across the Irish Sea on a sod of turf, or to have been carried to Scotland by two oystercatchers. The followers of St Bhrid possibly set up new settlements known by the Welsh as Llan Santes Ffraid, Church of (Lady) Saint Bhrid. In recent years the spelling of the village name, with or without a ‘t’, has been a contentious issue (as it has been at Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog).” [7]
Approaching the railway station, the old line crossed Lletty Lane on the level.
Looking East from Lletty Lane away from the site of the station. The level crossing location is off to the left of this image. [Google Streetview June 2021]
Jenkins continues: “Llansantffraid was the only crossing place between Llanymynech and Llanfyllin, although it was not [ideal] for passing two passenger trains because the loop was sited beyond the platform. It was nevertheless possible for one passenger train and one freight train to pass here, although the timetable in force in later GWR days ensured that this was not normally necessary. In the 1930s this only took place on Wednesdays when the 9.05 am (WO) passenger service from Llanfyllin to Oswestry passed the 9.12am (WO) light engine from Oswestry to Llanfyllin at 9.27 am.” [3: p635]
“The station building at Llansantffraid was a brick-built structure incorporating a two-storey residential portion for the stationmaster and his family. Although, like many Welsh stations, it was of comparatively plain appearance, the facade was enlivened by the provision of a bay window in the house portion, together with elaborate barge-boards and tall ‘ball & spear’ finials at the end of each gable. The stationmaster’s house was to the left (when viewed from the platform), while the booking office was to the right; the house was an L-plan structure with its gabled cross-wing facing the platform and a subsidiary wing that was parallel to the track.” [3: p636]
To the immediate West of the station building, a SPAR convenience store and a small industrial estate are built over the line of the old railway. A little further to the West, what is now the A495 turned South and bridged the line of the railway.
A closer view of the bridge at the West end of the village of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain as shown on the 1885 6″ OS Map. [15]The same location in the early 21st century, as it appears on the NLS ESRI satellite imagery. The road (A495) has been widened, the bridge carrying the highway is long-gone. [15]This more recent satellite image shows a small new estate being built over the line of the old railway to the West of the A495. The route of the railway on the East side of the road is better defined in this image and the road Maes Y Cledrau sits on the line of the railway on the West side of the road. [Google Maps, March 2025]Looking East from the A495 along the line of the old railway. It passed to the left of the house visible on the right of the image. [Google Streetview, July 2024]Looking West from the A495 along Maes Y Cledrau. The old railway ran on the left side of the trees on the right of the image. In the distance, the newly built houses sit over the line of the railway. Closer to the camera it centre-line approximated to the kerb line of the road. [Google Streetview, July 2024]
The B4393 ran parallel to the line to the North. The line climbed towards Llanfechain on a gradient of 1 in 75.
The old railway closely followed what became the B4393. The road ran on the North side of the railway. [16]The same area as it appears on Google Earth satellite imagery in the 21st century. [Google Maps, March 2025]Looking West along the B4393 the line of the old railway can be identified, delineated by the two hedge lines on the left of this photograph. [Google Streetview, April 2024]The road and railway continued West immediately adjacent to each other. [17]The same area on 21st century satellite imagery. [Google Maps, March 2025]Again the old railway formation continues West alongside the B4393. [Google Streetview, April 2024]On this next extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey a side road to the B4393 crosses the line of the railway. [18]The same area in the 21st century. [Google Maps, March 2025]Looking North across the bridge noted above. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking East along the old railway alignment from the road bridge. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking West along the old railway formation from the road bridge. [Google Streetview, April 2024]This next map extract shows Llanfechain Railway Station. [19]The same area in the 21st century. Note the way that the old railway turns away to the Southwest after passing through the station. [Google Maps, March 2025]The station at Llanfechain was a good walk from the centre of the village and not at the closest road crossing to the village. [21] The facilities at the station were limited, although the main station house was as substantial as that at Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain. The station site was framed by a road bridge. [21]
Llanfechain
Llanfechain was near to 11 miles from Oswestry. Jenkins tells us that “The layout at Llanfechain echoed that at neighbouring Llansantffraid in that there was just one platform on the up side. A small goods yard was able to deal with coal, livestock, and other forms of traffic. … The station building was of ‘Victorian house’ design incorporating residential quarters for the local stationmaster. The presence of a two-storey house portion made these stations appear much bigger than they actually were, the booking office and waiting-rooms being only one portion of the main structure.” [3: p636]
Leaving Llanfechain Railway Station “heading south-westwards, the single line climbed steadily through pastoral countryside towards the penultimate stopping place at Bryngwyn” [3: p636] which was a little over 12.5 miles from Oswestry.
Looking West-southwest along the line of the old railway in 2024. [Google Streetview, April 2024]The line headed Southwest as it left Llanfechain. Note the footbridge in the top-right of this map extract, the road bridge just below and to the left of the centre of the image and the accommodation bridge in the bottom-left. [20]The same area in the 21st century. At the top-right of this image what was once a footbridge over the old railway has been converted into an access road. On both this image and the map extract above another minor road can be seen bridging the line of the old railway just below the centre of the image. The line was in a cutting at this point. [Google Maps, March 2025]The road bridge seen from the Northwest. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking Northeast along the line of the old railway towards Llanfechain Railway Station. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking Southwest along the line of the old railway. [Google Streetview, April 2024]In this next 6″ map extract the accommodation bridge noted before, appears top-right and a further bridge bottom-left. The line remained in cutting along this length. [25]This extract from Google’s satellite imagery covers a similar area to the map extract above..It also shows the bridge noted above which carried another local access road over the old railway. [Google Maps, March 2025]On this next extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1880s the line begins to turn towards the West, from a southwesterly heading. What becomes the B4393 crosses the line at Bryngwyn Flag Station (a halt at which passengers had to signal the train to stop to collect them). The road curving round the bottom-left corner of the extract was to become the A490. [26]Much the same length of the line appears on this 21st century satellite image. The A490 can be seen on the bottom-left of this image. [Google Maps, March 2025]A closer view of the location of Bryngwyn Halt. The old railway can be seen bridging the old road which had to dog-leg to pass under the line. [26]Looking Northeast along the line of the old railway from the B4393. The bridge at this location was removed and the road was realigned after the closure of the railway. The level difference between the two is still evident. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Turning through 180°, looking Southwest along the line of the old railway. The realignment of the road required the removal of the bridge abutment and a short length of embankment which once also supported the Bryngwyn Halt. [Google Streetview, April 2024]
Bryngwyn Halt
Bryngwyn did not open with the line. Jenkins tells us that “having been opened by the Cambrian Railways as an unstaffed halt in the mid-1860s. The single platform was sited on the down side of the line with access from a nearby road. Interestingly, Bryngwyn was an early example of a ‘request stop’, a semaphore stop-signal being worked by intending travellers. The platform was originally of timber trestle construction with a small open-fronted waiting shelter, although a concrete platform and corrugated-iron shelter were later provided.” [3: p636]
“From Bryngwyn the route continued westwards for the final two miles to Llanfyllin. With the A490 road running parallel to the left, the line passed beneath a minor road bridge and, slowing for the final approach to their terminus, branch trains passed an array of parallel sidings before finally coming to rest beside a single-platform station some 8 miles 41 chains from Llanymynech, and 14 miles 48 chains from the start of the through journey from Oswestry.” [3: p636-637]
Over this next stretch of the old railway, the line continues to curve round towards the Northwest. The road that became the A490 runs parallel to the line but to its South. An access track Plas-ywen crossed the line at an un-manned crossing. A little further West the line was bridged by a lane running North from the main road. [27]Much the same area on modern satellite imagery. [Google Maps, March 2025]Looking North along the lane which crossed the old line. The railway was in cutting at this location so there are no significant gradients on the approaches to the bridge. The brick parapets of the bridge remain in place. [Google Streetview, Summer 2022]Looking East, the line of the old railway is camouflaged by tree growth. [Google Streetview, Summer 2022]Looking West, it is possible to see the old formation with the hedge following the old railway boundary. [Google Streetview, Summer 2022]The road and railway continued in parallel across this next extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey. The River Cain runs just to the North. [28]The same area on modern satellite imagery. At the left of both these images a farm access track crosses the line of the old railway. [Google Maps, March 2025]The old line continued to curve towards the Northwest. [29]A very similar length of the old railway in the 21st century. The route of the railway can still be seen easily curving to the Northwest on the South side of the River Cain. [Google Maps, March 2025]The final length of the line which terminated to the Southeast of the centre of Llanfyllin. [30]The same area of Llanfyllin as it appears on satellite imagery in the 21st century. [Google Maps, March 2025]The centre of Llanfyllin in the 21st century. [Google Maps, March 2025]
Llanfyllin
Jenkins says that “Llanfyllin was a surprisingly spacious station, and although its track-plan was relatively simple, the goods yard and other facilities were laid out on a generous scale, the distance from the turnout at the eastern end of the run-round loop to the terminal buffer stops being around 34 chains, or slightly less than half a mile. The passenger platform was situated on the down side, and it had a length of around 385ft. The platform was flanked by two long parallel lines, one of which functioned as an engine release road while the other formed a lengthy goods reception line. These two lines were linked by intermediate cross-overs which allowed greater flexibility during shunting operations.” [3: p637]
The goods yard contained two goods sheds, one of these being situated on a loop siding that was laid on a parallel alignment to the passenger station. A long siding for “coal and other forms of wagon-load traffic extended along the rear edge of the goods yard; this siding branched into two shorter sidings at its western end, the second goods shed being served by one of these short spurs. The main goods sidings ended at loading docks at the western extremity of the station, while a further siding to the east of the platform on the down side served a cattle-loading dock. The latter siding was entered by means of headshunt from the engine shed siding, a reverse shunt being necessary before vehicles could be propelled into the cattle dock.” [3: p638]
Nearby the “engine shed was single-road structure with a length of about 50ft, … this normally accommodated just one locomotive. Water was supplied from a stilted metal tank beside the engine shed, this structure being fitted with flexible hoses through which the water could be delivered.” [3: p638]
The station throat at Llanfyllin Railway Station is framed by the road bridge carrying Derwlwyn Lane. This map extract comes from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1900, published in 1901. [33]
The image above is embedded from the Flickr site of Katerfelto, who comments: “Trains arriving at Llanfyllin passed a ground frame and then passed under a single-span iron bridge which carried Derwlwyn Lane over the line. From the south side could be seen the engine shed and water tower followed by some cattle pens and Llanfyllin signal box, before the single platform and its substantial station building announced the journey’s end.” [34]
Opposite the platform were the goods shed, a warehouse, several buildings and the run-round loop.
The terminal buffers were in a shallow cutting and short approach road led from the station building to the public road.
Jenkins continues: “Llanfyllin station building was similar to the other station buildings on the branch, being a typical ‘Victorian house’ design with a two-storey stationmaster’s house and attached single-storey booking-office wing. The window and door apertures were simple square-headed openings with large-paned window frames, but this otherwise plain brick building was enlivened by the provision of decorative barge-boards and elaborate pointed finials. The front of the booking office was slightly recessed to form a covered waiting area, and this feature contributed further visual interest to this former Oswestry & Newton Railway building.” [3: p638]
Llanfyllin had a population of around 2,000. Wikipedia tells us that “the community … population in 2021 was 1,586 and the town’s name means church or parish (Llan) of St Myllin (‘m’ frequently mutates to ‘f’ in Welsh).” [30]
I want to invite you to think back with me, first, to the years 2000 and 2005. Two significant events occurred in the life of two different sports people which hit the headlines.
25 years ago in April 2000, South Africans were stunned by allegations that Hansie Cronje, captain of the national cricket team, had taken bribes to fix matches. The very idea that this national hero and role model would contemplate doing something dishonest and corrupt seemed incomprehensible.
When some allegations were confirmed there was a real sense of national mourning. People asked: ‘If someone like Hansie Cronje can do this what hope is there for the rest of us?’ [1]
Cronje’s response on TV, when allegations were confirmed, was to blame the devil for making him accept bribes to fix results.
South Africans saw this as an attempt by Cronje to evade responsibility for his actions. And they were right.
To say, ‘The devil made me do it,’ is to attempt to avoid facing our own internal demons. We are responsible for our own actions … even if we feel that there might be mitigating circumstances.
Around 4 years later, in the winter of 2004/5, Ellen MacArthur came to prominence as one of our most outstanding sports-people. It surprised me, as I was thinking about this article, that it was as long ago as March 2005 that the TV programme about her was shown. Do you remember it? … It was the story of her amazing journey round the Antarctic as part of the Vendée Globe Race. [2]
It was filmed by her using just a few cameras on her yacht. I can still vividly remember my sense of disbelief at the stamina and commitment she showed, the difficulties that she faced and the obstacles that she overcame. You may well not remember the TV programme. … I was bowled over. I saw the speed of the yacht, the height of the waves. I saw her, in one sequence, hanging by one arm from the mast, 60 ft about the deck in the middle of a storm, trying to mend wind-measuring equipment. The camera showed just how much the yacht was rolling from side to side and at the top of the mast Ellen was alternatively far out over the swell on the port side of the yacht before being thrown across to the starboard side and again far out over the mountainous waves.
At one point in the programme, talking about her early life, Ellen said that she had a dream which she didn’t believe would ever become a reality. Yet, she said, with persistence she had realised that dream. For Ellen, the chance to pit herself against the ultimate sailing challenge was the dream.
Fulfilling the dream required wholehearted commitment to see it through, remaining true to herself and to the values she had embraced.
Martin Luther King Jr. is famous for his sermon on the 28th August 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. “I have a dream,” he said, “that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” [3]
Just under 5 years later on 4th April 1968 he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that became the focus of his whole life, and he was martyred for that dream.
Successful people the world-over will tell you that pursuing a dream, to be the best, requires commitment, application and stamina. They will tell you of the sheer slog of hard work involved, the guts and determination that it takes to be the best. And they will tell you too that the feeling which comes after success, like the joy of holding that gold medal, the status that they achieve – makes all the hard work worthwhile. Their dream, their mission achieved, they have every right to feel proud.
On the first Sunday in Lent, we remember that Jesus was tempted. In the Gospel stories, he is engaged in the sternest of tests of his commitment to his mission. The account in Mark is short. In Matthew and Luke we get a much fuller account of the battle he fought. Satan tries, and fails, to turn Jesus away from God’s plan. Satan offers Jesus the easy way out. Both Matthew and Luke talk of three different temptations.
Actually, it is effectively the same temptation in three different forms. … The temptation to set aside God’s plan for his life – to put the dream on hold. This was a temptation which Hansie Cronje could not handle, … it was a temptation that Ellen MacArthur faced and overcame.
Jesus is first tempted to put himself first – to change stones into bread. Then he is tempted to grasp power for himself rather than bring in God’s kingdom. And Satan also tempts Jesus to look for the easy route to draw people to himself, to seek fame rather than suffering and death. To look for the instant, short-term solution, rather than face real and necessary struggles ahead. All of these are temptations to destroy the dream, his mission. Temptations to turn aside from God’s plan.
In each case, it’s God’s plan that Jesus chooses to follow – a path of self-denial that will lead through the cross to eventual resurrection. God’s plan, God’s dream, is the defeat of the power of death and evil. Unlike Hansie Cronje, Jesus remains committed to the dream, no matter the cost. Much as Ellen MacArthur did, much at Martin Luther King Jr and many Christian martyrs did, Jesus remains focussed on the dream, on God’s dream, God’s plan.
So what is God’s dream? … What are we called to commit to wholeheartedly? … Perhaps the simplest expression of that dream is God’s desire to see the growth of the Kingdom of God on earth. Only you can answer the question about what part in God’s dream, God’s plan for the coming of God’s kingdom is for you. You might, though, have other people’s help in identifying your part in the plan in the coming of the Kingdom. But ultimately remaining true to God’s plan for you and refusing to be drawn away into other things, is what overcoming temptation is all about.
Here, though, are four clear challenges from Luke’s story of the temptations of Jesus. …………..
Priorities: Jesus was tempted to place physical need above spiritual, to live without trusting God, …… to turn stones into bread. ….… We so easily base our security in our jobs, our homes and families, and our money rather than in God. … We need to begin again to experience God’s provision for us, rather than just living off our own resources. … So, here’s a first challenge – to be prepared to make sacrifices in our lifestyle, to make serving God our priority. …. Perhaps as a sign of our commitment to God’s Kingdom this Lent, rather than giving up chocolate we could do something different? … Something positive? …
One option for families might be to use “Count Your Blessings,” a Lent initiative by Action for Children and Christian Aid [2] that encourages people to be grateful for what they have. Their websites have details. Or perhaps we could join with the Stewardship organisation in its 40 Acts of Kindness 2025, ‘Do Lent Generously’ [3] – a movement of thousands of people on a mission to impact their communities by creating moments of radical generosity.
Prayer and Worship: In being tempted to turn stones into bread, Jesus was tempted to turn away from his relationship with God and to become self-reliant. …. How can we together, begin to show our reliance on God? …. By praying and worshipping, together and alone, by expressing together, our need of God’s help. God can & does provide the resources we need to follow the dream. We need both to rely on God, & to be seen to do so. This is a challenge to spend more of ourselves in worship and prayer.
Persistence: In Satan’s encouragement to throw himself off the temple, Jesus was tempted to look for the instant, the short-term solution. To wow people into the kingdom, to impress with magic and illusion. … We can so easily fall into the trap of looking for the stop-gap solution, the one that will only require a little effort now, not a long-term commitment. The easy option. … God’s call is to persistence, to commitment, to seeing things through. This is exemplified in the bible’s word which we translate ‘faith’ – the Greek ‘pisteo’ and is derivatives is a word that means ‘faithfulness’ – it is a word about consistently being true to what we believe, no matter what happens. If we are not careful we read it as being something about screwing ourselves up to believe just a bit more. So we say to ourselves, ‘Strong faith now can move mountains’ when the perspective of the original Greek is that ‘ongoing faithful commitment will move mountains.’ Faithful persistent commitment to God’s call even when it is hard.
Place God’s kingdom above personal advancement: Satan tempted Jesus to worship him. To gain a position of power and influence. God wanted Jesus to walk the way of the cross. … It is so easy, isn’t it to want others to see our commitment, our diligence. To want others to praise us. To want to take the lead. Whereas God, in the example of Jesus, is calling us to a path of humility and possibly even suffering, and if we are to be leaders, then it will be a great cost to ourselves. …..
Ellen MacArthur had a dream – she gave it her wholehearted, persistent commitment, she risked everything to achieve it. Martin Luther King Jr. was faithful; to God’s call, working for racial justice in America. His commitment to God’s call led to his death. Jesus remained faithful in the midst of temptation. That faithful commitment, even unto death on a Cross, brought about salvation for us and for our world.
Hansie Cronje gave in to the temptations around him. The contrast could not be more sharp. …
We need a dream, God’s dream. We need to listen for his word, watch out for what God is doing and make that our dream. And if we really commit ourselves to that dream, we will grow closer to God, and the dream, through God’s power and strength, can become a reality.
How can we respond to the events which took place on Friday 28th February 2025 at the White House? How can we respond to the aggressive behaviour of Trump and Vance? It seems impossible to think of something we could do that will make any difference. Geopolitical events are so far beyond our control. It is so easy to feel depressed and powerless.
Perhaps we could donate to a charity working for the relief of suffering in Ukraine. Perhaps we could look for opportunities to support Ukrainians now living in our own areas. Perhaps there is something more we could do in our own relationships in response to what happened in the Oval Office.
First, let’s think about what happened in the White House on Friday 28th February 2025. …..
An intriguing analysis has been circulating online regarding the psychological aspects of Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump and Vance. It seems that we witnessed a masterclass in gaslighting, manipulation, and coercion on the part of Trump and his entourage. This analysis was shared on Facebook by Yuliia Vyshnevska a Ukrainian lawyer living in Oxford (UK). [1]
These are the key points made by Yuliia:
Blaming the victim for their own situation – Trump explicitly tells Zelensky: “You have allowed yourself to be in a very bad position.” This is classic abuser rhetoric—blaming the victim for their suffering. The implication is that Ukraine itself is responsible for being occupied by Russia and for the deaths of its people.
Pressure and coercion into ‘gratitude’ – Vance demands that Zelensky say “thank you.” This is an extremely toxic tactic—forcing the victim to express gratitude for the help they desperately need, only to later accuse them of ingratitude if they attempt to assert their rights.
Manipulating the concept of ‘peace’ – Trump claims that Zelensky is “not ready for peace.” However, what he actually means is Ukraine’s capitulation. This is a classic manipulation technique—substituting the idea of a just peace with the notion of surrender.
Refusing to acknowledge the reality of war – Trump repeatedly insists that Zelensky has “no cards to play” and that “without us, you have nothing.” This is yet another abusive tactic—undermining the victim’s efforts by asserting that they are powerless without the mercy of their ‘saviour.’
Devaluing the victims of war – “If you get a ceasefire, you must accept it so that bullets stop flying and your people stop dying,” Trump says. Yet, he ignores the fact that a ceasefire without guarantees is merely an opportunity for Russia to regroup and strike again.
Dominance tactics – Trump constantly interrupts Zelensky, cutting him off: “No, no, you’ve already said enough,” and “You’re not in a position to dictate to us.” This is deliberate psychological pressure designed to establish a hierarchy in which Zelensky is the subordinate.
Forcing capitulation under the guise of ‘diplomacy’ – Vance asserts that “the path to peace lies through diplomacy.” This is a classic strategy where the aggressor is given the opportunity to continue their aggression unchallenged.
Projection and distortion of reality – Trump declares: “You are playing with the lives of millions of people.” Yet, in reality, it is he who is doing exactly that—shifting responsibility onto Zelensky.
Creating the illusion that Ukraine ‘owes’ the US – Yes, the US is assisting Ukraine, but presenting this aid as “you must obey, or you will receive nothing” is not a partnership—it is financial and military coercion.
Undermining Ukraine’s resistance – Trump states that “if it weren’t for our weapons, this war would have ended in two weeks.” This is an attempt to erase Ukraine’s achievements and portray its efforts as entirely dependent on US support.
Yuliia’sConclusion …. Trump and his team employed the full spectrum of abusive tactics: gaslighting, victim-blaming, coercion into gratitude, and manipulation of the concepts of peace and diplomacy. This was not a negotiation—it was an attempt to force Zelensky into accepting terms beneficial to the US but potentially fatal for Ukraine.
Our Response?
While we cannot influence relationships in international politics, however, we can choose our own actions and behaviours. Bullying and abusive behaviour can be part of many relationships. This has been brought into high relief by the events in the Oval Office, but we might recognise some of these behaviours either in ourselves or in others that we know. If so, we should seek help to change/overcome those behaviours.
There are already people working in our local communities supporting those suffering abuse or who support those who are regaining their dignity after experiencing shaming or abuse. Others are working to help abusers address their own behaviour. All these are worthy of our support. Some are shown below.
Support for charities working in Ukraine, and for Ukrainians in our local community is a priority. In itself, it is a firm and particular response to what we saw happening in the Oval Office. Some of these charities appear toward the end of this article.
Charities Seeking to End Abuse – Working with Abusers (to change behaviour) and with Those Who Have Been Abused
These charities include:
NAPAC: The National Association for People Abused in Childhood supports adults who have experienced childhood abuse;
Refuge: Supporting those who have experienced abuse;
Karma Nirvana: A specialist charity for victims and survivors of honour-based abuse;
Survivors UK: runs the National Male Survivors Online Helpline – a webchat and SMS service for men, boys and non-binary people who have experienced sexual abuse at any time in their lives;
NSPCC: has been protecting children for over 140 years;
Children 1st: offers a range of services for children, young people and their families who have been affected by physical, sexual or emotional abuse in Scotland. There is a network of local support groups across the country;
The Lucy Faithful Foundation: offers a number of programmes to help people move towards real change and understand their own, or their friend or family member’s, illegal behaviour.
And local charities, such as LEAP which works with Children and Families in the Tameside area of Greater Manchester.
Charities Proving Support to Ukraine and Ukrainians
Among others, these charities and other organisations include:
British Ukrainian Aid: A grassroots charity that believes in the power of civil society and volunteers united by a single goal: to see Ukrainians overcome the hardships of the war and live in dignity and prosperity in independent Ukraine;
United Help Ukraine: Provides humanitarian aid, including clothing, medical supplies, and rehabilitation for wounded soldiers;
UNICEF: Funds non-governmental and volunteer organizations that help civilians, including children, young people, and vulnerable people;
CARE International: Provides emergency food and water to Ukrainian refugees;
Sunflower of Peace: A non-profit organization that supports the people of Ukraine affected by the Russian military invasion;
Barnardo’s: Provides a free helpline to support Ukrainian families arriving in the UK;
British Red Cross: Provides practical and psychosocial support to people displaced from Ukraine who have arrived in the UK;
UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees): Works in Ukraine and neighbouring refugee-hosting countries, providing access to clean water, health care services, cash transfers and other critical support;
UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF): CERF enables humanitarian responders to deliver life-saving assistance whenever and wherever crises strike.
World Food Programme: The world’s largest humanitarian agency – provide life-saving support to the most vulnerable families;
PLAST — Donate to the Ukrainian scouts association to help provide humanitarian, medical and rehabilitation support to scouts and their families during Russia’s invasion;
for PEACE — The forPEACE Ukraine Relief Project works with Ukrainians to deliver targeted medical and humanitarian aid, connecting international financial support with Ukrainian networks, medical professionals, and trusted community organisers on the ground;
Voices of Children Charitable Foundation — since 2015, has provided free psychological assistance to children and their families affected by the war. From the full-scale invasion, the foundation has supported more than 64,000 children and adults. All donations go to individual and group, and online psychological sessions, activities (camps, art therapy, excursions), rehabilitation, and humanitarian aid for children and parents.
Leleka — focusing on the urgent supply of critical medical supplies and protective gear to Ukraine’s defenders and civilians
Rescue Now — this Ukrainian charity evacuates people from war zones and supports the elderly in eastern Ukraine. The Rescue Now team is supporting people in the Kherson region affected by mass flooding following Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
What were the circumstances which brought about their existence?
History does not make it easy to take out one example from a steady continuum of change. …
David Wilson writes: “There have been track or plateways since Roman times. You might say that these could be brought within the term railway and therefore the Romans invented the railway.” [1: p61]
Except there were railways of a sort, at least as far back at 600 BCE, possibly going back even further, maybe as far back as 1000 BCE. The clearest example being the Diolkos Trackway. [2] This was a paved trackway near Corinth in Ancient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth.
David Wilson continues: “For most people, however, the railways began with the Stockton and Darlington (S&D), though I’m sure many people already appreciate that history is not always what it seems.” [1: p61]
David Wilson tells us that if one wished to take the view that the first ever railway was the first to have been authorised by Parliament, then the first railway was built in Leeds – The Middleton Railway. “The Middleton Railway was given Parliamentary Assent in 1758 and began using steam traction in 1812, two years before the advent of Mr Stephenson’s first locomotive, ‘Blucher’, and 13 years before the opening of the S&D.” [1: p61]
But there is more to consider. … The Lake Lock Rail Road opened in 1798 (arguably the world’s first public railway). It carried coal from the Outwood area to the Aire and Calder navigation canal at Lake Lock near Wakefield. [3][4] The Surrey Iron Railway was the first railway to be authorised by the UK Parliament (21st May 1801). It was a horse-drawn railway which ran between Wandsworth and Croydon. [5][6][7][8][9] It was followed by The Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad (authorised by Act pf Parliament on 3rd June 1802). It was a horse-drawn goods line, located in Southwest Wales, the first public railway first authorised by Act of Parliament in Wales.[3][10][11][12]
The Low Moor Furnace Waggonway was constructed in 1802. It connected Barnby Furnace Colliery to Barnby Basin on the Barnsley Canal. It was replaced in 1809 by The Silkstone Waggonway which operated until 1870. [19][20] The Merthyr Tramroad, between Merthyr Tydfil and Abercynon, also opened in 1802. [5][13][14][15][16][17][18] The Lancaster Canal Tramroad (also known as the Walton Summit Tramway or the Old Tram Road), was completed in 1803. It linked the north and south ends of the Lancaster Canal across the Ribble valley. [21][22]
The first steam locomotive to pull a commercial load on rails was Penydarren (or Pen-y-Darren) was built by Richard Trevithick. It was used to haul iron from Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon, Wales. The first train carried a load of 10 tons of iron. On one occasion it successfully hauled 25 tons. However, as the weight of the locomotive was about 5 tons the locomotive’s weight broke many of the cast iron plate rails. [5][13][14][15][16][17]
We could go on to mention:
The Croydon, Merstham & Godstone Goods Railway opened in 1805; [23]
The Sirhowy Tramroad opened in 1805; [24]
The Ruabon Brook Tramway (also known as Jessop’s Tramway or the Shropshire Union Tramway) also opened in 1805; [25][26][27][28]
The Middlebere Plateway (or Middlebere Tramway) opened on the Isle of Purbeck in 1806; [29][30][31][32]
The Monmouthshire Canal Tramway, open by 1806; [33][34]
The Oystermouth Railway, opened in 1806; [35][36] and
The Doctor’s Tramroad, Treforest which opened in 1809. [37][38][39]
The Monmouth Railway authorised by the UK Parliament in 1811. [5][72][73]
The Kilmarnock & Troon Railway which opened in 1812. [5][74][75][76][77]
The Killingworth Waggonway of which a first stretch opened in 1762 and which was extended in 1802, 1808 and 1820. [78][79][80][81][82][83]
The Haytor Granite Railway of 1820 which not only transported granite from Dartmoor as freight but ran on granite rails. [84]
We could list other railways opening before the S&D in 1825. The use of steam power at The Merthyr Tramroad and The Middleton Railway preceded its use on the S&D. A very strong claim to be the most significant development in the early 1800s could be made on behalf of The Middleton Railway. But it is the Stockton & Darlington (S&D) Railway which has caught the imagination and it is the 200th anniversary of the S&D which is being celebrated in 2025 as the beginning of the railway age.
Why is this?
It is clear that the claim to fame of the Stockton and Darlington (S&D) is lessened, at least, by the prior claim of the Middleton Railway both as first to be sanctioned by Parliament and first to make commercial use of steam power. The claims associated with other railways which preceded the S&D also must be significant. However, there is one important and fundamental difference between it and them. David Wilson says that, unlike the Middleton Railway, “the S&D was constructed with a view to carrying other companies’ goods and, to a lesser extent, to carry people.” [1: p61]
In addition, he says, “Bear in mind the distinction between the carriage of goods and people, and between carrying one’s own goods and those of others. In many ways this type of division is what distinguishes the modern concept of the railway as a system for the transport of goods and passengers on a hire and reward basis from the early plateways and railways such as the Middleton, which were not essentially built to carry anything other than goods, typically coal, for their owners.” [1: p61]
Perhaps, though, there are more grounds for the place taken in history by the S&D. Rather than just running between a pithead and a coal wharf on a canal, river or road and serving specific industrial concerns, the S&D also was built by public subscription and linked one town to another.
David Wilson continues: “To arrive at a description of what constitutes a railway we have to enlarge our definition to include not only Parliamentary Sanction, the use of rails or tracks, and the carriage of goods, but also the carriage of the public, the carriage of public goods and that one settlement be joined to another by the laying of a line paid for through the issue of shares. Thus … a railway is a set of tracks laid between two centres of habitation, which carries goods or people for commercial reward and has been authorised by Act of Parliament. It will have been built through the raising of public funds, either through the sale of shares in it or via government spending from the public purse.” [1: p61]
Let’s return to the era before the existence of the steam locomotive, the era of that list of lines highlighted above (and many more).
David Wilson comments: “The growth of the coal mining industry in the later part of the 17th and early 18th century had led to a growth in the plateway systems used to move the coal from the pit head to [a road], canal or river for shipment to the growing cities and the newly built mills. By as early as 1645 there were wagonways taking coal from the Durham coalfields down to the Tyne. By 1800 there were more than 100 miles of these plateways in the Tyneside area alone.” [1: p61]
Similar developments were taking place elsewhere in the UK:
The first overground railway line in England may have been a wooden-railed, horse-drawn tramroad which was built at Prescot, near Liverpool, around 1600 and possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to a terminus about half a mile away. [40]
The Wollaton Waggonway in Nottinghamshire was in use by 1604. [5]
In East Shropshire and around the Severn Gorge; [41][42] A railway was made at Broseley in Shropshire some time before 1605 to carry coal for James Clifford from his mines down to the River Severn to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. It is possible that Clifford’s ‘railway’ was in use as early as 1570 and a similar line may well have been constructed by William Brooke near Madeley, again down to the River Severn. [43: p21] By 1775, there were a number of both short and long tramroads in the area around the Severn Gorge.
The Tranent to Cockenzie Waggonway was built by the York Buildings Company of London, to transport coal from the Tranent pits to the salt pans at Cockenzie and the Harbour at Port Seton, in Haddingtonshire, now East Lothian. [5][44]
The Alloa Wagon Way was constructed in 1768 by the Erskines of Mar in Alloa, to carry coal from the Clackmannanshire coalfields of central Scotland to the Port of Alloa. [45]
The Halbeath Railway opened in 1783, from the colliery at Halbeath to the harbour at Inverkeithing. [46][47]
The Charnwood Forest Canal, sometimes known as the ‘Forest Line of the Leicester Navigation’ was, under the guidance of William Jessop, using railways to supplement the canal between Nanpantan and Loughborough wharf, Leicestershire by 1789. [5][48]
The Butterley Gangroad (or Crich Rail-way) was built by Benjamin Outram in 1793. [49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]
The Earl of Carlisle’s Waggonway opened in 1799 from coal pits owned by George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle around Lambley to Brampton, Cumbria. [51][58] There is some confusion over dates. The earliest opening date quoted is 1774, the latest 1799. [59] Dendy Marshall says that it was built in 1775. [60] C.E. Lee says it was constructed in 1798. [59][61]
It is perhaps easy to loose sight of the scale of these industrial undertakings. The rapid expansion of mining, plateways and railways “led to an increase in the numbers of horses in use … and a growth in the amount of horse feed needed. By 1727 The Tanfield Waggonway, in Co. Durham, carried 830 wagon loads of coal daily that’s a lot of horses.” [1: p61][5][62][63] “In 1804, the Middleton Colliery line was carrying 194 loads per day. Each wagon held about 2.5 tons and required the use of one horse and driver.” [1: p61]
A crisis in the use of horses and wagons occurred early in the 19th century with the advent of the Napoleonic Wars. The conflict became a significant drain on both horse and horse feed availability. The resulting inflation in the price of horses and feed lowered the profitability of each wagon load of coal. David Wilson says that, “The more visionary (or greedy, depending on your point of view) pit owners started to search for alternatives to the horse to move their goods to market. They provided their pit engineers with money and materials to experiment with steam power to replace horse power.” [1: p61]
Of course, steam power wasn’t new. Knowledge of the power of steam had been around since before the Common Era in Greek society [64][65][66] and the pits themselves had steam engines for pumping out the water and for lifting coal to the surface, or as winding engines on rope-worked inclines. [66][67] Newcomen’s first engine was installed for pumping in a mine in 1712 at Dudley Castle in Staffordshire. [66][68] What was new was first, the expiry of Boulton & Watt’s patent for a high-pressure steam engine, [5][69] and second, the idea of making the steam engine mobile, thus creating the steam locomotive. What eventually became even more revolutionary was the idea of creating a network of railways to serve the whole country. [1: p61]
We sometimes talk of a ‘perfect storm’ (a particularly violent storm arising from a rare combination of adverse meteorological factors), when we are talking about a series of adverse conditions occurring at the same time – a situation caused by a combination of unfavourable circumstances. The opposite of a ‘perfect storm’ is usually assumed to be a period of calm. However, the true opposite of a perfect storm is the occurrence (co-occurence) of a series of positive factors which combine to produce something significantly valuable. Wilson says that “as with almost anything man-made, there must be certain ingredients present. To bake a cake you need eggs, flour, milk etc. and in creating a railway you need, metalworking skills, engineering expertise, labour, capital and an incentive.” [1: 61]
The early years of the 19th century saw a timely co-incidence of these and other factors:
growing shortages of horse and feed coupled to the rising prices of both;
poor road conditions;
a rapidly developing understanding of engineering – Wilson suggests that this was “as a consequence of the more theoretical works of philosophers such as Newton, Descartes and Leibniz. … Such men have a reputation as creators or exponents of the mechanistic world view. Prior to the works of these men many had thought, and indeed some still do think, that the earth was a living entity. However, the views espoused by Newton, Descartes and Leibniz came to be accepted, the world was made up of dead, lifeless and inert matter, here to benefit mankind;” [1: p62]
the availability of skilled and unskilled labour – particularly the ‘navigators’ who were skilled in the techniques of earthworks, tunneling and bridge building – the men who had earlier built the canals. (“These men were to become the skilled labour of the railway construction industry and in turn they passed on their skills to the former farm labourers who were recruited to railway works as the lines progressed along their routes“); [1: p62]
developing metalworking skills – “the Darby family, who set up the … Coalbrookdale foundry. had acquired new skills in metalworking from tinkers, in what is now the Netherlands;” [1: p62] After constructing Ironbridge, “the Coalbrookdale ironmasters began to widen their horizons. One of their number, John “Iron Mad” Wilkinson, constructed what was reputedly the first iron barge and, more importantly, … the smiths of Coalbrookdale collaborated with Richard Trevithick in the construction of his locomotive – they cast the cylinder block and the plates for the construction of the boiler;” [1: p62]
the increasing availability of financial capital;
the increasing birth rate and the better health of the work-force which provided the necessary labour while engineering work was still labour-intensive.
The Availability of Capital
Among the physical factors listed above is an interesting financial factor which will bear some scrutiny. Wilson tells us that “the capital to build the world’s first public railway came, not from the Government, but from the Society of Friends, the Quakers.” [1: p62] He notes too that the Darby family whose Coalbrookdale plant had such a formative influence in the early days of the industrial revolution, were also Quakers. Wilson explains that Quakers were isolated from much of society and public life because of a refusal to sign up to the articles of faith of the established church. However, the same religious views made them sympathetic to works performed for the public good. Various Quaker families began to take an interest in the developing railway sphere. The website quakersintheword.org [70] tells the story of the significant role played in financing railways played by the Quakers.
“In 1818 a small group of Quaker businessmen, including Edward Pease and his son Joseph from Darlington, Benjamin Flounders and the banker Jonathan Backhouse, met to discuss the possibility of building a railway from Darlington, passing several collieries, to the port of Stockton.” [70]
The Act of Parliament required for the work to take place faced significant delays in the parliamentary process. “The delay proved very significant, as in April 1821 Edward met George Stephenson and recruited him as an engineer for the railway. The original intention had been that the coaches would be horse drawn, just like all the others now in existence. However, George convinced Edward that steam engines were the future for railways, and that he could build them. The Pease family then put up much of the capital that enabled Stephenson to establish a company in Newcastle, where he built the locomotives.” [70]
After the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, “the railway network grew under the guidance of Edward’s son Joseph, who opened the Stockton & Middlesbrough branch in 1828. … In 1833 Joseph became the first Quaker to enter Parliament and the railway interests passed to his brother Henry. In 1838, Henry opened the Bishop Auckland & Weardale line, followed by the Middlesbrough and Redcar line in 1846. Henry wanted to traverse the Pennines and in 1854 he started the Darlington & Barnard Castle line, which opened in 1856.” [70]
Quakers were often involved in railway developments in the 19th century, for instance, “in 1824, a group of merchants, including Quaker philanthropist and anti-slavery campaigner James Cropper, went to see the Stockton and Darlington railway. They soon began building the Liverpool and Manchester railway, which opened in 1830.” [70]
Incidentally, Quakers “were also responsible for two innovations that improved the way these new passenger railways worked – timetables and tickets. James Cropper produced a 12-page timetable for the Liverpool and Manchester railway, probably the first railway timetable ever. It was the forerunner of Quaker George Bradshaw’s Railway Companion, published in 1839. Bradshaw’s became a household name for anyone using the railways. … The second innovation was the railway ticket. In 1839 Thomas Edmundson, another Quaker, was appointed station master at Milton, on the Newcastle and Carlisle line. He was unhappy that customers paid their fares directly to him without receiving a receipt. Consequently he introduced the railway ticket, which came into general use with the creation of the Railway Clearing House in 1842.” [70]
The Birth Rate and Increasing Health of the UK Population
Wilson points us to one more significant factor in the development of railways in the early 19th century. “Seemingly disconnected and irrelevant factors were playing their part. During the period from the end of the civil war (1649) onwards there was a growing awareness of the value of the human being as resource, and a concerted effort was made to increase the birth rate and to cut the death rate. … This did not stem from any rise in humanitarianism but from a recognition that people were worth money. After all, in the 1640s and on into the 19th century, slavery was still common throughout the so-called civilised world, including Britain. Improvements in diet and sanitation increased life exресtancy. It is no coincidence that the first workhouses began to appear around the middle of the 17th century – a reasonably fit and healthy population produced more than a sickly and unfit one.” [1: p62]
“By the beginning of the 19th century, the conditions were in place for a major economic expansion. A growing empire and military strength ensured the supply of raw materials and provided a growing market place for the products made from them. An expanding population provided the physical means by which the empire might be held together. Technology provided the ability to carry out the grand design. The workhouses and other reforms had created a disciplined workforce.” [1: p62-63]
By 1850, a quarter of a million workers – a force bigger than the Army and Navy combined – had laid down 3,000 miles of railway line across Britain, connecting people like never before. [71]
And Finally …
Wilson suggests one other, less definable, reason for the dramatic welcome given to steam technology in particular. He suggests that there was a more visceral connection to steam power which predisposed humanity to embrace the technology.
No doubt, the S&D was at the forefront of engineering developments it was “the white heat of technology, the frontier of science.” [1: p63] Wilson asks us to consider that there was (and still is) a connection between “a piece of primitive industrial technology, the steam locomotive and its enduring popularity, and an ancient, and some might say mystical, view of the world.” [1: p63]
Wilson says: “Prior to the advent of the mechanistic world view in which cause and effect, hard science and hard facts are the order of the day, people held to a more animistic philosophy. Miners would pray to the earth before digging it up. … In this more mystic view of the world things were not made of chemicals and atoms, molecules and the force of gravity. They were composed of the four elements – earth, air, fire and water.” [1: p63] He asks us to consider whether “the reason so many people took to the steam engine and the railway when it began was that the steam locomotive has a unique blend of the four elements not only in its construction but in the very forces and requirements necessary for its movement. … [It] is made from the ores of the earth, heated by fire which needs air to burn. The metals from the forge are then tempered by water whilst being shaped on the anvil. In order to make the steam locomotive work, coal, or part of the earth, is consumed along with air in a fire which turns water into steam which in turn brings the locomotive to life.” [1: p63]
We all know that all men, are just little boys at heart. Increasingly women are involved in the preservation movement. There seems to be a deep emotional connection for many of us between the steam beasts of earth, wind, fire and water that reigned over the railway networks for the world for more than a century and a half and our own psyche, something deeply ‘elemental’!
Whatever the cause, the early 19th century saw humanity embrace steam-power and the benefits it brought with open arms and wallets.
References
David Wilson; Mother of Inventions; in the Evening Mail Supplement, 1st June 1993, p61-63.
Peter King, The First Shropshire Railways in G. Boyes (ed.), in Early Railways 4: Papers from the 4th International Early Railways Conference 2008, Six Martlets, Sudbury, 2010, p70–84.
An oblique aerial photograph taken facing north shows a general view in 1928 of Alloa, its Town Hall, Marshill and Church Street. The wagon road which was used to transport coal from the Holton area of Sauchie to Alloa harbour. Although the tracks are gone the road still exists from Station Hotel down to South School. https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/SPW020247, accessed on 7th January 2025.
Hero (Heron) of Alexandria, described in detail what is thought to be the first working steam engine. He called it an aeolipile (“wind ball”). His design was a sealed caldron of water was placed over a heat source. As the water boiled, steam rose into the pipes and into the hollow sphere. The steam escaped from two bent outlet tubes on the ball, resulting in rotation of the ball. The principle he used in his design is similar to that of today’s jet propulsion. Hero (Heron) did not consider this invention being useful for everyday applications: he considered his aeolipile invention as a novelty, a remarkable toy. https://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/steamengine2.html, accessed on 3rd March 2025. The same device was also mentioned byVitruvius in De Architectura about 100 years earlier. [66]
In 1712, Thomas Newcomen’s atmospheric engine became the first commercially successful engine using the principle of the piston and cylinder, which was the fundamental type of steam engine used until the early 20th century. The steam engine was used to pump water out of coal mines. [66]
Steven Johnson; The Invention of Air: A story of Science, Faith, Revolution and the Birth of America; Riverhood Books, New York, 2008.
Most biblical scholars agree that the author of the Letter to the Galatians was very probably St. Paul. The main arguments in favour of the authenticity of Galatians include its style and themes, which are common to the core letters of the Pauline corpus. Back in the 1930s, George S. Duncan described its authenticity as “unquestioned. In every line it betrays its origin as a genuine letter of Paul.” [3]
Some scholars “have cast doubts upon its authorship due to stylistic and vocabulary discrepancies with other letters uncontestedly attributed to Paul. These disparities have caused speculations that someone other than Paul may have composed it, yet most biblical scholars uphold Paul as its true author due to strong autobiographical elements in its content and thematic consistency with other Pauline works as evidence of Paul’s authentic authorship of Ephesians.” [4]
It seems reasonable for us to ascribe the authorship of the letter to St. Paul. Although ultimately this is not critical. What matters most of all is the text that we have received.
Paul constructs an argument in Galatians which seems to culminate in the idea that a new covenant, which is built on the foundations of earlier understandings of God’s relationship with his people, has now arrived. A covenant in which we are all included in God’s kingdom by faith through God’s grace alone.
Galatians 3:23 to 4:7 sits at the culmination of this letter.
A couple of things to note:
A. ‘Children’ or ‘Heirs’.
In ancient Rome ‘heirs’ were named in a will. Other children were not named. Heirs received everything from the bequest – both debts and benefits. “In the case of intestacy, Roman inheritance law had no concept of primogeniture and treated male and female children equally. However, in most cases intestacy was avoided by means of a will. Roman law recognised very broad freedom of testation, but wills had to strictly follow correct formulae and phrases in order to be valid. The will had to name an heir. In addition to this, it could name a legal guardian (tutor) for underage children, manumit slaves, and leave legacies to third parties. Over time a separate system of ‘fideicommissa’ (‘trusts’), which allowed greater flexibility, developed alongside the system of wills.” [5]
If a man died intestate, “property went first to ‘sui heredes’ (‘his own heirs’), who were any children of the deceased that had remained under his ‘patria potestas, (‘paternal power’) until his death. [6: p200] There was no assumption of ‘primogeniture’ – all children, male and female, received an equal share of the estate. [6: p201] If there were no children, then agnate relatives in the male line would inherit (i.e. other children of the deceased’s father, paternal grandfather, and so on). [6: p200] If there were none of these, then the ‘Twelve Tables’ [6: p199][7: p505] provided for the property to be inherited by the wider gens, but as the social role of the gens declined after the Early Republican period, this ceased to occur.[6: p200] There was no concept that an intestate property might pass to the state. [6: p200] Children of the deceased who had been emancipated before the deceased’s death or who had passed into the ‘potestas’ of another (through certain kinds of marriage or through adoption by another) were excluded from the succession, as were relatives in the female line (i.e. relatives of the deceased’s mother), and the deceased’s spouse.” [6: p200-201][7: p505]
Most Roman inheritances were, however, not intestate. “Instead, they were governed by a will (‘testamentum’). [7: p500] Some Roman writers speak of producing a will as a duty (‘officium’). [6: p201] Henry Maine in 1861 characterised the Roman approach as a ‘horror of intestacy.’ [6: p201][7: p499] Only a ‘pater familias: (male head of household) could make a will that disposed of a whole estate. [7: p502] But any Roman citizen who had reached the age of majority could make a will for property that they possessed in their own right. Women could make wills through a process of fictional sale (coemptio), until the reign of Hadrian, when they were given the ability to make a will through their tutor (legal guardian). [6: p202][7: p502] Non-Romans (peregrini) and people with intellectual disabilities could not make wills under Roman law. [7: p502] Exiles were not allowed to make wills either and this ban was retrospective; being sent into exile voided any will that the exile had already made. [7: p502] … The will had to name an heir. [6: p202] In addition to this, it could name a legal guardian (tutor) for underage children, manumit slaves, and leave legacies to third parties.” [6: p204]
Failure to name an heir could render a will void. [6: p204] An heir did not have to be a natural child of the deceased. An adopted heir was acceptable. This was often the practice in higher-ranking household as couples were often infertile.
An heir inherited both the deceased’s debts and his possessions. Being a child did not guarantee being an heir.
In verse 26 of Galatians chapter 3, the NIV and NRSV choose to translate a Greek word which means ‘sons’ as ‘children’. A word which carried great weight in the ancient world, ‘the son and heir’, the one who receives everything, is replaced in the NIV and NRSV by one which is about us all being ‘children’. In modern thinking, being one of many children of the father does confer status. But the word ‘children’ fails to carry the great sense of particularity intended by the author of the epistle. The status of ‘son and heir’ was more significant than being a ‘child’. In our thinking about this passage we must give weight to this distinction. Paul intends us to understand that we all (female and male) have the same status as the ‘son and heir’.
The distinction in ancient Rome between ‘son and heir’ and ‘child’ will also have been important to those reading the passage in many eras of civilisation and the history of the church. Particularly so, once the concept of primogeniture became established in the medieval world. A concept which kept land and estates whole as they were passed from father to eldest son. The eldest son was ‘the heir’, the other children, while usually loved, had a demonstrably secondary status.
Paul intends us to understand that we are all (female and male) co-heirs with Christ, we have the same status, the same entitlements. We have been chosen as ‘heirs’. We are more than ‘children’. In verse 29, Paul uses the word κληρονόμοι (klēronomoi) ‘heirs’ emphasising the point that ‘son’ is different from ‘child’.
Our status ‘in Christ’ is that of heirs to the promise, not just children.
B. Verse 28 – ‘Or’ and ‘And’
In the context that we are all inheritors of everything God has to offer, it may be worth us noting what Paul writes in verse 28. There is a small but perhaps significant change from ‘or’ (οὐδὲ) to ‘and’ (καὶ) in Galatians 3:28. The Greek reads like this:
The direct translation is shown in interlinear form below:
οὐκ ἔνι. Ἰουδαῖος οὐδὲ Ἕλλην, οὐκ ἔνι δοῦλος οὐδὲ
Not/neither there is Jew or Greek not/neither there is slave or
ἐλεύθερος, οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ πάντες γὰρ
free not/neither there is male and female all for
ὑμεῖς εἷς ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.
you one are in Christ Jesus.
The direct translation does not read easily in English. As is usual, this means that the translators have had to decide how best to make the text readable in English. Almost inevitably they have chosen to give greater continuity in their translations. The variety of different translations can be found here. [2]
Many of the translators choose not to recognise the change from ‘or’ (οὐδὲ) to ‘and’ (καὶ). I guess the question must be whether or not Paul meant the change to be significant. Many of the translators think not, and in doing so they prevent most modern readers having the opportunity to engage with the possibility that the difference is significant. Effectively, the translators narrow down the possible interpretation of the text in favour of their own interpretation.
But is that difference significant? Perhaps it is sufficient for us to read that there is no distinction in Christ, that we are all one in Christ. Whether we are Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, there is no distinction between us. We are one in Christ, all of us ‘heirs’ of the promise, much more than just children. If that were the case, I would happily go on to argue that these pairings are intended to demonstrate the breadth of God’s inclusive love for everyone.
But, that single καὶ (and) may add to the argument. Two couplets are ‘neither/nor’ but for one couplet Paul choses to use καὶ, why? … This part of our passage, (i.e. οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ), seems to allude to Genesis 1:27 (ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς, in the Septuagint) where God first creates a being, Adam, seemingly both male and female, if verse 27 of Genesis chapter 1 is taken literally.
Daniel W. Roberts comments that “Galatians 3:28 is a rare case of a direct quote going relatively unnoticed by scholarship, which is then followed by a one-word allusion to further solidify Paul’s claims concerning unity.” [8: p1] “Paul in Galatians 3:27–28 quotes Genesis 1:27, … this purposeful quotation of Gen 1:27 is meant to couple with an allusion to Genesis 2:24 to articulate further the unity found in Christ.” [8:p3][9]
Roberts goes on to argue for the unity which comes from marriage and which mirrors the unity between Christ and his Church. But there are other interpretations which include feminist, intersex, or queer, etc. perspectives.
If there is a significance to the use of the word καὶ, and there may not be, but if there is, it must delineate a difference between the male/female couplet and the Jew/Greek and slave/free couplets. In Christ there is no longer Jew or Gentile, no longer slave or free, no longer male and female. It must, as Roberts suggests, refer to something else. Particularly, probably, the passage in Genesis.
Are the first two couplets a case of ‘either/or’ while the third is a case of ‘both/and’? Is ‘male and female’ just, for Paul, one category rather than two categories? Just one thing? Perhaps he sees us as being included in God’s blessings because we are human rather than because we are male or female? Perhaps gender/sex is insignificant? I am not sure where this leads us, but perhaps it places our disputes about what it is to be a male or a female in a wider context. Perhaps it is about freedom to be who God has made us to be, rather than having to conform to the either/or of the other categories in Galatians 3: 28. Paul sums this all up with the fact that, whatever he means earlier in the verse, we are all one in Christ Jesus.
Roberts comments that Richard Hays’s study is especially significant for the study of Paul’s more subtle uses of the OT, what he calls echoes and allusions. This specific example, not discussed by Hays, arguably passes all seven of his tests for Pauline echoes. (Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul; Yale University Press, New Haven, p29–32.)
The Llanfyllin Branch was featured in an article by Stanley Jenkins in the October 2003 issue of Steam Days magazine. [3]
The immediately adjacent Tanat Valley Light Railway is covered elsewhere on this blog. The articles about that line can be found here [4] and here. [5]
The two lines ran into the hills to the Southwest of Oswestry. The local Cambrian network is shown diagrammatically in the image below.
Trains on the branch ran from the Welsh border town of Oswestry to Llanfyllin in the Berwyn Mountains. The branch left the Oswestry & Newtown Railway at Llanymynech, where the station nameboard called on passengers for Llanfyllin and Lake Vyrnwy to disembark and change trains. The lake is a nearby beauty spot where there is a reservoir supplying water to Liverpool.
In July 1864, the Oswestry & Newtown Railway joined with other local concerns to form the Cambrian Railways Company with its headquarters at Oswestry.
Llanfyllin’s townfolk formed a company to secure a rail link to the Cambrian network. The Cambrian began to show some interest when ideas of an East-West mainline came to the fore.
A 10-mile branch was agreed from Llanfyllin to Llanymynech which, in the view of the companies which would soon form the Cambrian, would hinder any rival’s attempt to construct a mainline between the Midlands and the Welsh coast.
The modest scheme received Royal Assent on 17th May 1861 and the Act empowered the Oswestry & Newton Railway to build branch lines to Llanfyllin and Kerry. The Llanfyllin Branch was soon pegged out in advance of construction. It presented few engineering challenges as “for much of its length the proposed branch line would follow a comparatively easy course along convenient river valleys, and with few physical obstacles to impede [the] work.” [3: p627]
“The line was substantially complete by the early months of 1863, a significant event being the arrival of the locomotive Nant Clwyd at Llanfyllin in March of that year. The railway was opened on 10th April 1863 and branch trains began running through to Oswestry on 17th July 1863.” [3: p627]
The railway “was single track throughout, with intermediate stations at Llansantffraid and also Llanfechain. At Llanymynech the junction was situated to the North of the station, and this necessitated an awkward reversal when trains entered or left the branch. There were no tunnels on the branch, although several overbridges or underbridges were required including a 90-yard viaduct between Llanymynech and Llansantffraid. An additional stopping place was opened at Bryngwyn in the first few months of operation, although this new station was merely a request stop with no provision for goods traffic. The trains travelling eastwards to Oswestry were regarded as up workings, while westbound trains were down services.” [3: p627-628]
The new railway was soon functioning as a typical country branch line with a modest service of around five trains each way. “Minor changes took place at Llanymynech in 1866 in connection with the opening of the Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway, but in the event this undertaking was more or less a total failure. Much later, in 1896, the Llanfyllin branch junction was re-aligned using part of the PS&NW route.” [3: p628]
“The Llanfyllin branch found a welcome, unexpected source of heavy freight traffic in the 1880s when Liverpool Corporation obtained powers for the construction of a massive dam at Llanwddyn, about seven miles to the west of Llanfyllin. By this means the surrounding valley was turned into a reservoir known as Lake Vrynwy from which water was supplied to Liverpool via a 75mile-long aqueduct. Materials needed in connection with this gigantic feat of Victorian engineering were delivered by rail to Llanfyllin, which became an important railhead while the reservoir scheme was under construction.” [3: p628]
In 1922, the Cambrian became an integral part of an enlarged GWR as part of the grouping required by the Railways Act of 1921.
Road competition led the GWR to become “a large-scale user of motorised road transport, with railway-owned lorries being employed for local cartage work in urban areas and as ‘country lorries’ for collection and delivery work in rural areas. Certain stations were selected as ‘country lorry centres’, while others were down-graded in various ways so that, by the later 1930s, many smaller stations were handling very little carted freight traffic. Oswestry and Llansantffraid, for example, both became ‘country lorry centres’, and a large rural area was then served by road transport, with GWR vehicles running on regular routes. In this way the railway could fight back against the road-transport operators.” [3: p628]
The GWR was also a pioneer in the use of motorised road passenger services. “By the post-Grouping period the GWR had introduced road feeder services on a very large scale, rural Wales being regarded as an ideal area for the employment of such vehicles. Oswestry emerged as an important centre in the company’s motor-bus network, with services radiating to towns such as Llangollen, Welshpool, and to Llanfair Caereinion. These extensive road services needed a relatively-large allocation of motor vehicles, among the buses working from Oswestry during the 1920s being Burford 30cwt buses Nos. 801, 807, and 861, and Thornycroft 30cwt vehicles Nos. 911 and 936. The GWR buses … worked in close conjunction with the trains as useful feeders for the railway system.” [3: p628] This was an early example of an integrated transport network!
To regularise its practice, the GWR obtained new legal powers “under the provisions of the Great Western (Road Transport) Act of 1928. This new legislation enabled the GWR to own, work, and use motor vehicles in its own right, and to enter into arrangements with other parties for the operation of road transport services. By virtue of these powers the railway company at once entered into detailed negotiations with certain road transport companies, and by 1933 all of the GWR motor-bus services had been handed over to ‘associated’ bus companies such as Crosville Motor Services Ltd.” [3: p629]
“This arrangement was supposed to lead to greater co-ordination between road and rail transport, but there is no doubt that in many areas the buses began to compete with the railways for what little transport was available in rural areas. The situation in respect of the Oswestry area seems to have been particularly disadvantageous as far as the GWR was concerned in that many buses ran on a Llanymynech-Oswestry-Gobowen axis in open competition with the rail service.” [3: p629]
“In some instances Crosville (or the other railway-associated bus companies) assisted the GWR by collecting and delivering parcels traffic, while goods traffic was handled by GWR motor lorries, some of which had been converted from former railway buses. Oswestry-based road motors Nos. 891, 897 and 861 … were adapted for use as lorries between 1926 and 1929. …They retained their old GWR fleet numbers. … Buses were more flexible than the railways, … to mitigate this the GWR opened numerous unstaffed halts. … One of these … was established in 1938 at Carreghofa in the Llanfyllin Branch, near Llanymynech.” [3: p629]
Jenkins tells us that the train services on the branch were similar throughout the years of its operation with five up passenger services to Llanymynech from Llanfyllin each weekday and five down trains. Occasionally these services worked through to Oswestry but, with the exception of the 1.43pm service, such movements were not always timetabled. The reverse workings, often unadvertised, ran from Gobowen through Oswestry and Llanymynech to Llanfyllin. Wednesdays and Saturdays, market days in Oswestry, were different, with two morning trains running through to Oswestry and two early afternoon trains back to Llanfyllin. There was no Sunday service. A daily branch goods train “generally departed from Llanymynech at 12.25pm and arrived at the terminus at 1.35pm, having called intermediately at Llansantffraid where half an hour was allowed for shunting operations. The return working left Llanfyllin at 2.30pm and, after spending another half an hour at Llansantffraid, … arrived at Llanymynech at 3.42pm.” [3: p629]
Jenkins comments that “the line was worked by short-wheelbase coaching stock for many years, although in GWR days 2-coach ‘B-sets’ and other formations were employed.” [3: p629]
The Cambrian Railway had very few small tank engines which meant that tender engines worked many of their small branch lines. Usually these would be ‘Queen’ class 0-6-0 locomotives. Following the grouping, GWR locos began to appear on the branch lines around Oswestry, particularly Armstrong and Collett 0-4-2Ts. Jenkins tells us that “these newcomers included ‘517’ 0-4-2T No 848 which worked on the branch at various times until its withdrawal in 1945, being out-stationed in the branch sub-shed at various times. The familiar Collett 0-4-2Ts were introduced by the GWR in 1932 as replacements for the veteran ‘517’ class 0-4-2Ts on local passenger services.” [3: p630]
The first examples of the non-auto ’58XX’ locomotives appeared on the branch in the 1930s. Jenkins notes that No. 5816 was sent to Llanfyllin shed as early as August 1933, while by 1947, the resident branch engine was No. 5806. The auto-fitted ’48XX’ class also arrived at Oswestry in the mid-1930s. These locos could also be seen on the Llanfyllin Branch. [3: p630] Dean goods 0-6-0 locos were also seen at times on the branch. Jenkins notes appearances of Nos. 2482 and 2535. No doubt the branch was served by a number of pannier tank (0-6-0PT) locomotives of different classes that were stabled at Oswestry. After nationalisation, by the mid-1950s, a group of Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-0s were allocated to Oswestry and were employed on the branch. “As there was no turntable at the terminus the Ivatt Moguls generally ran tender-first towards Llanfyllin and then returned to Oswestry facing in the right direction. Several Llanfyllin branch services were at this time through trips to Gobowen which continued northwards over the Great Western branch to connect with the Shrewsbury & Chester main line. … At Gobowen it was found that the clearance between the stop block at the end of the down bay platform was insufficient for an Ivatt 2-6-0 running tender-first, and drivers were therefore instructed to enter the bay running chimney-first; this instruction probably explains why the engines normally faced northwards when they were running on the Llanfyllin route!” [3: p631]
The Route
We commence our journey at Oswestry Railway Station. We noted first that from 1860 onwards there were two separate stations in Oswestry – a GWR station and a Cambrian station.
The first 25″ OS map extract below shows the general arrangement of railway facilities in the centre of Oswestry at the turn of the 20th century. The second focusses on the two railway stations.
A series of photographs of the railway station can be found on the Disused Stations website. [32]
Oswestry Railway Station (at the top of this image) and the Cambrian’s Works (nearer the camera) seen in an aerial view looking from the Northeast across Oswestry (EAW056424, 1954). Historic England. [30]
After the grouping in 1922 the GWR set about rationalising their inheritance. The old Cambrian station became the town’s passenger facilities and the GWR station was converted into the hub of an enlarged goods yard. “The Cambrian platforms were extended by 300ft, and a new branch bay was created on the west side of the station on a site that had previously been occupied by a large goods shed. At the same time the main up and down platforms were equipped with new canopies, and electric lighting was installed in place of gas in the goods yard and engine sheds. … Goods facilities were provided on a lavish scale, with sidings at both the north and south ends of the station. The main goods yard, which incorporated the original Great Western terminus, was situated to the north of the passenger station; the former terminus remained largely intact after its conversion to a goods depot, although part of the platform canopy was boxed-in to form a goods loading area.” [3: p632]
Goods facilities extended both to the North and South of the enlarged passenger station. Oswestry engine shed contained six terminal roads and sat to the North of the station complex, between the lines to Whitchurch and Gobowen. Jenkins tells us that a “standard GWR raised coaling plant was erected as part of the post-Grouping improvements, and this replaced an earlier Cambrian coaling stage. The Great Western coal stage was surmounted by a 45,000gallon water tank, while the old 45ft-diameter locomotive turntable was taken up and a new 65ft-diameter GWR one erected.” [3: p632]
South of Oswestry, trains for Llanfyllin travelled along the GWR Whitchurch to Aberystwyth main line as far as Llanymynech, passing Llynclys junction where the Tanat Valley Light Railway diverged westwards on its way to Blodwell Junction and Llangynog. Llynclys Railway Station was situated a short distance beyond the junction. It “was a wayside station with a small but substantial station building on the up side and a waiting shelter on the down platform. In architectural terms the station building, with its two-storey stationmaster’s house and single-storey booking-office wing, was very typical of Oswestry & Newton practice. The nearby goods yard contained facilities for coal, livestock, and general merchandise traffic.” [3: p633]
The length of the line from Oswestry to Llanymynech is covered by the next sixteen extracts from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1900 and accompanying satellite images and photohgraphs.
A short distance to the South of Oswestry town centre the line passed under Salop Road adjacent to the gates of the town cemetery. [9]The same location in the 21st century. [Google Earth, February 2025] The line South from Oswestry is single track, it is part of the Cambrian Heritage Railways based at both Llynclys and Oswestry in the restored Oswestry Railway Station. It was formed after the 2009 merger of the Cambrian Railways Society and the Cambrian Railways Trust, it aims to reinstate the infrastructure required to operate trains from Gobowen to Llynclys Junction (for Pant) and to Blodwel. Cambrian Heritage Railways also operates the Cambrian Railways Museum in the Oswestry railway station’s former goods depot. [17]This schematic map shows the lengths of the line between Gobowen and Welshpool that have been restored as of the end of 2024. [17]
The Cambrian Heritage Railway is extending and repairing track from Llynclys South northwards towards Oswestry to enable trains to run into the former Cambrian Railway headquarters at Oswestry. [17]
Looking North from Salop Road bridge in the first quarter of the 21st century. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking South from Salop Road bridge in the first quarter of the 21st century. [Google Streetview, April 2024]The line continued South from the Salop Road bridge. [9]Further South, the line continued to track South-southeast. [9]The line passed to the East of the small village of Weston. [10]The same location in the 21st century. This is Weston Wharf Station on the Cambrian Heritage Railway. [Google Earth, February 2025]Looking North from Weston Road in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, April 2024]
Weston Wharf Railway Station on the Cambrian Heritage Railways’ line to the South of Oswestry. “Plans to extend the line from Oswestry were reported in January 2016. The work was scheduled to proceed in three stages: phase one from Oswestry to Gasworks Bridge which carries the B4579 Shrewsbury Road over the line, phase two to make Gasworks Bridge passable and phase three to reach Weston Wharf. [24] At Gasworks Bridge, the track had to be lowered to allow trains to pass under the steel girder frame installed to strengthen the bridge. Funding was received from Shropshire Council and Oswestry Town Council.” [25][26][28]
“By April 2022 the 2 miles (3.2 km) of track from Oswestry to Western Wharf, which lay abandoned for more than 50 years, had been reinstated. The station was officially opened on 2 April 2022 by Helen Morgan MP and Vince Hunt, Chairman of Shropshire Council. It consists of a single platform, a run-around loop and a siding. Previously, there was no station here, only a goods depot.” [27][28]
Weston Wharf Railway Station development proposals as shown in the Cambrian Heritage Railway’s newsletter in 2019. [27]
Looking South from Weston Road in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, April 2024]The line continues South-southwest [10]The modern day A483 crosses the line of the railway a little to the South of Weston Wharf. [Google Earth, February 2025]Looking North from the A483 in the first quarter of the 21st century. [Google Streetview, July 2024]Looking South from the A483 in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, July 2024]The line continued South-southwest. [10]And passed under one minor road and then over another (just at the bottom edge of this extract. [11]The first of the two bridges in the 21st century. [Google Earth, February 2025]Looking North from the minor road bridge in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking South from the same minor road bridge in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, April 2024]The second of the two bridges in the 21st century. [Google Earth, February 2025]Looking South through the bridge spanning Albridge Lane. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking North through the bridge spanning Albridge Lane. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Beyond Albridge Lane Bridge, the line continued Southwest passing under another minor road bridge which carried Church Lane and which can just be seen at the bottom of this extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1900. [11]Church Lane Bridge as it appears on satellite imagery in the 21st century. [Google Earth, February 2025]Looking North-northeast from Church Lane Bridge. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking South-southwest from Church Lane Bridge. [Google Streetview, April 2024]On this next extract, the minor bridge appears at the very top. South of that bridge the village of Llynclys was passed after the Tanat Valley branch left the main line heading West. [12]The same location as it appears on the ESRI [satellite imagery provided by the National Library of Scotland (NLS). [20]
The Tanat Valley Light Railway is covered by two articles which can be found here [18] and here. [19] The route of the main line and that of the Tanat Valley Light Railway are defined by the lines of trees in the 21st century. The village has extended across the railway line.
Looking North from the B4396 at Llynclys. The building is Llynclys Railway Stationmaster’s House and booking office which are now in private hands. Jenkins describes the station as a “wayside station with a small but substantial station building on the up side and a waiting shelter on the down platform. In architectural terms the station building, with its two-storey stationmaster’s house and single-storey booking-office wing, was very typical of Oswestry & Newton practice. The nearby goods yard contained facilities for coal, livestock, and general merchandise traffic.” [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking South from the B4396 at Llynclys along the preservation line. … Llynclys South Railway Station was built by the preservation railway to replace the original Llynclys Railway Station. [Google Streetview, April 2024]
Llynclys South Railway Stationis located just South of the original located Llynclys station, “on the other side of the B4396 road bridge. During the original commercial operation of the line, the site was used for goods handling. … The station was built as an alternative to the original Llynclys station, which has become a private house. Work on the South station began in 2004 and opened to the public in 2005. CHR currently keeps the bulk of its rolling stock here, on a number of sidings, and a new carriage shed is set to be built after having gained planning permission in 2007.” [23]
More photographs and maps of Llynclys Railway Station can be found on the Disused Stations website. [33]
South of Llynclys trains ran on through Pant to Llanymynech which was nearly 6 miles South of Oswestry.
The old line continues South-southwest from Llynclys Railway Station. [12]And then ran parallel to and on the West side of the Shropshire Union Canal. Close to the mid-point on the West side of this image the line is bridged by Penygarreg Lane. [13]The same area in the 21st century as it appears in the NLS ESRI satellite imagery both highlighted by the lines of trees. Penygarreg Lane and bridge can be seen quite easily on this image. The length of the Montgomery Canal (Shropshire Union Canal) in the vicinity of the village of Pant is known as the Shropshire Gap. The Shropshire Union Canal Society is working to renovate the derelict length of the Canal. [21][22]The view North-northeast from Penygarreg Lane. The bridge forms the end of the heritage line. The view South from the lane is completely blocked by a high Leylandii hedge. This is the Southern limit (in 2025) of the preservation line. [Google Streetview, April 2025]A little to the South of Penygarreg Lane, Pant Railway Station is at the centre of this next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1900. [14]A closer view of the immediate area around the station at Pant is worthwhile. It shows the wharf at the canal side and transshipment facilities for the standard-gauge line. The tramway served Crickheath Quarry. By the 21st century, much of this area has changed significantly. [14]The same location in the 21st century. A comparison of this satellite image with the map extract immediately above is illuminating. Access to the canal wharf from the West was a shared underbridge. Both the tramway and the road passed under the bridge. The road then turned sharply to the South running parallel to the canal before turning East to cross the bridge over the canal which is still in place in the 31st century. Removal of the railway had meant that a new alignment of the road on the West side of the canal has been possible. [Google Earth, February 2025]Looking North along the line of the railway towards Llynclys and Oswestry. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking South along the line of the railway towards Llanymynech. [Google Streetview, April 2024]The line continued South towards Llanymynech bridging the Montgomery Canal on a skew bridge. [14]The location of the bridge over the Montgomery Canal. Well house Lane runs on the South side of the old canal.The remains of the railway bridge over Wellhouse Lane seen from the Northeast. The northern abutment is hidden by vegetation. The Montgomery Canal, in its overgrown state, is off the right side of this image. [Google Streetview, April 2024]The remains of the railway bridge over Wellhouse Lane seen from the Southwest. The northern abutment is hidden by vegetation (on the left of the road). The Montgomery Canal, in its overgrown state, is further to the left. [Google Streetview, April 2024]After crossing the Canal and Wellhouse Lane, the line passed through a shallow reverse curve and bridged another lane. [14]
The location of the bridge in the map extract above is shrouded by the tree canopy. A modern satellite image would show very little as does the Streetview image below.
Looking Northwest through the location of the bridge at the centre of the map extract above. The bridge, including its abutments, is no longer present. The road leaving the lane to the left climbs onto the old railway embankment and follows the route of the line for a few hundred metres, giving access to a private dwelling and a sewerage farm. [Google Streetview, April 2024]The 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1900 shows the original junction between the Cambrian’s Whitchurch to Aberystwyth line and the Llanfyllin Branch to the North of Llanymynech Railway Station. With this junction facing North, trains from and to Llanfyllin were required to undertake and awkward reversal along the main line into Llanymynech Station. The replacement alignment can be seen towards the bottom of this extract. It followed the line of the old extension to the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway (PS&NWR) By the time of this survey the length of the original branch just to the West of this map extract had been abandoned. A short chord (also off the left of this extract) linked the branch to the PSNWR. [15]This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey from before the turn of the 29th century shows the alterations necessary close to the main line. The PS&NWR crossed the line to Newton from Oswestry on the level at a diamond crossing. A new chord was necessary to allow trains access to and from the main line. That chord was placed to the South of the original line (the earthworks of the original line can be seen to the North of the new chord). [35]The same area shown on Google Maps’ satellite imagery. Station Road crosses the site of the old station at the top-right of this image. The mainline runs South down the right side of the image. The route of the Llanfyllin Branch is marked by the track marked in grey running West from the location of the junction to the A483. [Google Maps, February 2025]Looking from the West along Station Road (B4398) on its approach to the bridge over the old railway. The railway station was under this bridge. [Google Streetview, April 2024]Looking West along Station Road from the location of the East abutment of the bridge over Llanymynech Railway Station. [Google Streetview, April 2024]This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1900, published in 1902, shows the relationship of the old and new routes taken by branch trains for and from Llanfyllin. The earlier alignment is shown as dismantled and runs to the North of the later alignment. The chord linking the two is on the left of this extract. The bridge which carried the main road South from Llanymynech over the branch can be seen at the right of this map extract. [16]
Llanymynech Railway Station was the point of departure for Llanfyllin Branch trains from the main line. In early year this required trains serving Llanymynech from Oswestry to undertake a reversal in order to travel along the branch. The same applied to trains from Llanfyllin needing to call at or terminate at Llanymynech.
This was addressed by providing a short chord line from the Llanfyllin Branch to what was once part of the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway (PS&NWR). “This remodelled layout enabled branch trains to serve Llanymynech station without reversing, although the new junction arrangements necessitated the abandonment of a small portion of the original Oswestry & Newton branch. … Further changes ensued in 1911 when a connection was established between the former PS&NW line and the Tanat Valley route at Blodwell Junction. This new line created a useful loop line between the Llanfyllin and Tanat Valley branches, although in the event the two-mile connecting line between Llanymynech and Blodwell Junction had a comparatively short life, and it was closed in the mid-1920s.” [3: p635]
Llanymynech grew as a Victorian village after the opening of the Montgomeryshire Canal in 1797. This length of Canal became part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company and then part of the LNWR. The Canal was only abandoned after the LNWR became part of the LMS. The Canal was not abandoned until towards the end of the Second World War (1944). Although Llanymynech has a Welsh name it sits on the English side of the border with Offa’s Dyke running through the parish. [3: p635]
The Oswestry & Newton Railway “constructed a simple two-platform station southeast of Llanymynech, plus an adjacent goods yard, to enable shipping of locally quarried limestone, and created products of quick lime and lead. However, under its Act of Parliament, it had agreed not to disturb the operations of the existing local tramways or canals, and hence access across each would either be over (bridge) or under (aqueduct). … The Hoffmann kilns were located on the opposite side of the canal to the chosen station site, and if accessed on the level would have required an aqueduct to be built under the canal. Not having the money to achieve this, the O&NR agreed to junction with the local tramways north of its station at “Rock Siding”. It hence built a bay platform on the northwest side of the station, from which line extended to the “Rock Siding”. To access the Hoffmann kilns, trains would firstly enter the bay, then reverse up the slope to the “Rock Siding”, where they would then change direction again by pulling forward over a bridge to the Hoffmann kilns.” [34]
Details and more photographs of Llanymynech Railway Station can be found on the Disused Stations website. [36]
Once the chord linking the old Llanfyllin Branch and the PS&NWR had been built and the chord between the main line and the PS&NWR was complete, trains from Oswestry and Llanymynech diverged West off the main line just South of Llanymynech Railway Station.
The Llanfyllin Branch
After running off the main line, trains for Llanfyllin passed under what would become the A483. The bridge appears on both of the last OS Map extracts above.
Looking South along the A483. There is nothing to see, at road level, of the bridge over the old railway. The line ran on the near side of the terrace visible on the right. [Google Streetview, July 2024]
Carreghofa Halt was the first stop on the Branch, it was just a short distance from the mainline close to the chord which served to link the old branch and the PS&NWR line. It was an unstaffed stopping place, opened by the GWR on 11th April 1938, “its facilities comprised a short platform on the down side of the running line. The platform was of earth & cinder construction with revetting of old sleepers. A small wooden shelter was provided for the comfort of waiting travellers, while the simple platform was fenced with tubular metal railings. … Other features of minor interest at Carreghofa included a sleeper-built permanent-way hut to the east of the platform and an unusual overbridge immediately to the west of the halt. The bridge, which crossed the railway on a skewed alignment, was a single-span structure carrying the B4398 road and the Montgomeryshire Canal.” [3: p635]
Having passed beneath the road/canal bridge, “trains reached the junction between the Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales branch to Nantmawr and the short connection which gave access to the original Llanfyllin route. This 26-chain curve was opened on 27th January 1896 as a means of linking the PS&NW route to the original 1863 branch.” [3: p365][4][5]
A relatively low quality view from the road bridge/canal aqueduct looking Northwest. The stored wagons on the right sit on the Nantmawr Branch. The chord to Llanfyllin heads off to the left. [40]
Now heading pretty much due West the branch sets off for Llansantffraid. We will pick up this next length of the route in the second article in this short series.
Henry Robinson Palmer (1793-1844) was a British engineer who designed the first monorail system and also invented corrugated iron!
Born in 1793 in Hackney, he was the son of the Revd Samuel Palmer, a nonconformist minister, and his wife, Elizabeth, née Walker. [1] He was baptised in Tooting [2] and was educated at the academy run by his father and between 1811 and 1816 was an apprentice at 1811-16 Apprenticed to Bryan Donkin and Co.
When he finished his apprenticeship, Palmer was taken on by Thomas Telford, working for him for 10 years and involved with a variety of road/canal surveys and associated designs. In 1818, Palmer was one of three young engineers key to the founding of the Institution of Civil Engineers and on 23rd May 1820, he formally became a member of the Institution. [3]
Elijah Golloway recorded Palmer’s ideas for a Suspension Railway in the image above which is dated 1822. It seems as though Galloway’s book, History of the Steam Engine, From Its First Invention to the Present Time: Illustrated by Numerous Engravings From Original Drawings, Made Expressly for This Work, was not published until 1828 by B. Steill. [4][5]
On 22nd November 1821, Palmer patented his proposed monorail system. [6][19: p57]
In 1823, Palmer wrote his short book, Description of a Railway on a new Principle, (J. Taylor, 1823) about his monorail ideas. [7]
The illustrations immediately below come from a copy of that book which is held by the Science Museum. [7]
Palmer was unaware of the experimental work being undertaken in Russia at around the same time. The work of Ivan Kirillovich Elmanov is covered here. [26]
These images are taken from H.R. Palmer; ‘Description of a Railway on a New Principle’ and are released by the Science Museum under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) [7]
In his book, Palmer refers to examples of railways already constructed. It is clear that he is talking of railways which operate on more traditional principles. He tabulates those to which he is referring in a table which is reproduced below: the Llanelly Tramroad; the Surrey Tramroad; the Penrhyn Slate Quarries, edge rail road; the Cheltenham Tram Road; a branch of the Cheltenham Tram Road; Edge Rail Roads near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. These he compares with his own proposed railway which was built in Deptford Dockyard in London in 1824. [6]
Table showing the resistance form the rails of various railways in use in the early 19th century. [8: p29]
History only seems to record two of Palmer’s monorails in the UK. The first was constructed at Deptford as we have already noted. The second was built at Cheshunt and opened about 3 months prior to the Stockton & Darlington Railway (in June 1825) and was described, that month, in The Times newspaper. [9] Although his ideas were attempted in at least one other place. The railway built in what is now Hungary in 1827 (15th August). It was a fleeting experiment about which more details can be found here. [10]
Palmer is recorded as having given evidence, in 1825, in favour of navigation interest and against the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. [4] He was appointed resident engineer to the London Docks in 1826, where, for 9 years, he designed and executed the Eastern Dock, with the associated warehousing, entrance locks, bridges, and other works. While undertaking this role, in 1828, he inventedthe “Corrugation and Galvanisation” of sheet iron. [11]
Regarding Palmer’s invention of corrugated iron, Dr. Pedro Guedes wrote that “Palmer exploited the unique properties of metal, creating a lightweight, rigid cladding material, capable of spanning considerable distances without any other supports, helping to make lightweight iron buildings and roofs possible. Palmer’s invention completely broke with precedent and tapped into another level of thinking. The sinusoidal corrugations that Palmer imagined as the means to impart strength to his sheets of wrought iron have continued virtually unchanged for close on two centuries.” [11]
In 1831, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, publishing two papers on the movement of shingle in Philosophical Transactions, 1831 and 1834. In 1833, he took out patents for improvements in the construction of arches and roofs. [12] In 1835, he moved to Westminster and worked as a consulting engineer and was involved in numerous surveys for projected railways, and the design and construction of several docks and harbours, including those at Port Talbot, Ipswich, Penzance, and Neath. He carried out the original surveys for the South Eastern Railway, assisted by P. W. Barlow, and would have executed the scheme but ill health intervened. His original surveys for a Kentish railway dated from the time he was associated with Telford.
He died on 12th September 1844. [13]
C. von Oeynhaussen & H. von Dechen inspected both of Palmer’s monorails during their visit to the UK in 1826 and 1827 and comment on both. First they describe the principles involved: “To facilitate laying out a railway with reduced friction, and to make it independent of the small unevennesses of the ground, Mr Palmer has proposed and built a kind of railway which consists of a single bar, and the wagons have only one wheel on each axle. The track is erected on posts or columns at a suitable height above the ground, and the load hangs so far below the wheels that the wagon frame cannot overturn. [16] This railway has the disadvantage that its construction is not solid, or it becomes very expensive; that it can compensate only for very small unevenness of the ground; that the motive power can operate only with an inclined pull; and that special precautions must be taken for unloading and loading the wagons. Therefore, the scheme has not come into general use. Excepting the two now to be mentioned, no railways of this kind appear to have been built in England.” [14: p75-76]
Palmer’s Deptford Railway
C. von Oeynhaussen & H. von Dechen describe this railway: “This railway leads from the Thames across the yard of the Victualling Office up to the warehouse, and serves to transport provisions out of the warehouse to the ships, or the reverse. The railway consists of cast-iron columns which project from 3 to 5 ft out of the ground; these are provided with fork-shaped seats at the top and are spaced 10 ft apart. Planks 9 in. high and 3 in. thick rest in the forks on double wooden wedges, so that they can be set at the correct level very easily. On the upper edge of these planks, wrought-iron bars are spiked, which are 3½ in. wide, somewhat convex, and in. thick in the middle. The ends of these bars are not square, but cut in a broken line, and rest, not directly on the plank, but on a small iron plate let into the wood.” [14: p76]
“The line is nearly horizontal, and has a fall of only about 20 minutes of angle to the river. … The wagons which run on this line have three wheels of 18 in. diameter, one behind the other; they have two flanges and the groove is shaped to fit the rail. These wheels are fixed to a wrought-iron frame which consists of three stirrups going over the wheels with connecting pieces below. The stirrups reach 2 or 3 ft below the railway, and are provided on both sides with an inclined platform, on which are placed the casks to be conveyed. For loading the wagons, there are two sloping frames at the same height as the wagon platforms, and between which the wagon has just room to pass. A wagon is loaded with 10 casks which weigh about 4½ cwt each, therefore totalling 45 cwt. The wagon can be taken at 5 cwt, so that the whole weight comes to 50 cwt, which can be moved up the line easily by four men.” [14: p76]
The Cheshunt Railway – The first passenger carrying monorail
Cheshunt had a railway three months before the Stockton and Darlington line was opened. It was a horse-drawn monorail, built by Henry Robinson Palmer, who had previously built one in Deptford Dockyard, the first in the UK. The Cheshunt Railway, his second venture, was opened on 26th June 1825, running from Mr Gibbs’ Brick Pit (to the west of Gews Corner), to a wharf on the River Lea, not far from the site of the current Cheshunt Station. Its original purpose was to haul bricks, but it was also utilised for carrying passengers. For such a short distance, it must have been principally a novelty; regardless of this, it was the first passenger monorail in the world. [15]
The design was an overhead track from which carriages were suspended, drawn by a single horse. The line crossed the main road by a section hinged like a gate, enabling it to be moved off the road. No sign of the monorail has survived, but its legacy gives Cheshunt a vital, if little-known, position in the history of railways. [15]
C. von Oeynhaussen & H. von Dechen describe the railway: “From the lime and brick kilns at Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, about 20 miles north of London, which lie on a main road, a Palmer railway leads to the Lee Canal in the flat and level Lee valley. The railway has a fall of 5 to 10 minutes of angle towards the canal; it is mile Engl. (580 fathoms Pruss.) long and serves to transport lime and bricks. The line rests on wooden posts which project on average 34 ft out of the ground; towards the limekiln, however, the bottom of the line is in a cutting in the ground, so that the posts stand in a kind of dry trench, the base of which is 9 ft wide. The wooden posts stand 10 ft apart, are 4 in. thick, and 7 in. wide; the top is fork-shaped 3 in. wide and cut 16 in. deep. In the bottom of this fork lies a block 12 to 15 in. long, in different heights, which is supported by a pair of inserted angle-pieces 14 in. high and 2 in. thick. Two wedges 2 ft long rest on this block with their inclined faces lying against one another, so that a horizontal support is always afforded to the plank which lies thereon. The planks are 101 in. high and 3 in. thick; they are 30 ft long and always meet in the middle of a post. Iron bolts with screws go through the post to hold together its fork-shaped end. There are oblong holes in the planks through which these bolts pass, so that the underlying wedges can be adjusted when necessary. On top of the planks a wrought-iron convex rail is laid, 4 in. wide, 1 in. thick at the edges, and in. thick in the middle. [14: p76]
C. von Oeynhaussen & H. von Dechen continue: “The rails are 20 ft long with their ends cut obliquely, and they are fixed by no more than two or three spikes of in. diameter with their heads countersunk in the rails. The rails have some spare holes which are used when one or other of the spikes breaks. Some posts are made of three parts fixed together. The pieces are 6 in. wide; the middle piece is 3 in. thick, the side pieces are 21 in. thick, and they are bound together by three screw-bolts; the wedges lie upon screwed-in blocks which are 1 ft long at the top. Although these planks are very thick, they have become bent at some places because of the great distance between the posts and are propped up by pillars set under them subsequently.” [14: p77]
“There is a siding on the railway in the vicinity of the canal. Here the line is made double for a length of about 30 ft, and between the double piece and the single track there is a strong door 10 ft wide which is hinged to the single rail and may be fastened to either of the two tracks. The railway lies on the upper edge of the door. Directly over the hinge is a small turning piece of rail by which the severe angle which the door makes with the main railway is reduced. This railway passes over an ordinary road by a similar door.” [14: p77]
“The wagons on this railway have only two cast-iron wheels, 26 in. diameter, with two flanges; they are 51 in. wide including the flanges, which are in. thick and project 11 in. They have six spokes and a nave 6 in. long and 2 in. wide. The wheel turns with a hollow cast-iron axle 2 in. thick and 12 in. long, which lies in round brass bushes at both ends; these have an inside diameter of 11 in., an outside diameter of 2 in., and are 3 in. long inside. They are fitted to seats on the wrought-iron stirrups which form the main frame of the wagon. Through the hollow cast-iron axle and the brass bushes is a wrought-iron axial bar 26 in. long, and 1 in. thick, the ends of which are fastened to the stirrup. This makes a firmer connection with the wagon frame. The two wheel centres are 46 in. apart. The platforms on which the wagon bodies are placed are 40 in. below the axle centres and are 17 in. apart. There is one wagon body on each side of the wagon, and each holds 20 cu. ft. One such body is laden with 20 cwt of lime or bricks, and therefore a wagon takes 40 cwt. One horse draws two such wagons or 80 cwt, exclusive of the bodies and the wagon.” [14: p77]
“On a disused standing wagon, there is a special arrangement for reducing the friction of the wheels on the axles, which is neither properly devised according to theory nor well carried out practically. The brass bushes wherein the cast-iron axle turns have a circular-segment-shaped slot, in. wide, cut in the upper part, and in this notch rests a 4 in. high iron friction wheel, on which the whole load of the wagon bears, while the brass bush is not entirely held fast in the wagon frame.” [14: p77]
The Cheshunt Railway is also featured in the Register of Arts and Sciences No. 47, 2nd July, 1825, [17] where the illustration below appears, along with a detailed description of the opening of the railway.
The Cheshunt Railway. [17: p353]
The article is reproduced in full below at Appendix A.
C.F. Dendy Marshall also refers to Palmer (and his monorails) in his history of railways to 1830. He notes that “Palmer was prominent in connexion with the London and Brighton schemes, and was [a] principal founder of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He wrote a paper in the Journal of the Franklin Institute in 1828, advocating the use of sails on railways. An illustration is given [below] of his railway with that method of propulsion, from Hebert’s Practical Treatise on Rail Roads (1837). [19] Two short lines were made on Palmer’s principle, on which horses were used: one at the Victualling Yard, Deptford; and one from some lime-kilns and tile-works near Cheshunt to the Lea Canal. The best account of these lines is given by von Oeynhausen and von Dechen, in ‘Ueber Schienen Wage in England, 1826-27.” [18: p171]
Marshall was writing in 1935, over 30 years before the Newcomen translation of von Oeynhausen and von Dechen’s German text was published, so he took the trouble to provide his own translation of their words in full. [18: p171-173] He also points his readers to an article in the Mechanics Magazine of 6th August 1825 which concluded: “One carriage, which has been constructed for the purpose of trying the application of the plan to the conveyance of passengers, differs from the others. Its boxes partake partly of the shape of a gig, and partly that of a balloon-car; in each are two cushioned seats vis-à-vis, with a little dickey behind, the whole carriage being covered with an awning.” [18: p173-174]
Palmer’s Idea for sail propulsion on his patented monorail. [18: p171][19: p62] At times we may feel a sense of ridicule at proposals which were coming to the fore in the early days of railways, but we need to remember that railways were the most up-to-date, advanced technology of the day and that progress would not have been made if a whole range of ideas were being put forward and tried.
Hebert discusses Palmer’s ideas in his book, Practical Treatise on Rail Roads (1837): “Mr. Palmer’s railway consists of only one, which is elevated upon pillars, and carried in a straight line across the country, however undulating and rugged, over hills, valleys, brooks, and rivers, the pillars being longer or shorter, to suit the height of the rail above the surface of the ground, so as to preserve the line of the rail always straight, whether the plane be horizontal or inclined. The waggons, or receptacles for the goods, travel in pairs, one of a pair being suspended on one side of the rail, and the other on the opposite side, like panniers from the back of a horse. By this arrangement only two wheels are employed, instead of eight, to convey a pair of waggons; these two wheels are placed one before the other on the rail, and the axle-trees upon which they revolve are made of sufficient length and strength to form extended arms of support, to which are suspended the waggons.” [19:p57]
Hebert provides an illustration of the line in use. And the principles by which various obstacles were overcome. In the image below, “on the left is seen a jointed rail, or gate, that crosses the road over which the carriages have just passed, and the gate swung back, to leave the road open; the horse and man having just forded, the train of carriages is proceeding in its course, and following another train, part of which is seen on the right, crossing a rail bridge, simply constructed for that purpose.” [19:p59]
An Illustration of Palmer’s Suspension Railway. [19: p59]
“Provision is made for trains of carriages that are proceeding in opposite directions, by means of ‘sidings’ or passing places. With respect to loading, if both receptacles be not loaded at the same time, that which is loaded first must be supported until the second is full. Where there is a permanent loading place, the carriage is brought over a step or block; but when it is loaded promiscuously, it is provided with a support connected to it, which is turned up when not in use. From the small height of the carriage, the loading of those articles usually done by hand becomes less laborious. The unloading may be done in various ways, according to the substance to be discharged, the receptacles being made to open either at the bottom, the ends, or the sides. In some cases, it may be desirable to suspend them by their ends, when, turning on their own centres, they are easily discharged sideways.” [19:p59]
“Among the advantages contemplated by the patentee of this railway, may be mentioned that of enabling the engineer, in most cases, to construct a railway on that plane which is most effectual, and where the shape of the country would occasion too great an expenditure on former plans – that of being maintained a perfectly straight line, and in the facility with which it may always be adjusted; in being unencumbered with extraneous substances lying upon it; in receiving no interruption from snow, as the little that may lodge on the rail is cleared off by merely fixing a brush before the first carriage in the train; in the facility with which the loads may be transferred from the railway on to the carriages, by merely unhooking the receptacles, without displacing the goods, or from other carriages to the railway, by the reverse operation; in the preservation of the articles conveyed from being fractured, owing to the more uniform gliding motion of the carriages; in occupying less land than any other railway; in requiring no levelling or road-making; in adapting itself to all situations, as it may be constructed on the side of any public road, on the waste and irregular margins, on the beach or shingles of the sea-shore, indeed, where no other road can be made; in the original cost being much less, and the impediments and great expense occasioned by repairs in the ordinary mode, being by this method almost avoided.” [19: p59-60]
Hebert goes on to talk of the line built in Cheshunt in 1825. In that case, “The posts which support the rails are about ten feet apart, and vary in their height from two to five feet, according to the undulations of the surface, and so as to preserve a continuous horizontal line to the rail. The posts were made of sound pieces of old oak, ship timber, and in a, the slot or cleft at the upper ends of the posts, are fixed deal planks twelve inches by three, set in edgeways, and covering with a thin bar of iron, about four inches wide, flat on its under side, and very slightly rounded on its upper side; the true plane of the rail being regulated or preserved by the action of counter-wedges between the bottom of the mortices, and that of the planks. By this rail, on the level, one horse seemed to be capable of drawing at the usual pace about fourteen tons, including the carriages.” [19: p60]
Hebert quotes Tredgold, who commented: “We expect that this single railroad will be found far superior to any other for the conveyance of the mails and those light carriages of which speed is the principal object; because we are satisfied that a road for such carriages must be raised so as to be free from interruptions and crossings of an ordinary railway.” [19: p60][20]
Hebert notes a particular problem with Palmer’s design: “It has generally been considered a defect in Mr Palmer’s arrangement, that in order to make turns in the road, it is necessary that a portion of the rail should be made to turn with the carriages upon it. This defect, Mr. T. Chapman, of Royal Row, Lambeth, proposed to remedy, by so constructing the carriage, as to enable it to turn itself upon a fixed suspension rail, whether curved or straight, or from one angle to another. Fig. 1 … exhibits an end view of the carriage, and Fig. 2 a side view of the same, partly in section. … aa is the rail, bb two wheels on the rail; these carry the turning plates cc, each having four friction-rollers: ee, upper plates; ff, the vertical axis of the wheel-frames or turn-plates cc; they pass through the plates d and e, from which the boxes gg are suspended, by the lateral arms hh and ii. Now as the wheels and frames b c can turn freely on their axis ff, they each require four guiding rollers jjjj to keep them in a right line with the rail, and to cause them to turn as the rail turns. These carriages should not be further asunder than is absolutely necessary for the required curve of the rail. The bottom of the carriage has a joint at one third of its length, and is held up at this by the hooks kk; by removing these, the contents may be let out: the fixed portion of the bottom is made sloping, so that it may be readily emptied.” [19: p60-61]
Hebert now turns to consideration of the force of the wind: “About thirteen years ago it occurred to [him], that the force of the wind might be beneficially employed as an auxiliary power for propulsion on railways; and considering that the suspension principle, which had just then been promulgated by Mr. Palmer, was better adapted to that object than any other, he wrote a short paper on the subject, which was inserted in the eighth number of the Register of Arts, for January, 1824, under the signature of “L. H.” The plan also embraced a proposition for enabling boats from the sea, a river, or canal, to pass out of the water, at once upon the rail, and thereon be propelled precisely in the same manner as the receptacles provided by the inventor are, and from which they scarcely need to differ in shape. Both of these propositions have been treated with abundance of ridicule, by persons who were either incapable or indisposed to reason. But one of them having, according to the newspapers, been recently carried into actual practice at Sunderland, and under less favourable circumstances, (i.e. on the common ground rail) the writer need not dilate upon its feasibility. And as respects the other propositions, he will only observe, that believing it to contain the germ of something that may hereafter prove of public benefit, he hesitates not to place it before the judgment of the reader. The following are extracts from the paper alluded to. ‘The inhabitants of small islands, and of the sea-coast gene-rally, subsist chiefly upon fish; and as they are remarkable for robust constitutions, it follows that their food must be strengthening and wholesome. I propose, therefore, a railway, on Palmer’s principle, from London to the nearest seaport town or fishing-place, that shall give to the inhabitants of this city the advantages of a plentiful supply of the cheap and wholesome food enjoyed by those in maritime situations. In the drawing which accompanies this [see the sail propulsion drawing above], the scene sketched is entirely imaginary, and intended, first to represent a railway leading to a sea-port, with the carriages being propelled, according to the modes projected by Mr. Palmer; the first train of carriages being drawn along the rail by a locomotive steam-engine, the second, more in the perspective, is supposed to be drawn by a horse. Brighton is perhaps the most eligible situation for such an undertaking. By a railroad from that place, the London market might be supplied with a prodigious quantity of fish within three or four hours after their being taken from the sea, at the mart trifling expense of carriage; and if the wind were to be employed as an auxiliary propelling force, which I propose, the rapidity with which the fish might generally be brought lo our markets would give us all the advantage of a sea-port town in the purchase of it If the Hollanders have found it practicable (as is well known) to sail over land in four-wheeled carriages, how much more practicable and advantageous would it be to bring into use the admirable facilities furnished by Mr. Palmer in his new suspension railway, in which the resistance to the motion of the carriages is reduced to one-twentieth part; or in other words, wherein the facilities are twenty times greater. As objections will of course he raised, on the score of the variableness of the wind, I must repeat, that I only propose it. as an auxiliary power. It would rarely happen that the wind would not he favourable in going or returning; and it is well known that S.W. winds prevail more than any other in our quarter, which would be favourable for the principal traffic; that is to London. In the absence of a steam-engine, a horse should always be in attendance; so that when employed in drawing a train of carriages, if a favourable breeze should spring up, the sails might be spread, and the horse be-put into one of the receptacles, where, over his bag of corn, he might regale and invigorate himself for fresh exertions, should the wind fall off.” [19; p61-62]
Hebert goes on, even more fancifully in my view, to explain how Palmer’s design can be adapted to one of Hebert’s own ideas of overcoming the need for transshipment between canals and railways, and perhaps to overcome the need for locks altogether as lengths of canal could be linked by Palmer’s monorail, provided the canal vessels were designed to suit. So, Hebert says: “The railway I propose Is to be constructed as usual, elevated upon pillars, and not to terminate on arrival at the look gates B, but to pass over it, and terminate at the other end, just within the second gates A, and be supported upon pillars from the floor of the lock, the same as on dry ground. In [drawing](which is a plan) the double train of vessels are supposed to have all entered the lock, half on one side of the rail, and half on the other, and they are hooked on to the axle-trees of the wheels which are already upon the rail for that purpose. The gates next to the river or canal are then closed, and all being fast, the water is let out of the lock by a sluice at D. till it falls below the bottom of the outer gates; at which time the vessels are all suspended on their axles in the air. The gates being next opened, and the wind fair, they sail across the valley or are propelled by other means provided by the patentee.” [19: p62-63]
Hebert’s proposed transfer lock – canal to Palmer’s monorail. [19: p63]
Further Immediate Developments
As early as 1826, the German railway pioneer Friedrich Harkort had a demonstration line of Palmer’s system built at his steel factory in Elberfeld (today part of Wuppertal), but objections prevented the construction of a public railway. [22]
Soon after, the first Hungarian railway line was completed on 15th August 1827, and led from Pest to Kőbánya. It was a monorail built on the principles outlined by Palmer. [23][24]
H.R. Palmer; Description of a Railway on a New Principle: With Observations on Those Hitherto Constructed and a Table Shewing the Comparative Amount of Resistance on Several Now in Use; J. Taylor, London, 1823. [NB: a second edition was published by J. Taylor in 1824]
The Leicester Chronicle, or Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser; Saturday, 15th February 1834.
The Ipswich Journal, Saturday, 14th September 1844.
C. von Oeynhaussen & H. von Dechen; Railways in England 1826 and 1827; translated by E.A. Forward and edited by C. E. Lee & K. R. Gilbert; Heffer &b Sons Ltd, Cambridge, for the Newcomen Society, 1971.
This refers to a device patented by Henry Robinson Palmer (1795-1844) on 22nd November 1821 (Patent No. 4618). The line in the Royal Victualling Yard, Deptford, appears to have been brought into use in the latter part of 1824. The Cheshunt line was opened with considerable ceremony on 25th June 1825.
Appendix A – The Opening of the Patent Suspension Railway at Cheshunt, Herts
The Register of Arts and Sciences No. 47, 2nd July, 1825
We had the gratification on Saturday last of witnessing a practical demonstration of the advantages of Mr. Palmer’s new Suspension Railway, the nature and construction of which having been fully described in the 7th and 8th numbers of this Work, to those articles we refer our readers, as connected with our present account.
A line of railway on these beautiful principles having been erected at Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, by Mr. Gibbs of that place, the same was opened for public inspection on the above-mentioned day, when a numerous and highly-respectable company of persons attended by invitation to witness the operation of the carriages, and partake of a rural entertainment provided for the occasion. The weather proved fine during the forenoon, but the rain which after-wards occasionally descended in showers, would have been felt very inconveniently by the numerous fair visitors, had they not been provided with large booths, in which were erected ranges of elevated seats, commanding a view of the entire piece of rail-road, besides affording a fine prospect of the surrounding country, which is beautifully picturesque. Near to these was stationed a band of music, which played a variety of national airs; and the flags of England, France, America, and other nations, waving their colours in different parts of the beautiful meadows, gave a delightful effect to the scene, independently of the highly interesting business of the day.
The chief object of the proprietor of this undertaking is the conveyance of bricks across the Marsh to the River Lea for shipment, and the carriages have consequently receptacles adapted to that peculiar purpose. But on the present occasion each receptacle was fitted up with temporary seats, for the conveyance of the persons in the manner represented in the engraving; each receptacle being likewise loaded with a quantity of bricks as ballast, which were stowed away under the seats, making, perhaps, a total weight to each receptacle of one ton; and there being two receptacles to a carriage (one suspended on each side of the rail) will make the whole weight about fourteen tons. The first carriage shewn in the train * had the receptacles expressly made for passengers, and were elegantly constructed in the barouche style, the passengers sitting opposite to each other. The whole of this immense train was drawn by a single horse by means of a towing rope attached to the first carriage, and with so little exertion apparently, that it was evident the strength of a good average horse would be sufficient to draw double the weight operated upon. The rail was proved to be upon a level plane by the animal drawing the load with equal facility, in either direction. The posts which support the rail are about ten feet apart, and vary in their height from two to five feet according to the undulations of the ground, so as to preserve the horizontal line of the rail. Under the rail, and between a cleft of each of the posts are placed reverse wedges, which admits of a facile and almost instantaneous adjustment of the plane, in the nicest manner. [a] The posts are made of that almost ever-lasting stuff, sound old ship timber, and securely fixed in the ground in a peculiar manner; the rail is constructed with 3-inch planks, 12 inches wide, which are placed edgeways between the clefts of the pillars. The upper surface of the rail is covered with a bar of iron four inches wide and about a quarter of an inch thick, and a little con-vexed on the upper side, to suit the occasionally inclined position of the wheels, and to prevent (as we suppose) a too extended contact of their surfaces.
Our object in giving another sketch of this truly excellent invention has been, chiefly to shew its admirable application for the conveyance of persons as well as goods. The vehicles glide so smoothly over the surface of the country, as to be compared only to the floating of boats in the stream of a river; and it is evident that no mode of travelling can possibly be less free from danger.
The simplicity and effectiveness of this new railway was the subject of general admiration; among the spectators we noticed several engineers of eminence, who, very honourably to themselves, awarded their meed of praise, so justly due to the inventor, for the erection of (unquestionably) the best rail-way hitherto constructed. [b] The uses and advantages are indeed so obvious to every observer, that it is impossible not to believe that it will become of general adoption in all situations suited to a work of the kind.
Notes
This simple method of adjustment is one of very considerable importance in every point of view. In the common railroads, when the surface has become irregular by the sinking of particular parts, the rails must be taken up of necessity, and a complete re-bedding of their foundations made, which is of course attended with considerable expense and inconvenience. By Mr. Palmer’s plan a tap or two with a hammer sets the whole straight.
Even Mr. Vallance, who may be regarded as unfriendly to railways generally, very candidly says in his pamphlet on the subject, “By the effects produced on different railroads, it is proved, that a power which will raise one pound perpendicularly, will move above 100 lbs. horizontally at the same rate; and on a railway of Mr. H. R. Palmer’s invention, it may at any time be seen, that the same power will produce the same effect on above 300 lbs!”
Ivan Kirillovich Elmanov (Russian: Иван Кириллович Эльманов) was a Russian inventor. During 1820, in Myachkovo, near Moscow, he built a type of monorail described as a road on pillars. [3] The single rail was made of timber balks resting above the pillars. The wheels were set on this wooden rail, while the horse-drawn carriage had a sled on its top. [3] This construction is considered to be the first known monorail in the world. [5][6] The horse-drawn carriages travelled on an elevated track. One project envisaged using them to transport salt on Crimea. [9]
Russia was a pioneer in the design and construction of monorails, from early horse-drawn models to later electrical and magnetic levitation systems. [2] Sadly, Elmanov could not find investors to fund for his project and stopped working on the monorail. In 1821, Henry Palmer patented his own (similar) monorail design in the UK. [2][3]
On Elmanov’s monorail railway, the wagon rolled on a special rail on wheels mounted on a frame, so the vehicles had no wheels but virtually contained the rail. [9]
Later examples of early (pre-1900) Russian monorail proposals include:
In 1836, Prince Beloselsky-Belozersky [8] proposed another monorail design which contained two rows of wheels on mounted on a pillar structure; [2][3]
In 1872, a monorail designed by Lyarsky was shown at the Polytechnic Exhibition in Moscow; [2][9] (This was 4 years before the construction of a steam-powered monorail for the United States Centennial Exposition in the USA); [3]
In 1874, Alexei Khludov [10] constructed a monorail for transporting wood; [2][9]
In late 1899, Russian engineer Ippolit Romanov built a prototype of an electric monorail in Odessa, modern-day Ukraine. “In 1897, he presented a functional model of his monorail at the meeting of Russian technological society. This idea was approved by the society, and an experimental electric monorail was built in 1899. In 1900, Empress Maria Fedorovna approved the building of an 0.2 kilometres (0.12 mi) long electric monorail in Gatchina. The monorail was tested on 25th June 1900. The monorail carriage … moved at a speed of 15 kilometres per hour (9.3 mph).” [2] “The cars weighing 1600 kg were made like the trams of that time and were suspended on a truss metal overpass at a height of at least 750 mm from the ground. Based on the published photographs, it can be assumed that the overpass was temporary and rested on long beams laid on the ground. … The car bogies were two-axle, with one running wheel with a diameter of 120 mm. Each bogie also had two pairs of horizontal guides and stabilizing wheels. Two motors with a capacity of 6 kW each operated on direct current with a voltage of 100 V. The electric drive control system provided for the possibility of regenerative braking. Power was supplied from a contact wire on the beam, the beam itself served as a second wire. … On 25th June 1900 (according to V. Nikolaev – 29th June), the monorail was tested. During the tests, the monorail moved with a load of up to 3200 kg (i.e. 2 times the tare weight of the carriage), with this load the speed was 15 km/h. It was noted that the carriage moved smoothly, without jerks and jolts. … According to the journal “Zheleznodorozhnoe Delo” No. 38,1900, the Romanov system … had advantages over foreign designs known at that time. The asymmetrical suspension scheme on an open beam, on the one hand, allowed this beam to be made fairly light and cheap, and on the other hand, allowed the bogies and drive to be made reliable and easy to maintain. … Romanov also put forward the idea of automatic driving of the monorail. In the magazine “Niva” No. 30, 1900 in an article about this monorail it was written: “Since the movement is produced by electrical energy transmitted along a copper wire along the entire route, then this same energy can be used to automatically divide the entire route into sections on which only one train can be at a time. Each train can approach the one in front no more than a certain distance, for example, about 1.5-2 miles. When the distance between trains decreases to this limit, then the train behind stops, although, of course, if necessary, a special device can bring the trains closer to each other to the desired distance. Acceleration or deceleration can be done automatically, so that the inattention or carelessness of the driver is corrected independently of him.” [3]
Oleg Izmerov; The Unknown Russian Monorail; via https://izmerov.narod.ru, accessed on 19th February 2025.
Oleg Izmerov; The death of sensations or strange episodes in domestic monorail history; via https://semafor.narod.ru/3_2001/monor.html, accessed on 19th February 2025. This article covers later developments in Monorail technology in Russia.
V. V. Chirkin, O. S. Petrenko, A. S. Mikhailov, Yu. M. Galonen; Passenger Monorails (in Russian); in Mashinostroenie (Mechanical Engineering), 1969, p240. [see [6] below]
“The source (book) provides basic information on the structure and operating features of monorails. It analyzes the most typical difficulties that arise when solving problems related to transport in modern large industrial centres, developing areas with unfavorable climatic conditions, and finding transport vehicles for direct communication between the centres of large cities, cities with airports, recreation areas, etc. It examines the selection of the main parameters and determination of the technical characteristics of the rolling stock and fixed devices of monorails. It analyzes the design features of the chassis, suspension systems, and stabilization of the rolling stock of existing and designed monorails. … A comparison is made of the technical and economic indicators of monorails and other types of transport, and recommendations are given for the selection of rational areas of application of monorail transport. … The book is intended for a wide range of engineering, technical and scientific workers in urban, industrial and other types of transport, as well as workers engaged in transport engineering.” (Translated from Russian) (https://www.logistics-gr.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=23626&c-72&Itemid=99)
P.W. Gentry wrote about Stockport’s trams in the July 1949 issue of Modern Tramway.
He says: “Besides possessing several interesting features of its own, the Stockport system today commands added attention as the last last surviving member of that once network of standard gauge undertakings encircling Manchester. It is an unusually pleasing system by virtue of its compact and simple arrangement, its focal point being Mersey Square.” [1: p123]
The article in Modern Tramway caught my attention because for about 9 years I worked in Stockport as a highway engineer.
This is a second article looking at Stockport Corporations Tramways. The first article which looked at the history of the network and followed one axis of that network can be found here. [2]
Mersey Square was the main hub of Stockport’s tramway network and appeared as a schematic plan in Gentry’s article in The Modern Tramway. …
Before looking at the remaining tram routes operated by Stockport Corporation it is worth noting the trams which Stockport Corporation used to operate the network. P.W. Gentry listed these as follows:
This table is taken from Gentry’s article. [1: p126]
Edgeley to Mersey Square and Mersey Square to Reddish andGorton
This first axis of the network was covered in my first article about Stockport Corporation Trams, here. [2] Two further axes are worth our attention: the first, below, that between Gatley and Bredbury; the second that between Manchester and Hazel Grove.
Gatley to Mersey Square and Mersey Square towards Bredbury
Tram services entered Mersey Square and crossed the Mersey. Services to the West of the town commenced here and ran along Princes Street to Bridge Street. That length of the network is covered in an earlier article which can be found here. [2]
We resume this article at the Northeast end of Princes Street and its junction with Bridge Street and then follow the route to Hyde.
This completes the length of the tramway from Stockport to Hyde. The next article in this short series will cover the line from Manchester to Hazel Gri
References
P.W. Gentry; Stockport Corporation Tramway; Modern Tramway, Vol. 12 No. 138, June 1949, p123-126.
Harry Postlethwaite, John Senior & Bob Rowe; Super Prestige No. 14, Stockport Corporation; Venture Publications, Glossop, Derbyshire, 2008. This document is made freely available by MDS Books as a .pdf: https://www.mdsbooks.co.uk/media/wysiwyg/Stockport_Download_1.pdf, accessed on 14th January 2025.
Roger Farnworth 
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