The Great Northern Railway recognised the value of ‘mixed traffic’ locomotives in the 19th century. Lindsay says that seventy five locos of this class were built. One source says that a total of 117 Class 18 locos were built. [4] The Great Northern Railway Society says that 153 were built. [5] The different sources seem to agree that fifty of the class were out-sourced from locomotive builders, the remainder were built in-house at the Great Northern’s Doncaster works. [1]
Side Elevation [1]Front Elevation [1]Tender – Front and Back Elevations [1]
The specification sent to outside loco constructors differed in at least one respect from that used in-house – the total heating surface of the outside builders locomotives was 543 sq. ft rather than 537.5 sq ft. [1]
Delivery of locomotives from outside firms was in the following order:
1875 – Nos. 551-556 from Sharp, Stewart & Co. (Works Nos. 2564-2569)
1876 – Nos. 557-580 from Sharp, Stewart & Co. (Works Nos. 2570-2575, 2585-2594, 2646-2653))
It should be noted, however, that there was no direct correlation between the sequence of Works Nos. and the locomotive fleet numbers. “For instance, engine Nos. 563 and 564 bear makers’ Nos. 2586 and 2585 respectively.” [1]
Messrs Sharp, Stewart & Co. locomotives were recorded as being 31 tons 13 cwt in weight. [1]
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) “was … By incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially.” [2]
“Nevertheless, it succeeded in reaching into the coalfields of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire, as well as establishing dominance in Lincolnshire and north London. Bringing coal south to London was dominant, but general agricultural business, and short- and long-distance passenger traffic, were important activities too. Its fast passenger express trains captured the public imagination, and its Chief Mechanical Engineer Nigel Gresley became a celebrity.” [2]
There was a significant amount of cross-country good traffic which saw these locomotives being well-used. I believe that they were designated ‘Class 18’ within the GNR’s fleet. They were “the first type of loco to actually be built at Doncaster, rather than by outside contractors … they were used on goods trains and certain secondary passenger trains,” [3] and at times were referred to as ‘luggage engines’, because they were used to bring a second train carrying larger trunks and other passenger luggage in the day when carriages carried regular luggage on their roofs.[3].
References
T.A.Lindsay; Great Northern Railway Engine No. 551; in Model Railway News Volume 40 No. 748, October 1964, p532-533. (Non-commercial use of drawings authorised.)
Looking through a number of 1964 Model Railway News magazines, I came across drawings of Sharp, Stewart & Co. 2-4-0, built in 1870 for the Furness Railway Co. and numbered 58 on their roster.
Side elevation and half plan of Locomotive No. 58 [1]Front elevation. [1]Tender, front and back half-elevations. [1]
Originally conceived as a mineral railway, the Furness Railway later played a major role in the development of the town of Barrow-in-Furness, and in the development of the Lake District Tourist industry. It was formed in 1846 and survived as an independent, viable concern until the Grouping of 1923. [4]
The Furness Railway contracted out the building of its locomotives until Pettigrew became Chief Locomotive Engineer in 1897. He put his first locomotive on the line in 1898.
2-4-0 Locomotive No. 58 had inside cylinders (16 in by 20 in), 5 ft 6 in diameter coupled wheels. It operated with a boiler pressure of 120 lb and weighed 30 tons 5 cwt. Its tender was 4-wheeled with a 1,200 gallon water capacity.
The locomotive, as designed, had no brake blocks, the only brake being a clasp type on the tender.
This relatively small locomotive was one of a series of 19 locos built to the same design. The class fulfilled the needs of the Furness Railway as passenger locomotives. The class was given the designation ‘E1’ by Bob Rush in his books about the Furness Railway. Rush’s classification was his own not that of the Furness Railway, but has become accepted generally. [2]
A photograph of one of this class can be found by clicking on the link immediately below. No. 44 was built in 1882 by Sharp Stewart & Co., Works No.3086. It was rebuilt in 1898, presumably in the Furness Railway works. Renumbered 44A in 1920, it became LMS No. 10002 – but was withdrawn in April 1925. [5]
Later, seven of the class were converted to J1-class 2-4-2 tank engines in 1891. [3]
References
T.A. Lindsay; Furness Railway Locomotive No. 58; in Model Railway News, Volume 40, No. 480, December 1964, p608-609. (Permission to copy granted for any non-commercial purpose.)
Towards the end of March 2024, I stumbled across a number of journals of the New Zealand Model Railway Guild. One of these, the March 2021 edition, included a pictorial article about J1211 North British 4-8-2 Locomotive No. 24534 of 1939. [6] The June 2021 issue included a history of the class [7: p13-15] and General Arrangement plans as originally carried in the Railway Gazette in 1940. [7: p22-24] Also in that journal are four photographs of J1211 in service between 1960 and 1970. [8]
40 No 4-8-2 locomotives which were built in 1939 by the North British Locomotive Company and became the New Zealand Railways (NZR) J class.
They were designed to provide a mixed traffic locomotive suitable for running on the lighter secondary lines of the NZR network, and for express passenger trains in major routes.
“The J class incorporated roller bearing axles, hydrostatic lubrication and twin Westinghouse brake pumps. … They had bar frames instead of plate frames and were equipped with Baker Valve-gear. The locomotives were attached to Vanderbilt tenders and were outshopped with distinctive bullet-nosed streamlining.” [1] The streamlining also encompassed the full length of the top of the boiler between the cab and the smoke box door and the area immediately beneath the smoke box door.
The J Class locos were out shopped with a distinctive streamlining from the cab to the top of the smoke box door and with a bullet-nosed smoke box door. [2]
New Zealand’s North Island benefitted from the first thirty of the class placed into service. The South Island hosted the remaining ten locomotives which apparently were used “The first 30 of the class in service were allocated to the North Island, with the remaining ten locomotives allocated to the South Island where they were used “on the hilly section between Dunedin and Oamaru. They were immediately placed into service on the main trunk routes in both islands in order to help move wartime traffic during the Second Word War. Although used on freight trains as well, the class was well suited to high-speed running on the passenger trains of the era.” [1]
Apparently, the streamlining became “burdensome for maintenance and the skyline casing, which was open at the top proved to be a trap for soot from the locomotive’s exhaust. After a time, the skyline casing started to be removed from some examples of the class leaving them with just the bullet nose.” [1]
Ultimately the bullet nose was also removed from the majority of these locomotives.
The locomotives of the class had their streamlining removed in the war years. [2]
Members of the class “were generally considered to be a very reliable engine and well suited to their task. … They were capable of speeds of over 60 mph with a 300-ton express train. …. However, today surviving engines being used to haul excursion trains are restricted to 80 kph. … On favourable grades a single J could move a 1000-ton train.” [7: p14]
“The design was successful enough that NZR opted to build an improved variant … in its own Hillside workshops from 1946.” [1] These ‘Ja’ class locomotives were numbered 1240 to 1274 and became “the mainstay of the South Island rail services. Meanwhile North British were commissioned to build another 16, numbered from 1275 to 1290, also classified ‘Ja’, but they were oil fired and to be based in the North Island. … The sixteen ‘Ja’ from North British were the last steam locomotives to enter service with the NZR.” [7: p15]
Three J Class 4-8-2 are noted by Trainweb [2] as having been preserved:
J 1234, North British #24557/1939. For some time based at Glenbrook Vintage Railway, Auckland.. This locomotive is owned by Steam Incorporated of Paekakariki, and was leased to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway in 1998. The locomotive was returned to Paekakariki in June 2015. [4] It is now in storage awaiting a 2nd restoration at Paekakariki. [5]
J 1211 “Gloria”, North British #24534/1939. Mainline Steam Heritage Trust, Auckland (Operational). [3]
J 1236, North British #24559/1939. Mainline Steam Heritage Trust, Auckland (Being Restored). [2]
Significant elements of thisarticle depend on an article by David Bradshaw & Stanley C. Jenkins; Rails around Oakengates; in Steam Days, March 2013. [1] Their work is used here with the kind permission of David Bradshaw who is a native of Oakengates. In addition, I have gathered together everything that I have found which relates directly to the railways which passed through Oakengates. In March 2024, I gave a talk to the Oakengates History Group which was culled from what is included in this article.
The monochrome photographs included in this article were taken by a number of different photographers. Where possible, permission has been sought to include those photographs in this article. Particularly, there are a significant number of photographs taken by A.J.B. Dodd which appear here. These were first found on various Facebook Groups. A number were also supplied direct by Mike Dodd, A.J.B. Dodd’s son, who curates the photographs taken by his father. Particular thanks are expressed to Mike Dodd for entering into email correspondence about all of these photographs and for his generous permission to use them in this article. [174]
This article can be read here on this blog or can be downloaded as a .pdf file.
East Shropshire is well known as the ‘cradle of the Industrial Revolution’ with iron works, coal mines and furnaces all well established by 1760. Oakengates is a small town situated in the former Shropshire industrial area, and is roughly midway between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, which has now been subsumed into the new town of Telford. Prior to absorption into Telford, the town had a population of around 11,500, which made it the third largest settlement in the county after Shrewsbury and Wellington.
This extract from the Railway Clearing House Maps shows the immediate area around Oakengates prior to the Grouping in the 1920s. The red railways and London & Northwestern railways, the yellow are those controlled at that time by the Great Western Railway. Those dashed yellow and red are those which were in joint ownership. The Lilleshall Company network is not shown. This might help to understand the area covered by this article. We include the GWR mainline between Hollinswood Goods and Wellington, the Coalport Branch from Hadley to Malinslee, and the private railways of the Lilleshall Company. [1: p165]This extract from a drawing held on the Miners Way website may help in our understanding of the area covered. The Mineral Line used 200 mainline and 250 internal wagons. The company also bought some industrial locomotives from Barclay and Peckett. Through the years 22 locomotives were used on the line, 6 of these were built by The Lilleshall Company itself. The company also built a further 34 locomotives for their customers. [131]A little over three miles east of Wellington, and about 158½ miles from London (Paddington) via Oxford, former Great Western Railway ‘2800’ class 2-8-0 No 2897 climbs through Oakengates (West) station on a southbound (Up) freight, the gradient being 1 in 220 through the station, and this continues through the town’s nearby eponymous tunnel and nearly as far as Hollinswood sidings. The station here was opened in 1849 by the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway to serve Shropshire’s third largest town, a community that grew with the industrial revolution, the raw materials for the ironmasters of the late 18th century all being close at hand, and thus modern transportation was embraced at the earliest opportunity, significantly canals and then railways. A.J.B. Dodd/Colour-Rail.com [1: p165]
The transport of goods in the Oakengates area had been revolutionised by the construction of the Shropshire Canal, which was authorised in June 1788 and was completed throughout its 7.75 mile length by 1794. It ran virtually due south through Oakengates and connected with the earlier Donnington Wood, Ketley, and Wombridge canals to provide a link to and from the navigable River Severn, albeit 453ft of height had to be gained to achieve this.
The Shropshire Canal’s primary objective was the conveyance of coal, iron and lime from the Oakengates area to the River Severn at Coalport, and there was also a 2.75 mile canal branch that diverged south of Stirchley tunnel to serve Horsehay, and Coalbrookdale. This short, but quite busy extension to the local waterway system incorporated three tunnels, and there were four inclined planes (rather than flights of closely spaced locks), these being sited at Trench, Wrockwardine Wood, The Windmill and The Hay. There was a fifth inclined plane at Ketley, but this closed in 1816 when the ironworks to which it was connected was closed.
The GWR Shrewsbury to Birmingham Main Line
The Great Western Railway (GWR) took over the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway (S&BR) in 1854.
Apart from industrial tramways this was the first public railway to impinge on the Oakengates area. It was promoted during the ‘Railway Mania’ years of the mid-1840s as a line between Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury. The project was supported by the London & Birmingham Railway, which viewed the S&BR scheme as the first section of a much longer line to Liverpool and the north, in opposition to its bitter rival, the Grand Junction Railway (GJR).
The Shrewsbury & Birmingham scheme was rejected by Parliament in 1844, while in 1845 a substantially similar Bill failed to pass Standing Orders. Undeterred by these initial setbacks, the Shrewsbury promoters submitted a third Bill in November 1845, seeking Parliamentary consent for the making and maintenance of a railway commencing ‘at or near the Shrewsbury Canal Wharf, in the Parish of St. Mary, in the Borough of Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop, and terminating by a junction with the London & Birmingham Railway, near the Passenger Station of the said last-mentioned railway, in the township of Duddeston-cum-Nechells, in the Parish of Aston-juxta-Birmingham, in the County of Warwick’.
Meanwhile, the Grand Junction Railway had submitted an alternative scheme, known as ‘the Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton & South Staffordshire Junction Railway’, which would have followed more or less the same route as the Shrewsbury & Birmingham line. However, at that juncture, the London & Birmingham Railway agreed to join forces with the Grand Junction and the Manchester & Birmingham railways to form a new organisation known as ‘The London & North Western Railway’. This sudden and unexpected development had obvious ramifications for the Shrewsbury & Birmingham scheme, which was, in consequence, cut down to 29½ miles of line between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, access to Birmingham being obtained via the projected Stour Valley line.
The London & North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed by Act of Parliament on 16th July 1846 and, a little over two weeks later, on 3rd August 1849, the ‘Act for Making a Railway from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton … to be called the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway’ received the Royal Assent. The resulting Act stipulated ten miles of line between Shrewsbury and Wellington would be shared with the Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Company, while the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway was granted running powers and a quarter share in the Stour Valley line. The S&BR was also permitted to construct a branch from Shifnal to the ironworks at Dawley.
The land required for the S&BR line between Shrewsbury and Wellington had been purchased by 19th September 1846, and the work of construction was soon underway, the Engineer being William Baker (1817-78). In engineering terms, there were few major obstacles, other than the two bridges across the River Severn and a 471-yard long tunnel at Oakengates.
The line running between Shrewsbury and Wellington was examined by the Board of Trade Inspector on 2nd May 1849, and he reported that ‘the railway is so far advanced that it can be used with safety by the public, but the stations will require a few days to complete’. Eastwards, a further four miles of line between Wellington and Oakengates required a second inspection, after delays in completing an overbridge at Wellington, but when this short section had been approved by the Board of Trade, the first portion of the S&BR line was opened on 1st June 1849, when trains began running between Shrewsbury, Wellington and Oakengates.
The initial timetable provided four trains each way, with Up services from Shrewsbury at 6.45am, 9.35am, 4.15pm and 6.45pm, and corresponding Down workings starting from Oakengates at 8.45am, 2.15pm, 5.15pm and 8.15pm. The first Up and last Down trains were first class only, whereas the remainder conveyed all classes. The Sunday service comprised just two trains each way.
Construction of the eastern section of line was delayed due to some difficulties involving Oakengates tunnel, while the work of the navvies had also been impeded by the abysmally wet summer of 1848. However, the railway was finally opened throughout on Monday, 12th November 1849, with the inaugural train of fifty carriages hauled by two locomotives, Wrekin and Salopian. Passengers wishing to reach Birmingham had to travel via Wednesfield Heath station and the former Grand Junction line as the Stour Valley route from Wolverhampton’s High Level station was as yet incomplete. The frequency of the service was increased to nine trains each way daily, but any access to the Stour Valley line was not granted until 4th February 1854.
The LNWR – a giant among railway companies and a huge undertaking by mid-Victorian standards – was able to exert unyielding commercial pressure on the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway and its ally, the Shrewsbury & Chester Railway with a view to eventual takeover. For example, although the Stour Valley line was opened on 1st July 1852, connections with Shrewsbury & Birmingham trains at Wolverhampton were arranged to be as inconvenient as possible, and the ‘North Western’ company refused to accept through bookings to and from the S&BR. However, the LNWR failed completely in its attempt to intimidate the Shrewsbury companies, and in 1854 the Shrewsbury & Birmingham and the Shrewsbury & Chester railways opted instead for an outright amalgamation with the Great Western Railway. Thus, on 1st September 1854, the line from Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury and thence to Chester became an integral part of the GWR system – albeit with a jointly owned section of line between Wellington and Shrewsbury.
In later years, the line through Oakengates became part of a much longer route extending from London (Paddington) to Birmingham (Snow Hill), Shrewsbury, Chester, and ultimately Birkenhead (Woodside) – the latter point becoming the northernmost extremity of the GWR main line passenger network.
In 1910, local services outlined in the April Bradshaw show fourteen trains to Wellington (and some beyond) stopping at Oakengates with nine in the opposite (Wolverhampton) direction. The Sunday services, as would be expected, were much more sparce, with three trains in the Wolverhampton direction and four to Wellington.
The British Railways (Western Region) timetable for Summer 1953 provides a post-Nationalisation but pre-dieselisation picture, with a frequent weekday (Monday to Saturday) service to both Wellington (Northbound/Down) and Wolverhampton (Southbound/Up), with some of these trains originating from Shrewsbury and Birmingham respectively, and two trains each way continuing on to London (Paddington) or working through to Chester (General). It is worth noting that between 18th June 1951 and 10th June 1956 the former GWR station in Oakengates was known as Oakengates (West), to differentiate it from Oakengates (Market Street) station on the former LNWR/LMS Coalport branch, and this is how it appears in timetables of the period.
At this time, the first Down train called at Oakengates (West) at 7.00am en route to Chester, although generally trains calling in this direction terminated at Wellington. Later trains called at 7.35am, 7.52am (ex-Birmingham, Snow Hill), 8.35am, 10.00am (Snow Hill to Chester), 12.01pm, 1.07pm, 1.54pm (ex-Snow Hill), 2.50pm, 3.57pm, 5.19pm, 6.10pm (to Shrewsbury), 7.11pm (Snow Hill to Shrewsbury), 9.04pm (to Shrewsbury), 10.25pm and 11.40pm.
The pattern of services for Up trains was broadly similar, with passenger trains generally terminating at Wolverhampton (Low Level). Calls at Oakengates (West) were at 6.50am and 7.13am (both to Snow Hill), then 7.52am (the 7.30am Shrewsbury-Paddington service), 8.38am, 9.31am, 10.16am, and 11.51am. Afternoon calls were at 1.39pm, 3.03pm, 3.58pm, 5.45pm (to Snow Hill), 7.15pm, 8.48pm and 10.47pm (the 10.15pm Shrewsbury to Paddington service that terminated in London at 5.05am on the following morning).
In early British Railways’ days, former GWR Churchward Mogul No 5381 heads a southbound passenger train past Hollinswood sidings, the massive yards established a little way from the southern portal of Oakengates tunnel to exchange traffic with the Lilleshall system. The distant chimneys and slag heaps are those of the Priorslee Furnaces, one of the principal Lilleshall Company establishments – and David Bradshaw says, these slag heaps proved to be great terrain for playing Cowboys & Indians in the early to mid-1950s. As an aside, the Wolverhampton-bound passenger train is effectively passing through the site of what is now Telford Central station, the impressive but arguably ugly industrial scene that I recall now landscaped to provide a modern road system serving the 1980s-built station and industrial estates, the area also being bridges by the M54. A.J.B. Dodd/Colour-Rail.com. [1: p167]
The summer of 1957 brought about the dieselisation of the stopping services at Oakengates as part of a Wellington to Lapworth service, Lapworth being the end of the four-track section of the former GWR main line south from Birmingham (Snow Hill), so it was a convenient terminating point. At the same time, Birmingham (Moor Street) to Leamington Spa services also went over to diesel-multiple-units. However, the dieselisation was not total, as some peak hour stopping services were still regularly steam-hauled through Oakengates, and it was status quo, unchallenged steam power, on stopping services between Wellington and Shrewsbury.
Between Wellington and Wolverhampton, however, steam locomotives were almost exclusively on goods and parcels duties as ‘Western’, ‘Warship’ and ‘Hymek’ diesel- hydraulics had taken over most of the expresses, and these thundered through Oakengates station. A particularly interesting working was the Bournemouth (West) to Birkenhead (Woodside) Inter-Regional duty and its corresponding Birkenhead to Bournemouth service, with Southern Region green-liveried coaches in use either on the northbound or southbound leg.
The BR (Western Region) public timetable for 12th September 1960 to 11th June 1961 lists the duty as ‘Week Days Only’, with the one train leaving Birkenhead at 9.20am, while that from Bournemouth departed at 9.30am, hence the need for two rakes, the two trains passing each other near Fenny Compton; Wellington was an 11.40am call on the Up duty, and 3.20pm on the Down service. However, the summer 1962 timetable saw the service cut-back to Wolverhampton (Low Level) on Mondays to Fridays, leaving the through service between Bournemouth and Birkenhead as a Saturdays- only option.
For many years the local services between Wolverhampton (Low Level) and Wellington were in the hands of Tyseley or Wellington-allocated Class ‘5101’ 2-6-2Ts on suburban stock, as illustrated by No. 4130 arriving from Wolverhampton at journey’s end. For the most part, passengers from Oakengates wishing to travel beyond Wellington would have to change trains here, and interestingly the local services between Wellington and Shrewsbury were actually Stafford line trains that worked through. However, these would never be dieselised. Instead the remaining intermediate stations between Stafford and Wellington, and onwards to Shrewsbury, would cease to be served from 7th September 1964. A.J.B. Dodd/Colour-Rail.com [1: p167]
The shake-up in Inter-Regional duties that was instigated with the introduction of the winter 1962/63 timetable, which significantly diverted the traditional Somerset & Dorset routed trains via Oxford, also brought about the end of the Bournemouth to Birkenhead duty, so Saturday, 9th September 1962 was the last day it ran. Interestingly, as part of the ongoing West Coast main line electrification, the Up and Down ‘Pines Express’ was also diverted away from Birmingham (New Street), so it now served Snow Hill, Wolverhampton (Low Level), and Wellington, then diverged to travel via Market Drayton to Crewe and Manchester. From an Oakengates perspective, this brought an English Electric ‘Type 4’ diesel through the station – the timetable ‘path’ for this train south of Wellington was that once used by the Birkenhead service.
At this stage, duties generally continued to operate to traditional timings, and a glance at the 1963 timetable provides an example. In the Down direction these were the 12.15am, 8.20am, 9.10am, 11.10am – ‘Cambrian Coast Express’, 12.10pm, 1.10pm, 2.10pm, 4.10pm, 6.10pm and 7.10pm from Paddington. The return journeys were at 6.30am, 7.40am, 8.55am, 11.40am, 2.45pm, 4.30pm and 8.55pm from Birkenhead, 2.30pm from Chester, and the 7.10am, 7.30am and 5.10pm from Shrewsbury.
There was a regional boundary change from 9th September 1963, with the Western Region retreating to Bromsgrove, but even with the new London Midland Region broom there were not yet enough diesels, locomotives or multiple-units, to exclude steam locomotive use on peak hour passenger duties, even into 1964. David Bradshaw remembers this well as in the 1963/64 period his girlfriend Margaret (now his wife), frequently caught the 5.10pm local service to Oakengates from the bay platform at Shrewsbury; it was generally hauled by a Shrewsbury-allocated ‘County’ or ‘Hall’, and the guard would always ensure that she caught it, often holding the train beyond its departure time. If she missed this, the next train was a Shrewsbury to Stafford service, with a change to a diesel-multiple-unit at Wellington.
Stafford Junction, just to the east of Wellington station, was the meeting point of the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway and Shropshire Union Railway & Canal Co, this opening on 1st June 1849, which was a pivotal day as inaugural S&BR services began between Shrewsbury and Oakengates and likewise the LNWR-operated Shrewsbury to Stafford services started, the latter diverging here; the junction was ‘Joint’ property, as was the line West from here to Shrewsbury. This view is looking east on 9th August 1932, the Stafford line branching left, while the line straight ahead is for Oakengates, although the next nearest railway infrastructure of note is Ketley Junction, just 52 chains away, where trains from Wellington for Much Wenlock diverged as they travelled ’round The Wrekin’. Mowat Collection.
The Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Co.
The Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Co. was created in 1846 as an amalgam of a number of canal and railway schemes. Railways were, at that time, starting to pose a serious threat to the local canal companies, and it was for this reason that the Shropshire Union company was formed, the idea being that a combined railway and waterway undertaking would be able to hold its own in competition with purely railway-orientated companies such as the London & North Western Railway.
The Shropshire Union worked a number of existing waterways, including the Ellesmere & Chester Canal (which had already absorbed the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction company), and it also obtained powers for a network of connecting railway lines, one of which would have run from Nantwich to Wolverhampton, while others would extend from Crewe to Newton and from Stafford to Shrewsbury. In total, it was envisaged that the Shropshire Union would encompass no less than 155 miles of railway, much of this system being converted from the Shropshire Union’s existing canals.
Having secured Parliamentary consent for their ambitious scheme, the Shropshire Union supporters looked forward to a prosperer future. However, their plans were perhaps far too ambitious, and the Shropshire Union company inevitably attracted the attention of rival railway companies, notably the rapidly expanding LNWR. In 1847, the Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Company was leased in perpetuity to the LNWR, and by this means the original Shropshire Union plans were effectively thwarted. The Nantwich to Wolverhampton and Crewe to Newton lines were abandoned, although, happily, the main canal routes remained in operation under London & North Western auspices.
It was also agreed that the proposed railway from Stafford to Shrewsbury would be constructed, with the proviso that the western section between Wellington and Shrewsbury would be vested jointly in the Shrewsbury & Birmingham and Shropshire Union companies. As we have seen, the line from Shrewsbury to Wellington was opened on 1st June 1849, and the connecting line between Stafford and Wellington was also opened on the same day, this eastern section being worked as a purely LNWR branch, whereas the Wellington to Shrewsbury line was jointly-owned with the S&BR. Trains worked on a Stafford to Shrewsbury axis, calling at Gnosall (64 miles), Newport (11½ miles), Hadley (17½ miles), Wellington (18¾ miles), and then intermediate stations to Shrewsbury (29¼ miles).
The LNWR Coalport Branch
Along with discussion of all the other railways in and around Oakengates (including the Lilleshall Co. private railways), David Bradshaw and Stanley C. Jenkins looked at the Wellington to Coalport Branch.
These paragraphs come first from the parts of the Steam Days article which relate to the Wellington to Coalport Branch, [1: p168-170, 175, 176-177] but are supplemented by my own research into the route of the line.
Wikipedia provides this schematic map of the Coalport Branch which highlights the key stations and sidings. [37]
The Great Western Railway had taken over the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway (S&BR) in 1854, and this may have prompted the LNWR to consider a scheme for converting the Shropshire Canal into a railway. This busy waterway was experiencing severe problems in terms of subsidence and water supply, and there was a major flooding incident in July 1855 when Snedshill tunnel collapsed. It was thought that the cost of repairs would probably exceed £30,000 and, faced with this heavy expenditure, the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) decided that the money would be better spent on the construction of a replacement railway from Hadley, near Wellington, to Coalport, which would utilise, as much as possible, parts of the troublesome canal.
It was then estimated that the proposed Coalport branch line would cost about £80,000, including £62,500 for the purchase of the waterway. Accordingly, in November 1856, notice was given that an application would be made to Parliament in the ensuing session for leave to bring in a Bill for the purchase and sale of the Shropshire Canal and the ‘Conversion of Portions thereof to Railway Purposes, and Construction of a Railway in connection therewith’.
The proposed line was described as a railway, with all proper stations, works, and conveniences connected therewith, commencing by a junction with the Shrewsbury and Stafford Railway of the Shropshire Union Company in the township of Hadley and parish of Wellington, in the county of Salop. at a point about two hundred yards westward of the mile post on the said railway denoting twelve miles from Shrewsbury’, and it terminated in the parish of Sutton Maddock, in the county of Salop, at a point ten chains or thereabouts to the east of the terminus of the Shropshire Canal at Coalport’.
The railway would pass through various specified parishes, townships, or other places, including Wellington, Hadley, Donnington Wood, Wrockwardine, Wombridge, Oakengates, Stirchley, Malins Lee, Dawley, Snedshill, Madeley, and Coalport, ‘occupying in the course thereof portions of the site of the Shropshire Canal’. Having passed through all stages of the complex Parliamentary process, the actual ‘Act for Authorising the Conversion of parts of the Shropshire Canal to Purposes of a Railway’ received the Royal Assent on 27th July 1857.
The canal was closed between Wrockwardine Wood and the bottom of the Windmill Hill inclined plane on 1st June 1858, although isolated sections of the waterway remained in use for many years thereafter. The work of conversion was soon underway, and on Thursday, 30th May 1861 The Birmingham Daily Post announced that the Coalport and Hadley line of railway would be opened on ‘Monday next’, implying that the first trains would run on 3rd May. In the event, this prediction was slightly optimistic, and on 12th June the same newspaper reported that, ‘in accordance with the arrangements arrested’. previously announced’, the Coalport branch had been opened for passenger traffic on Monday, 10th June 1861.
As usual in those days, Opening Day was treated as a public holiday, and a large number of spectators had assembled at Coalport station to witness this historic event. ‘At the appointed time, the first engine, and train of first, second and third class carriages, moved off from the station, having a respectable number of passengers’.
The newly opened railway commenced at Hadley Junction, on the Stafford to Wellington line, and it climbed south-eastwards on a ruling gradient of 1 in 50 towards Oakengates (3.25 miles from Wellington), which thereby acquired its second station. Beyond, the route continued southwards, with intermediate stations at Dawley (6 miles) and Madeley Market (7½ miles), to its terminus at Coalport, some 9½ miles from Wellington. The final two miles of line included a continuous 1 in 40 descent towards the River Severn. An additional station was opened to serve Malins Lee, between Oakengates and Dawley, on 7th July 1862.
Wellington Railway Station to Hadley Railway Station
Wellington Railway Station was the junction station for the Coalport Branch passenger services. The bay platform on the South side of the Wellington Station site was shared with the GWR Coalbrookdale line (Wellington & Severn Junction Railway). The station and the line to its East are covered in the link below:
Coalport East trains left the Shrewsbury to Birmingham line and for a short distance, to Hadley Junction, travelled along the line from Wellington to Stafford. After passing through Hadley Railway Station trains took to the Branch which curved away to the South of the main line.
Hadley Railway Station to Wombridge (Goods)
Experience shows that it is very difficult to plot a line on the ground when significant development has taken place. For the first section of this line the redevelopment from the 1960s into the 21st century has been very significant. In this article I have relied on modern satellite images provided by railmaponline.com. [4] As usual, historic mapping comes from the NLS (National Library of Scotland).
Hadley Railway Station appears on the left of this extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902. The trackwork associated with the junction and with Castle Car Works can be seen at the top right of the extract. [12]The same area in the 21st century as shown on the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. [12]An enlarged extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey which shows the area immediately around Hadley Station. [14]The same area on the modern satellite imagery of Google Maps. [15]Caren Craft shared the photograph of modern Hadley taking shape on the Hadley History Facebook Group on 26th June 2022. The photo was carried by the Shropshire Star on 15th August 2011. Both of the two railway bridges can be seen on the left of the image carrying the new single track railway line. [13]
Hadley Railway Station served the former Stafford to Shrewsbury Line and was the start of the branch to Coalport. The station was opened in 1849 and closed in 1964. The line through Hadley was closed from 1964, with the last remaining stretches of track being taken up in 1991. In the late 2000s a stretch of track was re-laid to the Telford International Railfreight Park for freight purposes only. [16]
Telford International Railfreight Park (known as TIRFP) is rail freight depot and construction development site located in Donnington to the north of Telford, on the former route of the Stafford to Shrewsbury Line. The terminal was opened in 2009. [17]
Wombridge Priory was a small Augustinian monastery established in the early 12th century, it was supported by a network of minor nobility and was never a large community. Despite generally good financial management, it fell within the scope of the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 and was dissolved in the following year. [82]
The priory was dedicated to St Leonard. St Leonard was particularly popular in the 12th century following the release of Bohemond I of Antioch, a captured crusader – a circumstance which he seems to have attributed to the saint’s intercession. White Ladies Priory, another Shropshire Augustinian house, was also dedicated to St Leonard, as was the parish church at Bridgnorth, [82] and at a later date, Malinslee Parish Church. Remains of the priory buildings remained visible until the 19th century but are now hidden beneath the churchyard and other development. They were excavated in the 1930s and again in 2011 and 2012. [82]
The church was designated to St. Mary and St. Leonard and was built in 1869 by George Bidlake. It is the fourth church on the site of the Priory.
An aerial view of Wombridge Church with some of the remains of the Priory evident. This photograph was shared on the Telford – The Ultimate Guide Facebook Group by Steve Bowers on 27th February 2023. [47]
The bridge which carried the Coalport Branch over what was once Wombridge Road was demolished to make way for the A442 Queensway.
This photograph was taken during the demolition of the bridge. It is the only photo I have been able to find of the old railway bridge. It appears to have been taken from the South. Headroom would have been quite limited. The photograph was shared by Paul Wheeler on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 23rd November 2017. [48]
We continue on our journey along the old Coalport Branch with a ground-level shot along the A442 showing the line of the old railway.
Looking Southeast along the A442, Queensway from the Northwest-bound off slip road. The A442 was built over the line of the Coalport branch which was curving along the length ahead towards the Southeast. [Google Streeetview, June 2022]The 25″ Ordnance Survey from the turn of the 20th century again. The important feature on this length of the Coalport Branch was the bridge which carried Stafford Road over the line. [49]Once again, this satellite image covers approximately the same area as that covered by the OS map extract above. The purple line is the route of the Coalport Branch as recorded on railmaponline.com. [33]An image from the Southbound carriageway of the A442 from a position at the top-left of the satellite image above. [Google Streetview, June 2022]From the same Southbound carriageway, the bridge which carries Stafford road over the A442 is visible in the distance. The Coalport Branch followed a tighter curve than the modern road, passing under Stafford Road to the South of the modern bridge over the A442. [Google Streetview, June 2022]A Brown’s Sentinel bus crosses the Stafford Road bridge in Oakengates in March 1963. For much of his married life, Ron Dean was in the driving seat. And his wife Greta was his conductor. The camera is pointing towards the South. [50]Stafford Road Bridge again, sometime in the 1960s before the A442, Queensway dual carriageway was built. This was probably taken at the time that a footbridge was being installed alongside the road bridge. The photo is taken facing South along the Brach line. It was shared on the Telford memories Facebook Group by Bear Yeomans on 7th February 2016. [51]Looking North from Stafford Road Bridge along the Coalport Branch towards Hadley Junction. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 23rd May 2020. [52]Looking North under Stafford Road Bridge along the Coalport Branch. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 30th July 2018. [53]This aerial photo of Oakengates was taken in November 1970. Just to the right of the top-centre of the image, Stafford Road bridge can be seen with the footbridge alongside it. The A442 is not evident, but the Coalport Branch cutting can be followed from the road bridge to the right. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 22nd March 2022. [54]An enlarged extract from the picture immediately above showing Stafford Road bridge in the top-left. [54]This next length of the line takes us through Oakengates Market Street Railway Station and Goods yard. The 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902 shows the station and goods yard to full advantage. [55]The railmaponline.com satellite image of the same area as in the map extract above. This begins to show how congested the area around Oakengates was with a variety of railway lines and sidings. [33]
The OS image above shows the length of the Coalport branch as it passes through Oakengates (Market) station and goods yard. We will return to look at the station later. Two images looking North through the station will suffice at this juncture.
Aview looking North from the boundary fence, through Oakemgates (Market) Station. The line was much less busy on this occasion. The image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 16th August 2017. An equivalent modern view from Canongate is not feasible because the industrial site is now screened by trees. [3]Looking North through the area that was Oakengates Market Street Station Goods yard from the Eastern end of Commercial Way. The purple line shows the approximate route of the Coalport Branch. The white building at the centre of this image is the old goods shed now put to a different use! [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking Southeast from the same location. The mainline of the Coalport Branch would have run along the treeline behind the industrial units. [Google Streetview, June 2022]The view from the Southeast on Canongate. The purple line shows the approximate location of the Coalport Branch which passed under the road by means of a bridge. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Canongate Railway Bridge was a brick-arched structure. It is seen here infilled to support the road above. This image was posted by BruceS on Waymarking.com on 2nd June 2015. [60]Looking North under Canongate Bridge towards Oakengates Market Street Station. This picture was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 12th October 2017. [61]An aerial image looking North along the line of the Coalport Branch in 1948. Canongate bridge is in the centre of the image, the Station is towards the top of the image beyond the goods yard, (c) Historic England, Britain from Above (EAW013748). [62]An extract from the above image which shows Canongate, the Goods Yard and the Station in greater detail, (c) Historic England, Britain from Above (EAW013748). [62]The next length of the Coalport Branch took it passed Snedshill Iron Works and into a tight corridor which included the GWR Shrewsbury to Birmingham railway Line, the Coalport Branch and a Mineral Railway. This area is again shown on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902. [63]Railmaponline.com’s satellite imagery shows the same area as in the OS map above as it appears in the 21st century. All the lines mentioned above are included in the overlay to the satellite imagery. [33]Another extract from the aerial image of 1948 which showed Canongate Bridge, this shows the area to the South of Canongate. Snedshill Iron Works are on the right of the image. In the centre of the image are John Maddock and Co.’s works for whom the aerial photographs were taken. Those works do not feature on either the 1901 Ordnance Survey or the modern satellite imagery. [62]Looking North from the A5 bridge over the Coalport branch. Snedshill Ironworks are on the right of the image. The bridge at the centre of the image is the same one that appears at the bottom of the aerial image immediately above. This photograph was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 18th March 2018. [64]Almost extactly the same location, also looking North, the connection was one of the busier connections from the Coalport line. As we have noted, our vantage point is the Holyhead Road overbridge, the old A5 trunk road. This view shows the Coalport branch in the cutting on the left, while the lines on the right connect to the former Snedshill Iron Works; a Hawksworth ‘9400’ pannier tank is seen shunting the siding in the mid-1950s. This was initially one of the connections to the Lilleshall network but in about 1938 the Lilleshall Company sold the Snedshill Iron Works to John Maddock’s & Son, an Oakenshaw-based engineering firm that was outgrowing its premises near the GWR station. Subsequent development saw the distant building become one of the most modem casting foundries in Europe, and post-war, pipe fittings became the principal activity. (c) A.J.B. Dodd [1: p170]Looking Northwest along Reynolds Drive, Oakengates. The Coalport Branch was in cutting at this location. The purple line gives an idea of its Route. Its route crosses Hawkshaw Close a 100 yards or so to the left, as shown below. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking South along Hawkshaw Close, Oakengates with the line of the Coalport Branch shown. As noted above the line was in relatively deep cutting at this location. Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking North from Newlands Road, Oakengates, towards Oakengates Market Street Station. At this point on the line we are a little to the North of the accommodation bridge shown on the 1948 aerial image above. The approximate route of the line is again shown by the purple line. The line was, however, in deep cutting at this location. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking South from Newlands Road, Oakengates, along the line of the Coalport Branch which was in deep cutting at this location. The road to the right of this image is Station Road which once ran immediately alongside the old railway line a little further to the South.[Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking North along Station Road across the line of the old railway. Station Road was diverted when the new roundabout (immediately behind the camers) was constructed. The next two monochrome images focus on this location as it was in 1948. [Google Streetview, June 2022]The same length of line, but this time as shown in an aerial image from the Northwest, also taken in 1948. The image features John Maddock’s works with Snedshill Iron Works beyond, (c) Historic England, Britain from Above (EAW013752). [65]A closer view of the top-right of the above image with the Coalport branch heading away to the South. This area saw significant alterations in the later years of the 20th century. The significant bridge carries what is designated the B5061 in the 21st century, but was the A5 Trunk Road. The works immediately beyond the bridge and alongside the A5 are the Lilleshall Company’s Snedshill Brickworks, (c) Historic England, Britain from Above (EAW013752). [65]The 1″ OS Map of 1898, published 1899, shows the location of the bridge. The immediate area is now under the Greyhound Roundabout which sits alongside the A442. [66]Looking Southeast along the A5 towards the Lilleshall works at Priorslee. The dominant building with the curved roof on the left of this image is the Lilleshall Company’s Snedshill Brickworks. The Coalport Branch passed under the bridge at the centre of the image. This phot was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 23rd February 2014 by Vince Allen. [67]Looking down into the cutting of the Coalport Branch from the East in 1973. The road running across the image is the A5. The arch bridge is the Greyhound Bridge which is eventually replaced by the Greyhound Roundabout. The picture was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 14th May 2019. [68]A local collapse of parapet walling alongside the bridge occurred in 1966. The bridge is off to the left of the photograph, the running line of the Coalport Branch just below the image. This press cutting was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Johnson on 1st March 2014. [69]In this postcard aerial view of Snedshill Brickworks from the West, the Mineral Railway adjacent to the Coalport Branch is visible, crossing the A5 at the bottom edge of the image. The Coalport Branch is just off the bottom of the picture. [70]Snedshill Brickworks again, this time in the 1950s and viewed from the East. The A5 runs away to the right of the image. The cutting of the Coalport Branch runs across from middle-right to middle-left. The A5 bridge over the line is hidden by the Works buildings. This picture was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 26th March 2014. [71]From a similar angle to the last picture but taken from the Lilleshall Brickworks buildings in 1974, this image was carried by the Shropshire Star at the time. The A5 runs diagonally across the shot with the dwarf wall above the arched Greyhound Bridge visible to its right. The cutting of the Coalport Branch runs left to right across the centre of the image. The picture was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group on 22nd October 2020 by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley. [72]
This photo does not have the best of definition, but it is worth including as it shows the view South across the Brickworks before redevelopment work in the area. The Shrewsbury to Birmingham line curves away to the East. The A5 bridge over the Coalport Branch is visible at the bottom of the image. [33]
From this point South the A442 now occupies the space which once was used by the Coalport Branch. The Northbound slip road from the A442 can be seen following the line of the old railway on the Railmaponlin.com satellite image below.
The 25″ Ordance Survey of 1901, published 1902, shows the Coalport Branch passing over the GWR Shrewsbury to Birmingham main line. The GWR line passed under the area in a deep tunnel with the Coalport Branch above it also in a relative deep cutting. The two lines ran approximately parallel for a short distance. [74]Railmaponline.com shows the same area with the local lines overlaid on the satellite imagery from Google Maps. [33]The view North, back towards Oakengates from the northbound slip road of the A442. [Google Streetview, June 2022]The view South from the same location showing the approximate route of the Coalport Branch. [Google Streetview, June 2022]A little further South along the A442 with the approximate line of the Coalport Branch marked once again. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Further South again, this time the camera is on the southbound carriageway. The Coalport Branch ran approximately along the modern treeline. Beyond the horizon the A442 curves back over the formation of the old line. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Further South again the A442 crosses the line of the Coalport Branch. The next Railmaponline.com satellite image shows that the footbridge in this view is very close to the point where the A442 leaves the formation of the Coalport branch. [Google Streetview, June 2022]This next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1902 shows the Shrewsbury to Birmingham line to the East of the Coalport branch and running parallel to it. Both pass under the road leading Northeast out of Hollinswood. The Coalport branch remains in cutting along much of its length on this map extract. [75]The same area on the satellite imagery provided by Railmaponline.com. The purple line shows the route of the Coalport Branch which, from close to the top-left of the image ran along a route immediately adjacent to the modern A442. Hollinswood Road has been replaced by a footbridge over the A442 and the Shrewsbury to Birmingham main line. It is further cut to the Southwest by the M54 and its junction arrangement, just off this image to the bottom-left. [33]Looking North towards Oakengates from the cycle track on the West side of the A442. The approximate route of the Coalport Brnach is indicated by the purple line. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Looking Southeast from the cycleway alongside the A442. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Another view looking North, but this time taken from the Footbridge/Cycleway bridge over the A442. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Looking South from the same bridge with the route of the old railway indicated by the purple line. The bridge ahead carries the M54 over the A442. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Looking South again, this time from the cycleway/footpath which runs under the M54 bridge over the A442. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]This is now the view South towards the Telford Station footbridge. My photograph, 13th March 2023]A few steps ahead and turning a half-circle, this is the view looking North under the M54 Bridge with the old railway route marked by the same purple line. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]The view South once more showing the line of the old railway. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Looking North-northwest on Rampart Way under the footbridge leading to Telford Railway Station. The approximate line of the Coalport Branch is shown by the purple line. The M54 runs parallel to and beyond the purple line [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking to the Southwest under the Station Footbridge with the line of the Old Coalport Branch shown in purple. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Old Dark Lane Colliery and Brickworks appear at the top of the next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902. Dark Lane Village is at the bottom of the image. Dark Lane village was lost as part of the development of Telford. The Branch has turned away from the Shrewsbury to Birmingham line towards the South. [76]The same area on the satellite imagery provided by Railmaponline.com. The route of the old line cuts across the West side of the A442 interchange and then South through housing and across Dale Acre Way. [33]Looking South across Hollinswood Interchange along the line of the Coalport Branch. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking East along the northern arm of Dunsheath. The line of the old railway crosses the housing development immediately this side of the black car and the van (approximately)! [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking East along the southern arm of Dunsheath. The line of the old railway crosses the housing development as shown by the purple line. [Google Streetview, June 2022]
Old Darklane Colliery and Brickworks
The Colliery was opened in 1855 and closed finally in 1885. The owners were: Beriah Botfield (1855-1860]; Leighton and Grenfell (1869-1870); and Haybridge Iron Co. Ltd (1875-1885). [77]
Dark Lane Village
Dark Lane Village was lost in its entirety to the redevelopment which produced Telford. Dark Lane Row and the Methodist Chapel appear at the bottom of the OS map extract above. The remainder of the village features at the top of the OS Map extract below. Malins Lee Station was on the South side of the village. Little Dark Lane Colliery to the West. There were three long rows of cottages which were known locally as: Long Row (about 550ft long and containing 20 houses); Bottom Row (a little over 500ft long and containing 25 houses); and Short Row (nine houses built by the Botfield family in around 1825). A full description of the village and pictures of the buildings can be found on the Dawleyhistory.com website. [78]
The last extract on the Coalport Branch from the 1901 25″ Ordnance Survey shows Dark Lane village and Malins Lee Railway Station. [79]The same area on the satellite imagery provided by Railmaponline.com. After crossing Dale Acre Way, the route of the old line heads South-southwest across open ground and then over land used for housing development. [33]Looking West on Dale Acre Way. the approximate location of the old railway is shown by the purple line. [Google Streetview, June 2022]The view West in the 1960s along Dark Lane the GWR mineral railway was hidden in the dip. The road then rose relatively steeply to cross over the Coalport Branch. The bridge can be seen middle-left of this image. [80]This Streetview image is taken from approximately the same location as the picture immediately above. [Google Streetview, June 2022]This bucolic colour image shows the road featured in the image above but this time from a location adjacent to Bottoms Row, Dark Lane. The bridge over the Coalport Branch can be seen again on the horizon. This photo was shared on the Telford memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 28th February 2023. It was colourised by Simon Alun Hark. [81]This image is taken from the same geographical location as the one immediately above, facing in the same direction. The light blue line indicates the alignment of the old Dark Lane. [Google Streetview, June 2022]This postcard view shows Bottom Row with the Methodist Chapel beyond. The bridge on the right of the image carried Dark Lane over the Coalport Branch. Malins Lee Station was beyond the bridge to the right of the image. A matching modern image is not practical as the camera location is now in the midst of a copse of trees close to the boundary of the exhibition centre car park. [82]
‘The Miner’s Walk‘ website provides more information about the area around Dark Lane village. [83] It includes a hand-drawn overlay of modern roads over the Ordnance Survey of the 1880s.
The hand drawn overlay showing modern roads as they relate to Dark Lane village and Malins Lee Railway Station. [83]Malins Lee Station as in appeared in 1932.The photograph seems to have been taken facing South from the bridge which carried Dark Lane over the line. The passenger facilities at the station seem to be a little different to others on the Coalport Branch. The station was closed for two years during WW1 as an economy measure and finally closed in 1952 with the line remaining open for goods traffic for more than a decade. Just to the South of the station was a single siding which served immediately local industries. This picture was shared by Lin Keska on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 15th August 2018. [84]Marcus Keane shared this composite image on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 20th July 2014 which shows the location of Malins Lee Station in relation to the modern blocks of flats in Hollinswood. [85]Malins Lee Station once again. This photo seems to have been taken from the filed opposite the station. The tall chimney behind the station was probably that of Dark Lane Foundry. This photograph was shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford memories Facebook Group on 24th January 2018, (c) Ray Farlow, circa 1907. [86]Malins Lee Station passenger facilities. The photograph was shared on Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 20th September 2017. [87]Malins Lee Station had been closed to passengers for 12 years when this photograph was taken of a goods service on the Coalport Branch. The picture was shared on the Telford memories Facebook Group by Lin Keska on 15th August 2018. [88]
The Coalport branch line was, from its inception, geared towards freight traffic rather than passengers, and there were numerous private sidings linked to nearby factories within the Oakengates Urban District. One of these sidings, known as Wombridge Goods, served Wombridge Iron Works, which had a connection with a surviving section of the Shropshire Canal. There was also Wombridge ballast siding and Wombridge Old Quarry siding, while other sidings served the iron foundry of John Maddocks & Son, and also the Lilleshall Company’s steel works at Snedshill.
Successive editions of The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Stations reveal further private sidings on the Coalport branch, including, in 1938, the Exley & Son siding and the Nuway Manufacturing Co siding at Coalport, and at Madeley Market there was the Messrs Legge & Sons’ siding and the Madeley Wood Cold Blast Slag Co siding.
The original train service consisted of three passenger trains in each direction between Wellington and Coalport, with a similar number of goods workings. This modest service persisted for many years, although an additional Thursdays-only train was subsequently provided in response to the increased demand on Wellington market days. In 1888 the branch was served by four passenger trains each way, together with five Up and three Down goods workings. By the summer of 1922 there were five Up and five Down passenger trains, with an additional short-distance service from Wellington to Oakengates and return on Saturdays-only.
In the final years of passenger operation, the timetable comprised five trains each way. In July 1947, for example, there were Up services from Coalport at 6.22am, 8.50am, 11.57am, 4.40pm and 7.40pm, with corresponding Down workings from Wellington at 8.04am, 10.02am, 1.40pm, 6.30pm and 9.15pm; a slightly different service pertained on Thursdays and Saturdays. The final branch passenger service in 1952. consisted of four Up and four Down trains, increasing to five each way on Thursdays and six on Saturdays.
The Oakengates (West) Route
This excellent aerial image looking North shows Oakengates (West) Station on the left and Oakengates (Market) Station top-right. The image was shared by Darren Minshall on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 26th February 2021. it allows to see just how close the two lines were South of the centre of Oakengates. [41]
In order to explain the layout of the railway system in and around Oakengates, it would be useful to visualise the route taken by the present-day trains on the Shrewsbury & Birmingham main line as they proceed north-westwards from Wolverhampton, via Bilbrook, Codsall, Albrighton, Cosford, and Shifnal. Beyond Shifnal, Madeley Junction – 156 miles 21 chains from Paddington via Oxford and Birmingham (Snow Hill) – is where the former Madeley branch diverges south for Lightmoor and continues as the Ketley branch to Coalbrookdale, this route was still used early in the 21st century to serve the Ironbridge power station. From Madeley Junction the main line turns on to a north-north-easterly heading, soon passing the once extensive sidings at Hollinswood (157 miles 25 chains). Here the Lilleshall system was accessed from the Great Western network on the Up side, while a little known line ran from Hollinswood Down sidings to Stirchley to serve a concentration of local industry. The 1¼ mile line was opened by the Great Western in 1908 and it closed in 1959 – in later days there were three workings a week.
This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902,shows Hollinswood Junction on the GWR/BR mainline between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton. [91]This extract from the NLS provided ETSI satellite imagery shows the same are in the 21st century. The only thing which remains from 1901 is the double track mainline railway! The platforms of Telford Central Railway Station can be made out in the top-left corner of this image. [91]A view looking Southeast from Hollinswood Signal Box as Collett ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 5912 Queen’s Hall heads a Down passenger train towards Oakengates tunnel, its next likely stop being Wellington. Using GWR terminology, the line on the far right is the Stirchley branch, but it was also known as the Old Park branch or Botfields siding. Opened in 1908, despite its length of little more than a mile, over the years it served Grange Colliery, Wrekin Chemical Works, Old Park Iron Works, and Haybridge Colliery, among other locations, but officially the end of the line upon its 2nd February 1959 decommissioning was a Tarmac siding in Stirchley; sadly there is no date recorded for this view, so the link to Stirchley may already be out of use, the long term allocation of the passing ‘Hall’ to Tyseley shed giving no tangible clues. Of note is the massive water tank at the cutting to the east end of the sidings, an Up-facing freight is in the Down goods loop, and the LMS-pattern brake van on the far left is in the sidings from the former Lilleshall Company’s Priorslee site. A.J.B. Dodd/Colour-Rail.com [1: p171]Almost exactly the same view on Easter Monday 1948. This image was shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 19th April 2020. [123]A view looking Northwest across Hollinswood sidings. David Bradshaw says that he used to play Cowboys and Indians on the steelworks slag heaps here. The locomotive is a Great Western Churchward 2-6-0 – mixed traffic (passenger and freight) built Swindon Works 14/6/1920 withdrawn from service 1/9/1959 having covered 1,266,196 miles – still with original design cylinders. This image was shared by David Bradshaw on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group on 4th December 2016. [100] This image is also included in David Bradshaw and Stanley Jenkins article. In that article these notes are alongside the image: “In early British Railways’ days, former GWR Churchward Mogul No 5381 heads a southbound passenger train past Hollinswood sidings, the massive yards established a little way from the southern portal of Oakengates tunnel to exchange traffic with the Lilleshall system. The distant chimneys and slag heaps are those of the Priorslee Furnaces, one of the principal Lilleshall Company establishments – and David Bradshaw says, these slag heaps proved to be great terrain for playing Cowboys & Indians in the early to mid-1950s. As an aside, the Wolverhampton-bound passenger train is effectively passing through the site of what is now Telford Central station, the impressive but arguably ugly industrial scene that I recall now landscaped to provide a modern road system serving the 1980s-built station and industrial estates, the area also being bridges by the M54. A.J.B. Dodd.” [1: p167]Loco. No. 48516 heading through Hollinswood Junction with its train of coal wagons in 1965. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Lin Keska on 4th April 2018. [114]This image was also shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Lin Keska on 4th April 2018. [114]: The signal box diagram for Hollinswood shows the box sited at the end of the Stirchley branch, on the Down side of the main line with the signalman facing north as he works the frame, overlooking five through lines as well as other additional through sidings. This diagram is to an extent the tip of the iceberg, as it only shows equipment – signals, ground signals, points and related locking equipment – that is worked from the box itself, so clearly any hand-worked points at the extremities of the yards are not shown, so this explains the mysterious lines petering out from the Up yard into the Lilleshall network, which was of course the lifeblood of this location. Signalling Record Society. [1: p171]In this image Hollinswood sits beside the mainline as construction work for the new road interchange continues around it. This image was shared by Steve Bowers on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group on 3rd July 2021. [113]
In modern times, a new station, Telford Central (157 miles 40 chains) has appeared between the site of the yards at Hollinswood and the 471-yard long Oakengates tunnel.
The modern M54 crosses the railway to the Northwest of Telford Central Station and the railway then is in steep cutting before plunging into Oakengates Tunnel.
This tunnel is the longest on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line, as well as being the longest of three railway tunnels presently in use in Shropshire. The tunnel passed beneath the summit level of the Shropshire Canal, and it was the scene of a disaster in 1855, when a breach from the canal occurred. The entire summit level emptied into the tunnel, causing flooding in the town, although there were no reports of personal injuries. It is interesting to note that the S&BR Directors decided that the tunnel should be made wide enough to accommodate two broad gauge lines, although in actual fact the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway was constructed and opened as a standard gauge route.
Emerging into daylight once again, trains pass through a deep cutting before coming to rest in the still-extant station at Oakengates (158 miles 32 chains), which was of course known as Oakengates (West) for a while, its reversion to ‘Oakengates’ coming after the passenger closure of the Coalport line.
Up and Down platforms are provided at Oakengates, the main station building (now a dental practice) being on the Up (southbound) side. The Down platform was formerly equipped with a subsidiary waiting room, but just simple waiting shelters are now provided on both platforms at this unstaffed stopping place. The platforms are linked by a standard Great Western lattice girder footbridge, while a public footpath is carried across the line on a plate girder footbridge at the Hollinswood end of the station.
The main station building was designed by Edward Banks, one of Wolverhampton’s leading architects, who had been appointed to design and oversee the erection of the S&BR’s buildings. It was a typical Banks’ design, of red brick construction, in the Italianate style, with an open-fronted loggia for the benefit of waiting passengers. The latter has now been removed, but the main, two-storey hip-roofed building still remains intact.
An early photograph of the North end of the platforms at Oakengates Railway Station illustrating the proximity of the goods shed to the platforms. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 29th February 2020. [99]This slightly wider view of the North end of Oakengate Station was shared by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on the Oakengate History Group Facebook Group on 23rd September 2023. [103]An early photograph of Oakengates Railway Station and footbridge. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 29th February 2020. [99]
Prior to rationalisation, the station had been equipped with sidings on both sides of the running lines, the main goods yard, with half-a-dozen sidings, being to the north of the platforms on the Up side; one of these sidings crossed over Lion Street and ended a short distance from the LNWR ‘timber siding’. Two additional sidings were also available on the opposite side, and one of these served the cattle loading dock, where on dry days the local trainspotting fraternity would gather. The 1938 Handbook of Stations reveals that Oakengates was able to handle a full range of goods traffic, including coal, livestock, vehicles, horse boxes and general merchandise. There was a large, brick-built goods shed, and a six-ton yard crane. The station was signalled from a gable-roofed signal cabin that was sited near the entrance to the goods yard, on the Up side of the running lines.
While the image above clearly shows the relationship between the station building and the goods shed, this is a much better view of the main station building as it was in 1967. The image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Nick Nandan on 14th April 2014. [5]A more distant view of the main station building as it was in April 1968. The image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 20th February 2016. [11]The Station Building in the mid-1980s. This image was shared by Jeff Williams on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 15th July 2014. [9]The Goodsyard adjacent to the passenger station building at Oakengates became the site of a Cement Silo belonging to Tunnel Cement. The passenger station building can be glimpsed behind the first coach on the train. The plant was at one time rail-served but this is no longer the case by the time this photograph was taken. The locomotive is a Class 47 diesel, I believe. This 1980s image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group on 11th September 2016 by Stephen Tripp. [104]An earlier image of the same plant. This view was shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 24th November 2017. [105]This photograph was taken by Richard Foxcroft and comes from his website about Telford’s railways. These are his comments: “There used to be extensive sidings (and a coal yard?) here, but now it is an unmanned station at which only the most-stopping trains call. The former station building has become a dental surgery. The fine bridge at the bottom or Market Street, Oakengates is an original Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway bridge which bears a cast iron plate ‘Lilleshall Company Fect. 1848’. The goods yard in Oakengates had two sidings for Castle Cement until very recent years I can’t remember when they were closed but certainly they were still there when the ‘Donnington Farewell’ ran on 6.7.91.” [112]
Restarting from Oakengates (West) station, Bennetts or Padmores siding was sited on the Down side, and beyond Wombridge level crossing (159 miles 5 chains) was New Hadley Halt (159 miles 43 chains). This basic stopping place was opened on 3 November 1934.
Oakengates Railway Station as it appeared on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901. At this time there was a significant goods yard which appears to have been kept relatively busy. In the top-left of this map extract the bridge over Bridge Street is visible. [106]In the 21st century the station platforms and the passenger station building remain. Substantial development has occurred around the vicinity of the station and the goods yard is long-gone. This is another extract from the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. [106]Looking through the Railway Bridge up Market Street, Oakengates, circa 1967. The Coffee Palace building to the left was demolished by Telford Development Corporation in 1975, This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 18th September 2020. [107]A, J.W Jones, of St Georges Bus at Bridge St. Oakengates in 1963. In view are the Coalport Tavern & Woods Grocery (now the Bridge Street Dentists) as well as the bridge carrying the GWR/BR mainline. (c) Roy Marshall. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 31st March 2023. [110]Oakengates Railway bridge seen from the West with Market Street beyond. [Google Streetview, Jun 2022]This colourised postcard view shows the railway bridge from the opposite direction. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by David Lowe on 8th February 2014. [111]Oakengates Railway Bridge seen from the East. Market Street is behind the camera. [Google Streetview, May 2019]
Just a little further to the West the railway crossed/crosses Hadley Road.
the 1901 25″ Ordnance Survey shows the railway passing over Hadley Road. [115]The Railway Bridge over Hadley Road seen from the Southeast in June 2022. [Google Streetview, June 2022]
Proceeding in a westerly direction towards Wellington, there was a halt at New Hadley from 1934. Richard Foxcroft had a friend who remembered trains stopping at Hadley Halt as late as 1978-80, and Dave Cromarty was on the last train to stop there on 13th May, 1985 – despite which nothing remains of it. [112]
The southbound platform of New Hadley Halt, a basic timber-built structure on the western side of Oakengates. This mid-1960s scene shows the running-in board near the Up platform shelter, and the facilities on the Down platform were equally basic, a foot crossing at the Ketley Junction end of the halt being provided to cross the line. Opened in 1934, this stopping pace would go on to serve the people of Hadley for over fifty years. Tony Harden Collection. [200]
Beyond here, Ketley Junction (160 miles 22 chains) was where the Ketley branch trailed in on the Down side this was a through route that at its south end joined the Madeley branch at Lightmoor, its passenger duties generally starting at Wellington and working through Coalbrookdale and Buildwas to reach Much Wenlock.
Concluding our run along the Great Western Railway’s main line, Stafford Junction (160 miles 75 chains) was the meeting point of the LNWR/LMS-owned Shropshire Union line from Stafford, and Wellington station was sited 161 miles 27 chains from Paddington.
The Coalport line diverged from the Wellington to Stafford route at Hadley Junction, and ran south-eastwards via Wombridge goods station, at which point various private sidings branched out to serve Hadley Lodge Brickworks and other industrial concerns. We have followed the route through Oakengates already but we have not looked directly at the station. It seems right to preserve the structure of David Bradshaw & Stanley C. Jenkins’ article, and so we look at Oakengates (Market Street) Station here.
Oakengates, the largest station on the Coalport branch, was a short distance further on. The former LNWR and LMS station was renamed Oakengates (Market Street) on 18th June 1951, to prevent confusion with the nearby GWR station, which was thereafter known as Oakengates (West). The town’s Coalport line station was orientated on an approximate north-to-south alignment, and its layout included Up and Down platforms for passenger traffic, with a level crossing immediately to the north of the platform ramps.
The crossing adjacent to Oakengates (Market Street) Station on Station Hill. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 8th March 2018. [2]Looking South in 1963 across the level-crossing, the small signal cabin is on the left, the passenger facilities to the right and, it seems, a full goods yard beyond. Thus image was shared by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group on 12th August 2020. [108]Taken from a point a little further up Station Hill, the station building can be seen with the enclosed loggia between the two single-storey flat-roofed brick-built rooms. The single-storey building, contained the booking office and waiting room facilities. The single-storey portion faced on to the platform, and it featured the two rectangular bays and a central loggia, which was fully enclosed by a wood and glass screen to form a covered waiting area. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 16th August 2017. [3]A view from almost exactly the same location in 2022. The police station site is on the left of the image, the modern railings in the same location as on the image above. The A442, Queensway, overbridge now dominates the scene. [Google Streetview, June 2022]
The main station building was on the Up (northbound) platform, while the diminutive signal box was situated on the Down platform, in convenient proximity to the level crossing. The cabin was a standard LNWR gable-roofed box, albeit of the smallest size.
Greetings from Oakengates. A commercial postcard, franked in October 1905, shows the station forecourt area of the LNWR station in Oakengates. The view is looking east up Station Hill, and the Methodist Chapel on the right was where David Bradshaw and his sister went to Sunday School in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Halfway up the hill, the Lilleshall Company main line crossed at road level and the disused canal passed under the road. The crossing featuring in the pictures above is on the left side of this image. David Bradshaw Collection. [1: p175]
This photograph is taken from a point just off the left of the above image and also looks East up Station Hill across the railway line, which was by the time the picture was taken, closed. The image was shared on the Telford memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 13th November 2016. [56]
The main station building, which was similar to that at Coalport, was a typical LNWR design, incorporating a one-and-a-half-storey Stationmaster’s house at the rear, and an attached single-storey building, which contained the booking office and waiting room facilities. The single-storey portion faced on to the platform, and it featured two rectangular bays and a central loggia, which was fully enclosed by a wood and glass screen to form a covered waiting area. The residential block sported a steeply pitched slate-covered roof, whereas the booking office portion had a flat roof. The building was of local brick construction, with tall chimneys and slightly arched window apertures. This distinctive structure was erected, as were all the others on the line, by local builder Christopher Bugaley of Madeley. There was a detached gentlemens’ convenience on the Up platform, while facilities for waiting travellers on the Down platform comprised a small waiting room.
Looking West into Oakengates after the removal of the passenger facilities at Oakengates Market Street Station. Rails remain in the road. It is possible that this photograph was taken in the late 1950s or the very early 1960s. It was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 10th March 2017. [57]This little tableau of three images (one above and two below) were shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group on 16th July 2019 by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley. Two of the pictures show the work going on to deal with a derailment of a Pannier Tank. The photographs of the derailment were sent to the Group by John Wood (c) A.J.B. Dodd Dodd. Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley writes: A “derailment at Oakengates Crossing sometime before 1958. This is the LNWR LMS Rail line Market Street/Station Hill. Pic 3 shows where the then disused Line cuts across the Station Hill Road (the line ran between the Building and the Bus Stop traveling in the direction of Wellington), the building is the old Whitefoots Showroom, this was formerly a Pub, the building you can see the back of in the derailment pic is this same as in Pic 3. Much of this info is from John Wood.” The first picture shows the level crossing gates in the background and was taken looking Southeast with the Goods Yard and erstwhile Station Buildings beyond the Crossing gates to the South. The first of the two pictures below is taken looking North from the crossing gates. [58]Looking South from the level-crossing at the bottom of Station Hill and the top of Market Street. Oakengates (Market) Railway Station buildings were off the image on the right. The station platform edge can be seen through the crossing gates. The line curves round passed the Goods Yard, under Canongate Bridge and on towards the A5 at Greyhound Bridge. The photo was shared by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on the Oakengates History Facebook Group on 9th November 2019. [59]
Two dead-end goods sidings at Oakengates were provided on the Down side, while the Up side sported a sizeable goods yard and a substantial goods shed. There was also a timber yard siding and an additional goods shed that was used by Millington’s, a local company. The 1927 Ordnance Survey map suggests that the timber siding ran to within a few yards of the local (Oakengates & District) Co-operative Society Depot, and it was hardly a stone’s throw from a connection from the GWR station. For a time David Bradshaw attended the Sunday School at the Methodist Chapel halfway up Station Hill and was a regular at the classic Grosvenor Cinema, which was close to Market Street station. Halfway up Station Hill, the old canal and Lilleshall Company lines ran under and across the road respectively.
This photograph was taken in 1982 and shows the old goods facilities at Oakengates (Market) Railway Station. The view is taken looking North. By 1982, these buildings were in use by G.H.Ellam. This picture was shared by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on the Oakengates History Facebook Group on 18th May 2019. [109]
Motive Power on the Great Western Route
The Shrewsbury & Birmingham line was classified as a ‘Red’ route under the GWR system of locomotive weight restrictions and, as such, it was worked by a wide range of locomotive classes, including ‘Castle’, ‘Star’, Hall’, ‘Grange’, and ‘County’ class 4-6-0s. The impressive ‘4700’ class 2-8-0s were employed on overnight freights, while the ‘Kings’ made occasional appearances in the late 1950s on the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’. One London-bound express stopped at Oakengates, but passenger traffic was generally covered by Wellington to Wolverhampton local services.
In the 1950s, regular engines seen included the surviving ‘Star’ class 4-6-0s based at Wolverhampton or Shrewsbury, and Chester- allocated ‘Saints’. Wolverhampton was also home to the unique ‘Star/Castle’ conversion, No 4000 North Star, together with No 4079 Pendennis Castle and No 4061 Glastonbury Abbey – one of only three surviving ‘Stars’ at the time. Shrewsbury shed had Nos 5050 Earl of Saint Germans, 5073 Blenheim, and 5097 Sarum Castle. The ‘Stars’ were replaced at Wolverhampton, and later at Shrewsbury and Chester, by the Hawksworth ‘Counties’; the following ‘Counties’ were noted on the main line through Oakengates between 1953 and 1962 Nos 1000/03/08, 1013/16/17, and 1022/24/25/26. Shrewsbury shed obtained very good work from them, particularly in their modified form.
The prestige train on the route was the daily ‘Cambrian Coast Express’, and this train invariably had a recently overhauled Old Oak Common ‘Castle’ for its arduous out-and-home run – it was widely considered to be one of the London shed’s hardest footplate duties. Notable performers on this job were three veterans Nos 4090 Dorchester Castle, 5084 Reading Abbey and 7013 Bristol Castle – all built between 1922 and 1924 and recently rebuilt with double-chimneys and four-row superheaters, but standard ‘Castles’ such as No 5082 Gladiator were also employed. On Summer Saturdays, the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ changed engines at Wolverhampton rather than at Shrewsbury, producing a mixture of ‘Manors’, ’43XX’ Moguls, ‘2251’ 0-6-0s, and ‘Dukedogs’ – very often double-headed. There was also the weekdays-only Bournemouth (West)-Birkenhead (Woodside) train with its alternate rakes of BR maroon or Southern Region green-liveried coaches, these duties being hauled by Oxford-allocated ‘Castles’ and ‘Modified Halls’, or by Chester ‘Counties’.
In 1958 Chester passed into London Midland Region control, and the Jubilee’ class 4-6-0s, including No 45632 Tonga, began appearing on express turns, in place of the ‘Castles’ and ‘Counties’. There were also irregular visits from engines that were running-in after overhaul at Wolverhampton Works. One of the two surviving ‘Bulldogs’, No 3454 Seagull in fact was noted on a Wolverhampton-bound freight shortly before its withdrawal in November 1951, while the BR Standard ‘Clan’ Pacific No 72006 Clan Mackenzie turned up one Sunday with a troop train.
Local passenger workings were generally handled by Wellington or Tyseley-allocated ‘5101’ class 2-6-2Ts until the appearance of diesel-multiple-units in 1957, although even then there was still some passenger work for the local tank engine fleet to cover. During 1958 BR Standard Class ‘3MT’ 2-6-2Ts first arrived at Wellington shed, and Nos 82004, 82006 and 82009 all saw service locally, although they were gone by February 1960. On rare occasions pannier tanks also saw use on these trains. Pannier tank No 7754, now preserved at Llangollen, was allocated to Wellington shed, and it was noted shunting in the yard at Oakengates.
There was always a significant amount of through freight traffic, and in this capacity a variety of locomotives appeared, including Grange’ and ‘Castle’ 4-6-0s, and Churchward 43XX class 2-6-0s, such as Nos 6346, 7313 and 9302. On a less regular basis, ‘Aberdare’ class 2-6-0s were sometimes recorded on freight duties, with occasional sightings of 56XX class 0-6-2Ts. Stanier ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0s became regular performers during the 1940s, together with the ROD Robinson-designed 04′ class (30XX) 2-8-0s, ’28XX’ class 2-8-0s and War Department ‘Austerity’ 2-8-0s, while in the late 1950s and early 1960s freight traffic was increasingly being handled by newly-built BR Standard ‘9F’ class 2-10-0s, and Stanier ‘8F’ class 2-8-0s.
Perhaps the most interesting heavy freight locomotives seen on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury route during the 1940s were the massive ’72XX’ class 2-8-2Ts, which had been introduced in 1934 as ‘stretched’ versions of the ’42XX’ class 2-8-0Ts. They were in many ways tank engine versions of the ’28XX’ class 2-8-0s, and they were used on similar heavy-duty freight work. Nos 7226 and 7227 were both stationed at Wolverhampton’s Oxley shed in 1938, but they were used on the S&BR line in much greater numbers after 1947, by which time Oxley’s allocation comprised Nos 7207, 7222, 7226, 7227, 7230, 7236, 7238, 7240, 7243 and 7248. Thereafter, these heavy freight tanks became familiar sights, their usual duties being the haulage of through goods workings to and from Wolverhampton. On occasions, the 2-8-2Ts were pressed into service on passenger workings. For example on 4th July 1947 No 7226 was noted at Wellington at the head of a local passenger train, following the failure of the diagrammed locomotive.
In earlier years, the GWR had employed large numbers of six-coupled saddle tanks for local freight and shunting work, the ‘1501’ class 0-6-0STs being produced in large numbers for use in the company’s Northern Division. These engines were associated with the Oakengates area for many years, together with the visually-similar ‘645’ and ‘655’ classes; in later years they were rebuilt with Belpaire boilers, and this led to the introduction of the pannier tanks to avoid the difficulty of fitting saddle tanks over the raised firebox casings.
The rebuilt 0-6-OPTs formed, in effect, a single class of large panniers, and numerous examples were allocated to Wellington shed at various times. Some typical examples during the 1930s include Nos 1527, 1536, 1554, 1706, 1748, 1758, 1787 and 1808, the last survivors being former ‘655’ class engine No 1748, and ‘1854’ series 0-6-0PT No 1706, both of which were still at Wellington in 1946. Another pannier tank class seen in and around Oakengates was the ’27XX’ series, which dated back to 1896, while there were also a number of ‘850’ class and ‘2021’ class small panniers for local shunting work.
The ubiquitous Great Western Collett ’57XX’ class 0-6-0PTs were introduced in 1929 as replacements for the earlier ‘1501’ and ’27XX’ classes. Several of the ’57XX’ class 0-6-0PTs were stationed at Wellington for local goods work, and No’s 3752, 3744, 3749, 3755, 5758, 7754, 9624, 9630 and 9639 all appeared on the S&BR line at different times.
Motive Power on the Coalport Branch
The Coalport branch was, typically, worked by Webb ‘Coal Tank’ 0-6-2Ts, together with Webb 2-4-2Ts and ‘Cauliflower’ 0-6-0s.
In earlier years the route had also been worked by LNWR 0-6-0 saddle tanks such as No 3093, which was recorded on the line in 1895. The London & North Western Railway ‘Coal Tanks’, which included the still-extant No 58926 (seen on the Coalport line as late as 21st October 1950), enjoyed a long association with the route, but at the end of the LMS era these veteran locomotives were replaced by Shrewsbury-allocated Fowler class ‘3MT’ 2-6-2Ts, such as Nos 40005, 40008, 40048 and 40058. The goods trains, meanwhile, were worked by a range of ex-LMS locomotive types, including Fowler Class ‘3F’ 0-6-0s, ‘4F’ 0-6-0s, and also the occasional ex-LNWR ‘Super D’ 0-8-0.
The passenger services, known locally as the ‘Coalport Dodger’ were poorly supported – except on market days in Oakengates and Wellington, and for the locally renowned Oakengates Wakes (Pat Collins Fair) – hence their early demise, particularly as the rival ex-GWR route to Wellington was more convenient. World War II staved-off closure for a few years, but in the early months of 1952 it was announced that passenger services would be withdrawn with effect from 2nd June 1952, and as this was a Monday the last trains ran on Saturday, 31st May. Fowler Class ‘3MT’ 2-6-2T No 40058 worked the final trains, its smokebox adorned with black flags, a wreath and the chalked letters ‘RIP’.
Motive power on the line after the cessation of passenger services was often provided by Hawksworth ’94XX’ class 0-6-0PTs, such as Nos 9470 and 9472 (complete with broken front numberplate), or less frequently, by ’57XX’ class 0-6-0PTs. There was an incident when a ’57XX’ was derailed on the catch points just outside Oakengates station, although details are elusive. Wellington shed’s sole ‘1600’ class 0-6-0PT, No 1663, shunted the GKN Sankey sidings near the junction of the Stafford and Coalport lines and it is believed to have ventured up the branch on occasion.
A goods working which appeared at Oakengates after mid-day invariably featured an LMS Burton-based Class ‘3F’ or ‘4F’ 0-6-0, although on one unforgettable occasion, on 14th August 1957, Bath (Green Park)-allocated Stanier ‘Black Five’ class 4-6-0 No 44917, in ex-Works condition, turned up on this humble working. This train had apparently started life as a light-engine working that had left Shrewsbury (Coleham) at 5.10am and, on then reaching Shrewsbury (Abbey Foregate) at 5.35am, it picked up a goods working and eventually arrived at Priors Lee sidings, just outside Oakengates, at 2.20pm.
In the period from July to the end of October 1957, the following locomotives appeared on what local trainspotters called ‘the mid-day goods’ (although it actually arrived in the early afternoon) – Class ‘3F’ 0-6-0s Nos 43709 and 43809, Class ‘4F’ 0-6-0s Nos 43948, 43976, 43986, 44124 and 44434, and of course ‘Black Five’ No 44917.
It is interesting to note that excursion trains continued to run from Coalport after the withdrawal of the regular passenger services. On one occasion, around 1956, there were two excursions to the North Wales Coast on the same day, both of which were hauled by Class ‘5MT’ 4-6-0s. Only one of these workings stopped to pick-up at Oakengates, as the other ran straight through Oakengates station – it must have been one of the few examples of a ‘non-stop’ passenger working in the life of the line? On 23rd April 1955 the Locomotive Club of Great Britain joined forces with the Manchester Locomotive Society to run a ‘Shropshire Rail Tour’, which left Shrewsbury at 2.30pm behind ‘Dean Goods’ 0-6-0 No 2516 on a tour of local branch lines, which included the Minsterley and Coalport routes, the fare for this interesting excursion being 15s 6d.
A year or two later, on 2nd September 1959, the Stephenson Locomotive Society arranged a further tour of West Midland branch lines, including the Womborne, Minsterley and Coalport routes, a Swindon three-car Cross Country diesel-multiple-unit being provided instead of a steam-hauled train, ostensibly to ‘improve timings’.
Another of David Bradshaw’s abiding memories is of an excursion, believed to have been arranged by the late Cyril Poole, a teacher from Madeley Modern School, which departed behind a Hughes/Fowler ‘Crab’ class 2-6-0 and returned in a tropical storm behind a ‘Super D’ 0-8-0, running tender-first. The train was made up to ten coaches and it took at least twenty minutes to surmount the 1 in 50 bank into Oakengates. Steaming was not an issue, but there were adhesion difficulties as the engine slithered and slipped up the bank – the noise level was something never to be forgotten!
The Lilleshall Company in Oakengates
The Lilleshall Company had a major presence in the Oakengates area, owning a significant number of brickworks, iron works, steel works, coke ovens, general engineering works, a concrete works, asphalt works, a coal distillation plant and at least twelve mines, which produced a mixture of coal, ironstone and fireclay. All but one of these locations appears to have been rail-connected, in some cases via tramways, and in others by a standard gauge railway system that connected with the LNWR/LMS system at Donnington exchange sidings (on the Wellington to Stafford line), at Oakengates on the Coalport branch, and at Hollinswood exchange sidings on the Great Western system. [1]
The Mineral Line used 200 mainline and 250 internal wagons. The company also bought some industrial locomotives from Barclay and Peckett. Through the years 22 locomotives were used on the line, 6 of these were built by The Lilleshall Company itself. The company also built a further 34 locomotives for their customers. [131]
Wikipedia tells us that the Lilleshall Company’s “origins date back to 1764 when Earl Gower formed a company to construct the Donnington Wood Canal on his estate. In 1802 the Lilleshall Company was founded by the Marquess of Stafford in partnership with four local capitalists. … In 1862 the company exhibited a 2-2-2 express passenger locomotive at the 1862 International Exhibition in London. In 1880 it became a Public company. In 1951 the Lilleshall Iron and Steel Co was nationalised under the Iron and Steel Act but then sold back to Lilleshall Co. under the provisions of the Iron and Steel Act 1953. The Lilleshall Company Railways closed in 1959. In 1961, the company were described as ‘structural and mechanical engineers, manufacturers of rolled steel products, glazed bricks, sanitaryware, Spectra-Glaze and concrete products’, with 750 employees. … The company began to decline during the 1960s. Many of its artefacts and archives are preserved by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.” [128]
Roger Brian, commenting on the Company’s railways, writes:
“I recall the Lilleshall railway which I explored in 1955-56. My uncle was at the time working for the company and rented a company house at Cappoquin Wrockwardine Wood. This was a very convenient base for exploration, as the railway ran past the garden gate and the engine shed was just opposite. I thinkI followed the entire railway to all its various branches. According to my cousin, who visited in recent years, the house is still there but a look at the latest OS Map suggests that the area has changed greatly.
Northwards, the line led to the junctions for Grange colliery and Granville colliery. At the Granville junction there was an engine shed for the NCB locos. I cannot say now whether this was of recent construction but it seems strange that there should be two old-established sheds so close together. I suspect this one was provided by the NCB on nationalisation. I would imagine that the coal required by the Lilleshall Company’s furnaces would have passed directly to them from Granville and Grange until then, but at the time I knew the line the practice was to bring the coal for the furnaces up to the loop that was clearly newly constructed about halfway between the NCB Engine shed and Cappoquin. The wagons would be left there for the Lilleshall Company’s engines to pick up.
Also in the area of the loop was a spur southwards to the Hoffman kiln which was still in existence at that time, but derelict. I think that the track had been lifted. Grange had also closed by that time and was rather derelict, but I cannot now recall whether the track was still in place. I think it had been removed. There were futher spurs to the north from the engine shed and these were used for NCB wagon storage though there were some dead Lilleshall ones there as well.
At that time Granville was still in operation, and the loaded wagons were brought down from there to the shed. Here a reversal took place and the wagons were then taken a line which ran northwards for about half a mile to where there had been another colliery long gone (?Waxhill Barracks?) Here there was another reversing station and from there the line descended to the Wellington-Stafford line at Donnington. This was the main outlet for the colliery.
The Lilleshall Company’s sheds were adjacent to their fabrication plant (St Georges?)and there were numerous overgrown sidings filled with abandoned wagons of the company. I recall a Peckett saddle tank in use and there was a large side tank as well, I think by Barclay, which I rode on.
There were further sidings about a mile further up the line beyond a level crossing and these were similarly occupied. It was possible from here to see the former LNWR line to Coalport. Beyond a further crossing (A5) was the company’s main site at Priorslee. Just beyond the crossing on the north side engines had been dumped, including Constance which the company had built themselves, and a sister engine of similar design.
The Priorslee operation was a pickle.I believe that at one time it had been integrated butsome of the processes had been discontinued. What was left were the blast furnaces producing pig iron in mediaeval conditions. I am not sure what happened to the pigs but the company did not then use them.
Adjacent to the blast furnaces were reheating furnaces for steel blooms produced elsewhere. Once heated these were transferred to the rolling mill and rolled to size suitable for use in the manufacture of prefabricated industrial buildings. These were then taken back to the fabrication plant, mostly by rail, but I suspect road was also used as well for the longer pieces.
Beyond the furnaces and the rolling mill was a small mountain of blast furnace slag with abandoned ladles – the whole area was extremely hazarous to walk on. Beyond that were further sidings, one of which led down to the GWR line.
The railway sytem continued to further collieries. I think that they were the Stafford and the Lawn. There were lots of overgrown sidings and abandoned wagons, and the whole of that part of the system was no longer in use. A further spur crossed the what was then the A464 again and continued to Woodhouse Colliery. This had been abandoned, but some of the buildings were still there.
I believe the railway system was run by a chap called Hughes but I never met him. I believe that it closed in 1959.
Sadly, summer 1956 was my last visit as my uncle left the company. This was probably just as well. My cousin told me recently that his father said that the directors were drunk most of the time, but I cannot vouch for this. So, a company and operations that had seen better days, but for me a new experience and a treasured memory.” [129]
The Lilleshall ‘main line’ ran south from Donnington through to Oakengates, where the links to the two main line railways were accessed from exchange sidings that acted as a hub for the nearby steel works at Snedshill, and for the facilities at Priors Lee (on the north side of the Hollinswood yards of the GWR/BR). Hollinswood exchange sidings was at the southern point of the same system, it being where the Lilleshall trains were handed over to GWR/BR locomotives – outgoing traffic from the system was in the form of pig-iron, bricks, concrete products and tiles, as well as coal.
Incoming traffic destined for the Priors Lee furnaces constituted coke and limestone, the latter being brought in from the Lilleshall Company’s quarries at Presthope on the Wellington to Craven Arms line.
Trains from Presthope for Hollinswood and the Lilleshall system appear to have followed different routes on occasion, with some travelling via Madeley Junction and some diverging at Lightmoor Junction for Ketley Junction (Wellington); Lightmoor was where the lines to Madeley Junction and Wellington diverged. Incidentally, Madeley’s GWR station opened on 2nd May 1859 as Madeley Court, and it was the only intermediate station between Lightmoor and Madeley Junction. Renamed Madeley (Salop) in June 1897, it was closed to passengers from 22nd March 1915, but briefly reopened to passengers from 13th July 1925 until 21st September 1915 – so the Madeley branch was virtually freight-only from 1915, and it was still part of the Network Rail system in the early 21st century. In addition, Lilleshall Co.-bound iron ore for smelting was brought in by rail. Iron ore arrived from Spain and Sierra Leone, with low grade domestic ironstone brought in from the Banbury area.
On careful inspection it can be seen that this 1953 Ordnance Survey map shows the Lilleshall system as a through route, albeit the line north from Granville to Donnington was by this time under NCB ownership. Dealing with public railways first, the ex-GWR main line passes from Wellington, through Oakengates and its tunnel, then Hollinswood, as it makes for Madeley Junction (bottom right) and Wolverhampton. The line heading north-east from the edge of Wellington is the former LMS route to Stafford, and off this is the by then freight-only Coalport branch, while north of Hadley Junction and Trench is Donnington exchange sidings, the northern outpost of the ex-Lilleshall system. The mineral line is in the shape of a reversed ‘S’, with Hollinswood’s BR connection to the south, Snedshill and The Nabb south of the curves near Wrockwardine Wood, and then there is a trailing spur south to the locomotive shed and engineering works. Thereafter, it is NCB territory, so after 1958 the coal traffic headed north for a convoluted journey via Donnington, Wellington (reverse), and Madeley Junction (reverse) to reach Ironbridge power station. Crown copyright. [1: p178]
Coal from the Lilleshall pits was despatched via Hollinswood to the Ironbridge power. station, which opened in 1932, and this traffic flow continued through to 1958, when the Lilleshall railway system was cut back. Coal was still being mined in the area under National Coal Board auspices, so with the former through route unavailable, the trains for Ironbridge power station were thereafter taken from Granville Colliery, by now combined with the Grange Colliery workings, to Donnington exchange sidings. From there they were hauled to Wellington, where a run-round and reversal was undertaken at the station. Unfortunately, the most direct route via Ketley to Ironbridge was not suitable for such heavy trains. Ketley Junction to Ketley would be taken out of use anyway in July 1962, so the route for the loaded coal trains was then from Wellington, through Oakengates station to reach Madeley Junction, where another reversal was necessary to access the line to the power station.
The dotted lines on this sketch map are private railways. The Lilleshall Company’s main line ran from The Humber Arm via Donnington Sidings (which are off the top of this map) via Granville and Grange Collieries in the top-right of the sketch map via Old Lodge Ironworks and Priorslee Furnaces down to Hollinswood. This sketch map was included on the Miner’s Walk website which provides information about the local area. [131]Bob Yate provides a sketch of the whole of the Lilleshall Company’s network of railways. This extract from the sketch map shows themost northerly length of their railways The locations shown are those from Tate’s sketch map and its key. Those on this extract are: 8. The Humber Arm Railway; 9. Lubstree Wharf; 10. The Donnington (LNWR) exchange sidings and the Midland Ironworks. [142: p38]
The most northerly point on the Lilleshall Company’s Railways/Tramways was the Wharf at the southern end of the Humber Arm. The 25″ Ordnance Survey map extract below shows the original tramway sidings at the transfer wharf. The Humber Arm was a short branch canal from the Shropshire Union Canal Newport Branch.
An extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1882 which shows the southern end of the Humber Arm and the tramway terminus along side the Canal. [132]
South of what is in the 21st century a Ministry of Defence site, the old tramway/railway encountered the LNWR route to Newport and beyond. Passing under the LNWR main line, the route of the Lilleshall Company’s tramway and the later standard gauge line diverged as shown on the map extract below.
This extract from the 1882 25″ Ordnance Survey shows the point at which the LNWR bridged the Lilleshall Company’s tramway/railway. It also shows the old tramway route continuing to the South-southeast and the laterstandard-gauge mineral railway curving round to the Northeast to run parallel to the LNWR main line.[133]This final RailMapOnline satellite image shows the features noted on map extract above and shows the dramatic changes which have occurred in the immediate vicinity of the old tramway. The tramway route is not followed by RailMapOnline South-southeast of Wellington Road. [134]
The tramway ran Southwest from this location finding its own way to Old Lodge Furnaces. The standard-gauge line turned to run parallel to the LNWR main line for a short distance before entering Donnington Wharf/Sidings.
The mineral railway curve round to run parallel to the LNWR mainline. [133]At a smaller scale here but still the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1882, this map extract shows the length of the mineral railway as it curves away from the LNWR mainline. There were some exchange sidings at this location and lines which accessed a Timber Yard and the Midland Ironworks site, both on the East side of the LNWR mainline. This short length of the line appears at the Southeast corner of the relevant OS map sheet. [132]This RailMapOnline satellite image shows that the route of the old mineral railway ties in with the modern field boundary. [134]On the curve on Donnington Sidings looking East. This is the same train as shown on the next picture. This image was shared by Carole Anne Huselbee on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 14th September 2014. [135]Donnington Sidings looking Northwest. A rake of empties setting off for Granville Colliery. Wellington Road Crossing is a short distance ahead of the locomotive. This photograph was shared by Carole Anne Huselbee on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 5th October 2014. [136]Wellington Road Crossing. This picture was shared by Carole Anne Huselbee on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 5th October 2014. [137]This next extract from the 25″Ordnance Survey of 1882 shows the mineral railway heading Southeast and crossing, first, what is now Wellington Road, and then running parallel to the modern Donnington Wood Way and crossing. [133]The route of the old mineral railway runs parallel to Donnington Wood Way, approximately on the line of the footpath shown on this Google Maps extract. The red flag marker highlights its route. The diversion of Wellington Road away to the North of the old level-crossing can be seen in the top-left of this image. [Google Maps, July 2023]
The old mineral railway route runs alongside the modern Donnington Wood Way. The red flag on the extract from Google Maps above marks the line of the modern footpath which follows the centre-line of the Lilleshall Company’s railway.
To the South of Waxhill Barracks Colliery the line passed the site of Barn Colliery before arriving at Old Lodge Furnaces.
Barn Colliery as shown on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1881/1882. [140]
Once the ‘by-pass’ line had been installed trains were able to run direct from Donnington to the Lodge Bank Sidings as shown below.
By 1970, this was the layout of the lines between the mainline at Donnington and the Colliery. This hand-drawn image appears in Bob Yate’s book. [142: p119]Granville Colliery’s Diesel Loco (NCB No. 2D?) en-route between Donnington Wharf/Sidings and Old Lodge and Granville Colliery in NCB days with a train of empty hopper wagons. This photo was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Carole Anne Huselbee on on 15th September 2014. [146]In earler NCB days, an 0-6-0ST locomotive pulls is train of hopper wagons up the more direct route from Coal Wharf (Donnington) to Granville Pit (not going via the location of Muxton Bridge Pit) .This image was shared on the Granville Colliery Facebook Group on 10th March 2020 by John Wood. [141]
Old Lodge Furnaces
These two extracts from the 1881/1882 25″ Ordnance Survey are, together, a plan of the Old Lodge Furnaces. Together, they give an excellent view of the area around the furnaces. In the lower of the two extracts the line running off the extract to the East heads towards Granville Colliery. The line running off the extract to the South runs to Dawes Bower and Grange Colliery. Of the lines exiting the extract to the West, one, running Northwest (at the top corner of the lower image) is the old tramway link to Lubstree Wharf. There are also two lines leaving the bottom-left corner of the lower image, the lower line runs towards collieries/shafts local to the furnaces and is probably a tramway at a higher level than the upper of the two lines which is in cutting and is the connection from Old Lodge Furnaces into the wider Mineral Railway network belonging to the Lilleshall Company to the South and West of this location. [143]Lodge Furnaces Donnington/Lilleshall Company 1882. The image was shared by Jeff Williams on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 8th May 2017. [116]Lodge Furnaces Donnington/Lilleshall Company. The image was shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 16th June 2022. Marcus Keane comments: “The Lodge Arm was built in 1822 to serve two Iron Smelters build by the mighty Lilleshall Company to supplement its works at Donnington Wood. This site was expanded in 1846 and again in 1859 till finally five furnaces were operating on the site, all fed by coal brought in on small tub boats. Of course, the site is on the original level of the canal, but we did have the last laugh. The furnaces were blown out in 1888 but the display board shows a cheerful picture of traditional canal boats “put, put, putting” in and out of the basin. This is wrong on so many levels: It was a tub boat canal so no full length boats could pass through the inclined planes, the locks and bridges were limited to 6ft 7inches which is narrower than normal craft and crucially, the furnaces closed at least 30 years before the first spluttering Bollinders were employed in commercial carrying. But not withstanding all that, its a nice scene and a watery oasis in a sea of industrial decay.” [126]A view of Old Lodge Furnaces from the East. (This image was first produced in the ‘London Trade Exchange’ of 2nd January 1875. Some of the tramways are visible, as are the coke ovens in the distance, and the engine house on the right, although the engraver has omitted the chimney beside the engine house.) [142: p11]
The Friends of Granville Country Park’s website provides a general introduction to the history of the Old Lodge Furnaces: … [144]
“In 1824 the [Lilleshall] Company brought into blast two new furnaces near the site of the Old Lodge. They were named the Old Lodge furnaces because of their proximity to the site of an old hunting lodge which was demolished in 1820. In March 1825 the Lilleshall Company paid the Coalbrookdale Company £2392 for (presumably) a Blast Engine. George Roden, a stonemason from the Nabb, was paid £425 in 1825 and £777 and 5 shillings in 1826 for erecting loading ramps and the retaining walls. In 1830 the Donnington Wood and the Old Lodge ironworks together produced 15,110 tons. A third furnace was added in 1846 and two more in 1859.
New blast beam engines, manufactured by the Lilleshall Company, were installed in 1862 and the height of the furnaces was increased from 50 to 71 feet at about the same time. Limestone came, via the canal, from the Lilleshall quarries and the coal (coke) and iron stone from the local pits via an extensive system of tramways, some of which, were later converted to standard gauge railways. The 1882 map show this series of transport plateways to transport the materials to the top of the furnace, and remove pig iron the furnace bottom.
The Old Lodge Furnaces produced cold-blast pig iron of the finest quality, but eventually it could not compete with cheaper iron made elsewhere and in 1888 the last of the Old Lodge furnaces was blown out 1888. The furnaces were demolished in 1905 by Thomas Molineaux Jnr, including a tall chimney 140 feet high by 13 feet diameter, known locally as “The Lodge Stack”. In 1956 the stone was reused for St Mathew’s Church. Thereafter the company concentrated all its iron and steel making at Priorslee.
All that remains of the furnace after extensive dismantling and site restoration involving raising of the ground levels, are parts of the brickwork of the first three furnaces. … The high walls behind the furnaces are the remains of the furnace loading ramps. On the right of the ramp walls hidden in the trees is a retaining wall in front which was the blowing house. Behind the loading ramps were calcining kilns which were added in 1870 to improve the quality of the iron ore” [144]
Dr. Mike Nevill in a relatively recent article entitled ‘Seasonal Archaeology: the Old Lodge Ironworks in the Snow‘ [145] highlights the remains of the Old Lodge Furnaces. They are a superb example of the way in which old industrial sites can become considerably more visible when the leaves are not on the trees. He writes:
“The large stone and brick ruins, in place 10m high, were the remains of the Old Lodge Furnaces on the north-eastern outskirts of modern Telford in Shropshire. These furnaces were built by the Lilleshall Company in 1825-8 and form part of a wider 18th and 19th century industrial landscape encompassing two collieries and accessed via a late 18th century canal. The complex now sits within Granville Country Park and is managed by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The park itself was designed as one of the green open spaces for the new town of Telford in the mid- to late 20th century. Now, this industrial landscape has reverted to semi-natural woodland and parkland, the industrial archaeology of the area appearing suddenly out of the overgrowth.” [145]
Nevill wrote this article on 19th December 2022. He goes on to say:
“In the 21st century, the circular brick bases of three of the five furnaces run in front of the high stone walls, this stone terracing, which formed the furnace loading ramps, framing these features. Standing within the ruins of a once hot and noisy furnace complex on one of the coldest mornings of the year had a certain irony. Instead of the sound of men working the furnaces and tapping the pig iron, sweating in the heat, there was only the chirp of robins defending their woodland territory and the crunch of frozen snow under foot.” [145]
These next few photos focus on the area that used to be occupied by Old Lodge Furnaces and which in the mid-20th century provided a marshalling yard for Granville Colliery.
In NCB days, Granville Colliery’s Diesel Loco (NCB No. 2D?) manoeuvring a rake of empty coal hopper wagons in the sidings to the West of the colliery, in the area which Old Lodge Furnaces used to occupy. This photo was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Carole Anne Huselbee on 5th October 2014. [147]This view from a location on the spoil heap to the South of the last image shows the later engine shed, built by the NCB, and two locomotives in steam marshalling wagons. The wagons closest to the camera appear to be empties which will probably be pushed towards the colliery screens which are a distance off to the right of this image. The photograph was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 25th May 2018. [148]A view of the NCB-built engine shed built on the site of an earlier Lilleshall Company engine shed. After the NCB took over the collieries owned by the Company, Granville Colliery supplied coal to Buildwas Power Station and the coal trains were worked by a range of locos down the 1.5 miles to Donnington. Granville Colliery had a decent sized shed and in later years used Austerity 0-6-0 tanks but in Lilleshall Company days the bigger engines were the ex-TVR and Barry railway engines. This image and the accompanying text were shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 15th September 2015. [119]Granville Colliery’s No 3 Holly Bank, Hunslet Engine Co Ltd 0-6-0ST Works No. 1451 of 1924, is at the head of a train of hopper wagons at the colliery on 14th October 1966. The wagons on the left are part of the, by now, National Coal Board-owned internal system, the former Lilleshall Co Ltd-owned collieries becoming national assets upon the creation of the NCB on New Year’s Day 1947. The engine shed seen above is just off the right of the photograph. This is probably not the best location to park a Vauxhall Victor ‘F’ series for its longevity, especially as they were somewhat vulnerable to the elements! W. Potter/Kidderminster Railway Museum. [1: p178]
Granville Colliery was close to, and to the East of the site of Old Lodge Furnaces. The extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1881/1882 below shows both the colliery site and the short line which served it.
This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1881/1882 shows the full length of the Mineral Railway branch from the East side of the map extracts above (which show Old Lodge Furnaces). It is worth noting the loop which allowed locomotives to run round their trains just to the West of the Colliery site. [143]
Bob Yate tells us that the sinking of the main shaft at Granville Colliery started in 1860, to a depth of 409 yards. By 1950, this had reached 444 yards. It was linked to Grange Colliery underground in 1952 and finally closed in 1979. He continues: “The most prolific of the collieries, [Granville Colliery] supplied the LNWR, GWR and Cambrian Railways with locomotive coal, and latterly also to Ironbridge ‘B’ Power Station. In 1896, there were 177 underground and 67 surface workers. Later the pit had a fairly consistent workforce of around 300 men, but after the closure of the nearby Kemberton colliery in 1967, this grew to 900 men, but shrank again to around 600 in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, the annual output had grown from around 300-350,000 tons to 600,000 tons in the late 1960s.” [142: p16]
The Lilleshall Company Main Line South and West of Granville and Grange Collieries
The sketch map below is repeated to show the remainder of the Lilleshall Company network.
Continuing on from Granville Colliery, the network served Grange Colliery, Donnington Brick & Tile Works, New Yard Works, Snedshill Ironworks, Snedshill Brick & Tile Works, Priorslee Furnaces/Ironworks, Lawn Colliery, Dark Lane Colliery, Woodhouse Colliery, Stafford Colliery and Hollinswood Sidings. [131]This and the next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901 show the approach to and the area of Grange Colliery. This shows what appear to be the screens, or at least a loading point where output from Grange Colliery was loaded into Lilleshall Company wagons. The disconnect between the main network and the local lines can be seen at Dawes Bower. [151]Grange Colliery as it appears on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902. The railway lines shown in the immediate area of the shafts and slag heaps were internal lines unconnected to the wider Lilleshall Company network. [150]The same area as shown on the OS map extract above. This image comes from the RailMapOnline.com website. What appears to be a caravan park on the site of the old colliery is Telford Naturist Club. The buildings to the top-right of the image are the Cottage Boarding Kennels and Cattery. [134]This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901 shows the point where the branch-line to Grange Colliery met the main Lilleshall line. The line from Grange Colliery enters bottom-right. At the top-right of this extract two sets of lines are shown. The upper lines run towards Donnington sidings, the lower lines connect to Granville Colliery. The lines leaving the top of the extract are local lines serving the area immediately around what were Old Lodge Furnaces. The line leaving the west (left) edge of the extract is the Lilleshall Company mainline to Priorslee and Hollinswood. As can be seen at the centre of the extract, a loco brining wagons from Grange Colliery would need to cross the mainline before reversing its wagons onto the mainline and, depending on its destination, then head for Donnington or Hollinswood. The sidings shown on this extract were also used for storing wagons before onward transit to their ultimate destination. [152]Again, a similar area to that shown on the OS map extract above. The purple lines are those provided by RailMapOnline.com. The Lilleshall Company Mainline curves from the top-right of this image to exit below the mid-point on the left side. [132]The next significant feature on the Lilleshall Company’s network was a triangular junction providing bi-directional access to Donnington Wood Brick & Tile Works [153]Again, a very similar area to that covered by the 25″ OS Map above. One arm of the triangular junction service Donnington Wood Brickworks can be seen on this image as providing the access route for vehicles to the old brickworks site. Redhill Way is the A4640 and it warrants a grade separated junction with the local roads. [132]Donnington Wood Brick & Tile Works were conveniently sited next to reserves of Clay. The Works had their own internal railway with a Self-acting Inclined Plane. [154]Donnington Wood Brick & Tile Works seen from the air, from the Northeast. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 27th March 2019. [155]
The Lilleshall Company main line continued across Moss Road/Gower Street on a simply-supported girder bridge and then on past New Yard Engineering Works.
New Yard Engineering Works was situated on the West side of Gower Street.
The Lilleshall Company, New Yard, Engine Sheds, Gower Street, St Georges. … Urban Terrace can be seen in background. The line to the right of the image runs round behind the engine shed and workshop to serve the Works. This picture was taken by Frank Meeson and shared on the Oakengates History Group including surrounding areas Facebook Group on 15th June 2021 by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley. [158]New Yard Engineering Works. Gower Street runs North-South on the right of the map extract New Works buildings faced East onto the road. The locomotive shed can be seen to the top-left of the image. The worskshops which stood alongside it were not built by the time of this Ordnance Survey (1901). The line to the left of the Engine Shed connected to the Lilleshall Company main line a little to the North of the map extract. [159]A postcard image of New Yard Engineering Works, this time the camera is to the Southeast of the Works and as a result shows, at the top-right, the Engine Shed and Workshop. Gower Street runs from the bottom edge of the image towards the centre-right. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 17th February 2019. [160]The Lilleshall Company mainline curves to the South through the area known as ‘The Nabb’. Two bridges are shown. The one just visible top-right is the ‘Tin Bridge. Prior to the construction of the standard gauge mineral railway a horse-drawn tramway ran North-South through this location, running down the side of the terraced housing adjacent to the bridge. The second bridge appears bottom-left. It was a more substantial structure. [162]
This image covers the same area as the map extract and comes from railmaponline.com’s satellite imagery. Two bridges appear on the 25″ OS map extract above. That visible top-right on the map extract was adjacent to the set of terraced houses which appear at the top-tight of this image. Prior to the construction of the standard gauge mineral railway a horse-drawn tramway ran North-South through this location, it is flagged on this image and given the local name ‘pig-rails’. The location of the second bridge is centre-left on this image. [132]
The second bridge at the Nabb was just a couple of hundred metres to the Southwest.
This is the second of the two bridges which crossed the Lilleshall Main Line in ‘The Nabb’.The picture looks to the Southwest and comes from the Howard Williams Collection and was shared on the Oakengates History Group including surrounding areas Facebook Group on 27th February 2014 by Frank Meeson. The girder visible in the pictures above would have been the parapet girder on the far face of the bridge. [165]One of the bridge girders remains in the ground at this location. The mineral railway used to pass in cutting from left to right under the bridge. [My photograph, 4th January 2024]This close view of the information board at the site of the old bridge marks its location with a yellow triangle. The green area running Northeast, and marked with the number ‘3’, is the cutting of the old mineral railway. To the South of the yellow triangle, the route of old line ran behind the houses now on the East side of Willows Road. [My photograph, 11th December 2023]
The next significant feature on the Lilleshall Company main line was the level-crossing at Station Hill. While the railway crossed Station Hill on the level the earlier adjacent canal passed under the road. By the time of the 1901 Ordnance Survey that underbridge had been filled in.
The Lilleshall Company operated a number of steam engines which it picked up from various sources and some of which it built itself. The remainder of this article is no more than a glimpse of these locomotives on the Lilleshall Company’s network. The authoritative treatment of the motive power on the Lilleshall Company network is the book by Bob Yate, “The Railways and Locos of the Lilleshall Company.” [142]
Yate tells us that, because the Lilleshall Company’s network was extensive, it needed a considerable number of locomotives to operate it. He continues: “Much of the traffic was heavy, so it comes as no surprise to find that the company turned to acquiring former main line company locomotives for some of their more arduous duties. The total number of locomotives rose from four during the mid-1850s to eight by 1870, down to five by 1875, then six by 1886, increasing to nine in 1900 until 1920 when there were eleven. By the 1930s the number was back down to nine.” [142: p67] After WW2, numbers were reduced to five, and once closure was approaching all five were scrapped and two other locomotives were purchased.
It is interesting to note that the Lilleshall Company was itself a manufacturer of locomotives, and at least five of these were used within the home fleet. The company even designed and built a 2-2-2 express passenger locomotive in 1867 and exhibited it at the Paris Exhibition. It had 6ft 11in driving wheels and the locomotive was similar in appearance to James Stirling’s Great Northern Railway Single. Sadly, no buyer was found, and so it was rebuilt as an 0-6-0ST in 1873 and sold to Cannock & Rugeley Collieries, Rawnsley; it was finally withdrawn in 1962, after a life of 89 years!
The most modern Lilleshall-built engine used in the home fleet seems to have been No 2, an inside cylinder 0-6-0ST that is thought to have served between 1886 and around 1948. Over the years, 22 locomotives are known to have been used by the company, and at least four locomotives were active on the growing system by 1860. The fleet was made up of nine 0-4-0 tank engines, side and saddle tanks, one 0-4-4T, nine 0-6-0 side and saddle tanks, one 0-6-0PT, and three 0-6-2Ts. The makers represented included Andrew Barclay, Sons & Co Ltd, Manning, Wardle & Co Ltd, Neilson & Co Ltd, Peckett & Sons Ltd, Robert Stephenson & Co Ltd, and Hudswell, Clarke & Co Ltd.
There were, in addition, four ex-Great Western Railway engines that had been purchased over a number of years. No 1 – acquired by the Lilleshall Company in 1932 – was GWR No 581, a former Taff Vale Railway ‘O’ class 0-6-2T; No 3 – acquired in 1932 was GWR No 589, an ex-Taff Vale Railway ‘U’ class 0-6-2T; No 5 – acquired in July 1934 – was GWR No 251, an ex-Barry Railway ‘B1’ class 0-6-2T; and No 12 – acquired in 1949 – was Dean 0-6-0PT No 2794; it still carried its GWR number plate, and it was (by some way) the last survivor of its class. The main running shed was at the New Yard Works in Oakengates, where many of these locomotives were cut-up after withdrawal.
The line was closed in 1958, with the final rail tour taking place on 26th September, just before the end of the system. Had the line remained open for a few more years, the opportunity to preserve at least some of the more interesting engines would have presented itself. The final closure of the, by then truncated, Coalport Branch took place less than six years later, in July 1964, and much of this industrial infrastructure has since been swept away.
Modern Times
Today, the railway through Oakengates is a double-track main line without a single set of points. The 1960s ‘new town of Telford was finally provided with a station of its own upon the opening of Telford (Central) station on 12th May 1986, New Handle Halt being closed at the same time. Boasting ‘parkway’ facilities, passenger numbers at the modern station were 991,000 during 2010/2011, while ‘ Oakengates for Telford’, just 71 chains away on the other side of Oakengates tunnel was recorded as serving just 41,152 passengers in the same period. In 2013, services on the route were provided by London Midland and Arriva Trains Wales, although the latter company’s trains do not call at the unstaffed Oakengates station.
References
D. Bradshaw and S.C. Jenkins; Rails around Oakengates; in Steam Days No. 283, March 2013, p165-179.
B & R Video Productions produce a series of DVDs which have primarily been created by converting cine-film. One part of their library is the Jim Clemens Collection. These stills from the video are shared here with permission from Michael Clemens who holds the copyright on his father’s work. Michael is an author in his own right and maintains a website: https://www.michaelclemensrailways.co.uk. On that website there are details of all of the books he has published together with quite a bit of downloadable material including working timetables. His most relevant publication to this current article is: Michael Clemens; The Last Years of Steam in Shropshire and the Severn Valley; Fonthill Media Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2017. That book contains two photographs which are similar to images shown above (p67).
Many of the photographs taken by A.J.B. Dodd which appear in this article were first found on various Facebook Groups. A number of others were supplied direct by Mike Dodd, A.J.B. Dodd’s son who curates the photographs taken by his father. Particular thanks are expressed to Mike Dodd for entering into email correspondence about all of these photographs and for his generous permission to use them in this article.
The featured image shows Presthope Station with the 18.00 hrs Craven Arms – Much Wenlock – Wellington train is leaving on 21st April 1951, heading for Much Wenlock. [30]
This article follows on from four other articles which covered the Wellington to Severn Junction Railway and this line from Buildwas to Much Wenlock. The first three articles can be found on these links:
From the commencement of the building of the line between Buildwas and Much Wenlock, the directors hoped that the line could be extended to Craven Arms via Presthope on Wenlock Edge (linking with the limestone quarries/works at that location).
The directors of the Wellington & Severn Junction Railway were, however, fully occupied with the line from Wellington to Buildwas. Another company was set up to build the ‘Wenlock & Craven Arms and Coalbrookdale Extension Railway‘. The bill went through the parliamentary process unopposed and authorised the ‘Wenlock Railway Company‘ to construct the line. Work started on 23rd October 1861.
By 5th December 1864, the line was open from Much Wenlock to Presthope. At this time, because it was a freight-only line, the Board of Trade saw no need for an inspection of the line. It had already been agreed at a meeting held on 4th December 1863 not to proceed with the line from Presthope to Craven Arms for the time being. It was to be three years after the line reached Presthope before the connection to the Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway close to Craven Arms was completed. It was finally opened on 16th December 1867.
Much Wenlock to Presthope
This article focusses on the length of the line which was completed in December 1864 – Much Wenlock to Presthope. Another article will follow the line to the West of Presthope.
Much Wenlock Railway Station had a single platform adjacent to the main running line. A passing loop was provided opposing the platform, and beyond it there was a rockery garden, “large limestone boulders [were] interspersed with shrubs and alpine plants flanked by a row of rhododendron bushes. In the centre of the rockery was a fountain.” [1: p97]
Trains leaving for Craven Arms crossed Sheinton Road/Street Bridge and passed the goods shed and yard on the left and then the engine shed. When the line terminated at Much Wenlock, the goods facilities used until the final closure of the line were the temporary railway station.
Trains began the climb towards Wenlock Edge. The pictures above show the climb had already begun alongside the goods yard. Neither the goods shed nor the engine shed remain in the 21st century.
That length is in private hands with a significant length in use as a paddock for horses and a small holding.
Westwood Halt in around 1960 – seen from the East. The single platform sat on the North side of the line immediately to the East of Westwood Crossing. It was not until 7th December 1935 that the Halt opened. It closed to passenger traffic on 31st December 1951. This picture was shared on the Much Wenlock Memories Facebook Group by Judith Goodman on 8th December 2020. The photographer is not known and the image is used under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [19]Google Maps image of the site of Westwood Halt. [Google Maps, 12th January 2024]Westwood Crossing seen from the North. The red line marks the approximate centre-line of the old railway. The Halt would have been off to the left of this image. [Google Streetview, 2009]Looking Northwest from Westwood Crossing towards the B4371. [My photograph, 12th January 2024]Looking Southeast from the location of Westwood Crossing. It is not possible to follow the route of the old railway to the West of this location as it is in private hands. To continue following the route requires a diversion along the footpath ahead, across one field to join another track and then heading back Northwest towards the olod line. [My photograph, 12th January 2024]The line leaving Westwood Crossing and heading towards Presthope. [My photograph, 12th January 2024]Westwood Crossing to the next overbridge, as shown on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901. [22]Within a couple of hundred yards, trains passed Westwood Sidings. The sidings served Westwood Quarry. There were ground frames controlling access at each end of the siding. [23]
When the Wenlock Branch opened “limestone was being extracted [at Westwood Quarry] for use in the Madeley Wood Company’s furnaces. Horse-drawn tramways ran from the quarry on to a loading ramp above the sidings.” [1: p97]
The photographs of the pre-contract drawings for the line were taken by myself and show extracts from the construction plans held in the Shropshire Archive. There is a standard charge of £10 per visit for taking photographs of their records.
A short history of the line is followed by some information about the locomotives used on the line. This first article then focusses primarily on the horse-powered tramroad which preceded the later Penrhyn Quarry Railway.
Penrhyn is the Welsh word for ‘promontory’.
“The history of Port Penrhyn can be traced back as early as 1713 when it was recorded that 14 shipments totalling 415,000 slates had been sent to Dublin. In 1720, another 8 shipments totalling 155,000 slates were sent to Dublin, two to Drogheda (20,000) and one to Belfast (35,000). Two years later, a shipment of 80,000 slates were sent to Dunkirk. After these few shipments only coastal traffic left from Aber-Cegin (Port Penrhyn) until Richard Pennant took over the ownership of Penrhyn Estates and appointed Benjamin Wyatt in 1786 as agent.” [23]
Porth Penrhyn in the mid- to late- 19th century. [23]
The Penrhyn Railway opened as a tramroad in 1801 which ran from quarries a few miles inland from Bangor in North Wales to the coast at Port Penrhyn. The gauge of the tramroad was 2ft 0.5in. It was constructed by Lord Penrhyn at a cost of around £175,000. [1][2] The alignment was as shown on the map immediately below.
The Penrhyn Railway 1801 to 1878: rendered with Maperitive, text and integration: Pechristener Wales in United Kingdom.svg: TUBS United Kingdom location map.svg: NordNordWest • CC BY 3.0. [1]
It was thought that there was an earlier line which ran between Port Penrhyn and Llandegai. That tramway, if it existed, was constructed in 1798. Its route paralleled that of the northern end of Lord Penrhyn’s tramroad. One theory is that this earlier tramway was operational until 1831. [1] There appear to have been two inclines on the Llandegai Tramway, one close to the port and the other directly adjacent to Llandegai Penlan Mill at Llandegai at the Southern end of that line. Both are shown on the image below.
The Llandegai Tramway: rendered with Maperitive, text and integration: Pechristener Wales in United Kingdom.svg: TUBS United Kingdom location map.svg: NordNordWest • CC BY 3.0. [1]
Research in 2021 suggests that the earlier tramway did not exist. [2]. If it did, it is likely that it was subsumed into the tramroad built by Lord Penrhyn. There is also research, undertaken in 2019, which suggests that a tramway was probably constructed in 1798 in connection with the Penrhyn Mills on the lower Ogwen. [35] My thanks to David Elis-Williams for providing a link to this research by Barrie Lill.
Lill comments that the Penrhyn Mills at Llandegai had a part in the development of the tramway/tramroad which eventually served the Penhryn Quarry: “The mill had what David Gwyn believes to be part of the first iron-railed overland edge railway of any length in the world, and the first iron edge railway built for the mass movement of stone. However, whereas James Boyd conjectures that originally the Penlan railway only extended from Port Penrhyn to the mill at Llandegai, pre-dated the Penrhyn Quarry Railway by three years, and was only later extended to the Quarry, [36] Gwyn does not agree. Instead he believes that the Penlan line merely was an off-shoot from the Quarry Railway. [37] At present there is no available evidence to confirm either theory, although there is a belief that prior to publishing his book on the Penrhyn Quarry Railways, Boyd had obtained supporting documents which no longer are publicly available. Irrespective of the above it seems unlikely that the mill would have opened without an adequate transportation system such as some simple form of tramway being in place, and in this scenario it is likely that the problems encountered with the working of this system are what prompted Wyatt to adapt the system and introduce the iron-railed edge railway to which David Gwyn refers.” [35]
Lord Penrhyn was persuaded by William Jessop to build the tramroad. “Jessop and his partner Benjamin Outram were then constructing the Little Eaton Gangway in Derbyshire. Samuel Wyatt was also involved in the construction of the gangway, and his brother Benjamin was the Penrhyn estate manager.” [1][2]
“Benjamin Wyatt was put in charge of building the tramway. Construction started on 2 September 1800, with the first slate train travelling on 25 June 1801. … The track used oval rails designed by Benjamin Wyatt, and their quoted gauge of 2 ft 1⁄2 in (622 mm) was measured between the centres of the rails. The railroad was operated by horse power along with gravity and three balanced inclines – “Port” (sometimes called “Marchogion”), “Dinas” north east of Tregarth and “Cilgeraint” a short distance north of Coed-y-Parc workshops in Bethesda. The longest was 220 yards (200 m).” [1]
Before the tramroad was constructed, slate was transported to the port by horses along mountain paths. After the tramroad was brought into service the local costs of transport fell from 4 shillings/ton to 1 shilling/ton. [1][4: p42-43]
In 1832, “Wyatt’s oval rails were replaced with more conventional … rails. The gauge of this new track was 1ft 10.3⁄4in (578 mm), measured between the inner edges of the rails – the conventional way of measuring track gauge.” [1][3]
In 1876 the tramroad was “rebuilt on a new course with steel rails laid on wooden sleepers. Steam locomotives were introduced, supplied by De Winton & Co. Engineers of Caernarvon.” [5]
Thomas Middlemass tells us that De Winton supplied ten locomotives to the line. “Seven were to be used at the quarries, three were to work the ‘main line’ to the coast, and all* were vertical-boilered 0-4-0 tanks.” [6: p16] They had two cylinders secured below the running plate with direct drive to one axle. The total weight varied between 4 and 5 tons. [7]
* … It appears that Middlemass has overlooked the fact that 3 of the 10 locomotives were fitted with horizontal boilers and were 0-4-0ST locos. They were named ‘Edward Sholto’, ‘Hilda’ and ‘Violet’, and were supplied in 1876, 1878 and 1879 respectively. [34]
Between 1882 and 1909 the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds supplied sixteen four-wheeled locomotives for use in the quarry and on the line to Port Penrhyn.” [5]
One surviving Penrhyn locomotive is 0-4-0 vertical-boiler tank engine “George Henry,” which was built in 1877 and still looks good 140 years later at the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Tywyn, Wales.
The new route to suit steam-power obviated the need for the inclined planes, maintaining the easiest possible gradients. “Between coast and quarry it rose 550 feet, and, allowing for a stretch of 1/4 mile at 1 in 37 and 3 miles at 1 in 40, the average gradient emerged as 1 in 91. Flat bottomed rails were laid at first, but these were replaced in 1894 by the 50 lb bullhead variety.” [6: p15-16]
The new route of the Penrhyn Railway which opened in 1879: rendered with Maperitive, text and integration: Pechristener Wales in United Kingdom.svg: TUBS United Kingdom location map.svg: NordNordWest • CC BY 3.0. [1]
“The first locomotives used on the new railway were three De Winton’s. … Although successful, these locomotives were not powerful enough for the substantial traffic that passed down the line.” [1]
In 1882 the railway ordered ‘Charles’, a large 0-4-0ST from Hunslet. Charles proved very successful and was followed by ‘Blanche’ and ‘Linda’ in 1893 to the same basic design. These locomotives were the mainstay of the railway for the rest of its life.
In 1882 Penrhyn switched to more conventional locomotion, ordering “‘Charles’, a large 0-4-0ST from Hunslet. Charles proved very successful and was followed by ‘Blanche’ and ‘Linda’ in 1893 to the same basic design. These locomotives were the mainstay of the railway for the rest of its life.” [1]
“Between then and 1909 a positive spate of tank locos flowed, new, from Hunslet Engine Co. All were 0-4-0 saddle tanks, with weight and power variations introduced to meet specific Penrhyn requirements. Three were designed to work the ‘main line’, three were employed shunting at Port Penrhyn. Four of the smallest were confined to quarry work, and these were supplemented a few years later when six larger tanks arrived. As it happened, the latter were the last new purchases by Penrhyn.” [6: p16]
Among the Hunslet locomotives were the Penrhyn Port Class of three locomotives “built for the Penrhyn Quarry Railway (PQR). These locomotives were built by the Hunslet Engine Company between 1883 and 1885 and supplied specifically to work at Port Penrhyn near Bangor, North Wales. They were a variant of the standard Dinorwic Alice Class design.” [8]
“The Penrhyn Main Line class was a class of three narrow gauge steam locomotives built for the Penrhyn Quarry Railway (PQR). These locomotives were built by the Hunslet Engine Company between 1882 and 1893 and supplied specifically to work the railway that connected the Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda in north Wales to Port Penrhyn on the Menai Strait.” [9]
“All three locomotives were preserved after the closure of the PQR. Charles was donated to the Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum. Linda was loaned to the nearby Ffestiniog Railway in July 1962. For the 1963 season the locomotive was re-gauged to the Ffestiniog’s 1 ft 11.5 in (597 mm) and purchased, along with Blanche at the end of the year. Both have since received extensive modifications including tenders, pony trucks and superheating.” [9]
The post-First World War years brought such economic instability that second-hand locos were not hard to find. Penrhyn bought 15 such from 1922 onwards. [5]
In 1923, three ex-US Army Baldwin 2-6-2Ts were also imported for ‘main line’ use, but, as happened elsewhere in Britain, they were never popular, and their working life was short.
The railway was private, providing no public service for either goods or passengers. Quarrymen’s trains were run, paid for by the quarrymen themselves.” [5]
“Today Porth Penrhyn in Bangor still serves the Penrhyn Quarry at Bethesda. Although today slate production and exports are not at 19th century levels it continues to be a key part of the business of slate. Exports of crushed slate (aggregate) by Penrhyn Quarry, through Porth Penrhyn currently to Rotterdam, or ports along the south coast of England, have grown to become a significant proportion of Welsh Slate sales in addition to several containers of roofing slates being shipped every month to Australia alone (taking approximately 45 days).” [23]
“Welsh slate is now covering the roofs of buildings as prestigious as the New South Wales Supreme Court and historic as Unwin’s Stores, both in Sydney Australia, as well as the Arts Centre in earthquake-hit Christchurch, New Zealand 2012. Europe also is a prime destination for Welsh slate with shipments of slate and decorative aggregate within Europe continuing to grow and evolve in particular.” [23]
All rail connections to the quarry disappeared in the mid-20th century under competition from road transport
The Post-1879 Route of the Railway
We start at the North end of the old railway at Porth Penrhyn. Porth Penrhyn) is a harbour located just east of Bangor in north Wales at the confluence of the River Cegin with the Menai Strait.
We follow the route on the Ordnance Survey 6″ Maps from around the turn of the 20th century as supplied by the National Library of Scotland (NLS). [10]
Before the future A5 was developed as a turnpike in 1820, the tramroad ran within the width of the old highway from this point for a few hundred yards. When the turnpike was created, the road level was lifted and the tramroad crossed beneath the renewed highway and ran along the Southwestern side. The sketch below shows this.
The old tramroad which was operational until 1879 was diverted to accommodate the construction of the turnpike. We start following the route of that old Tramroad. This sketch is based on a drawing in James Boyd’s book. [36: p11] He refers to the diversion in the text of the book as well.[36:p22]In this extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey from around the turn of the 20th century, the short standard-gauge branch meets the mainline. The route of the old tramroad has now crossed the A5. The Penrhyn Quarry Railway only appears fleetingly in the top left corner if the map extract. [24]The same area as shown in the 6″ OS map above, as recorded on the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. The colour coding remains the same as in previous satellite images. [24]
A. The old tramroad
Beyond this point, we first follow the line of the old Tramroad to Penrhyn Quarries. …..
This next extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey shows the route of the old tramway flanked by walls and passing in front of the Grand Lodge of Penrhyn Castle at Llandegai. [25]The same area now shown on the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. The lodge can be made out just to the Northeast of the red line which shows the approximate route of the old tramway crossing the roundabout on the A5 at Llandegai. [25]The approximate route of the old tramway is marked on this picture, as before, with a red line. The photograph is taken from the roundabout on the A5 at the entrance to Llandegai Industrial Estate which is in the top left of the satellite image above. The line ran just a few metres to the Southwest of what is now the A5. [Google Streetview]The approximate line of the old tramway runs across the next roundabout on the A5 before curving round to the South. [Google Streetview]Looking along the line of the old Tramroad from the modern roundabout, with the A5 heading South on the right. [Google Streetview]This is a repeat of the sketch shown earlier which is based on a drawing from James Boyd’s book. [36: p11] After being diverted from its original route, the tramroad ran on the Southern side of the highway before turning away to the South. The Smithy shown in the sketch appears on the 6″ map extract below. Just to the North of the Smithy there was a branch from the old tramroad which served the bottom of the Llandegai Incline which connected the Upper Penrhyn Mill to the tramroad. There were two level crossings at this location, one of which became an over ridge when the turnpike was built in 1820.The route of the old tramway continues on this next extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey. At the top of the extract it is just to the left (West) of the Smithy. It crosses the standard-gauge line which is in tunnel at this point the Llandegai Tunnel). Further the south the formation, at the time of the survey was being used as an accommodation road to access ‘Bryn’ and then even further South, it was being used as a footpath. [26]This is an extract from ‘RailMapOnline’ which shows the route of the old railway plotted on modern satellite imagery. The purple line close to the top of the image is the line of the Llandegai Tunnel on the standard-gauge mainline. [27]Just to the South of the underground route of the standard-gauge mainline (Llandegai Tunnel), the old tramroad alignment crosses the access road to the A5 and runs South along the accommodation road visible to the left of the road in this image. [Google Streetview]The old tramroad route followed this lane South. [Google Streetview]At the end of the lane, a footpath can be seen running South. The hedge ahead in this image partially blocks the route but allows pedestrian access. [Google Streetview]The route of the old tramroad and the later footpath remain on the same alignment as far as the top corner of the woods shown in this map extract. From that point southwards the Tramroad route crossed the fields in a Southeasterly direction. [28]The same area as shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey extract above. The North Wales Expressway is the notable modern addition to the image [27]The obvious features on this next extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey which mark the line of the tramroad are the walls to the rear (West) of the cottages at Tyddyn-Iolyn. South of these properties the tramroad ran alongside the road for a very short distance. After which it curved away to the Southwest before curving back towards the Southeast to a point to the South of Llan-isaf Cottage. [29]The route described in the notes to the 6″ map extract immediately above are illustrated on this satellite image. [27]Facing South along the lane to the South of Tyddyn-Iolyn, showing the approximate line of the old tramroad in red. [Google Streetview]Looking back to the North along the lane to Tyddyn-Iolyn showing the point at which the old tramroad crossed the line of the lane. To the East of this point the Tramroad turned to the South and then to the West. [Google Streetview]The walled route of the Tramroad can still easily be picked out on the 6″ Ordnance Survey. After a short distance travelling in an West to East direction and before reaching the banks of the Afon Ogwen at a point to the North of Tyddyn-Dicwn it turned once again towards the South. [30]On the modern satellite imagery from RailMapOnline, the tramroad route appears to be within the width of the modern A5. There are signs that the actual formation of the old tramroad runs through the woodland to the South of the A5. Boyd shows this diversion on his map of the route. [36: p11] Its route can be picked out some metres to the South of the A5 but then rather than following a curving hedge line to the North and the East of Tyddyn-Dicwn at the bottom right of this satellite image. It continued towards the road junction, crossing the Southbound road just to the South of the junction. [27]The probable route of the old tramroad at the point where it crossed the road South towards Tregarth. From this point it travelled South between the road and the Afon Ogwen for a few hundred yards. [Google Streetview]The route of the old tramroad can again be picked out easily on the West Bank of the Ogwen passing an old quarry and then running immediately adjacent to Pen-isa’r-allt and on to meet Lon Ddinas. [31]RailMapOnline shows the tramroad crossing fields to the South of Lon Ddinas to join the route of the later Penrhyn Quarry Railway. This extract shows that route. Looking at the gradients involved and the 6″Ordnance Survey, it seems possible that this was the case only if an incline was used. There is no evidence of this on the ground. It seems more likely that Lon Ddinas runs along the line of the old Tramroad and may well, in times past have shared the same formation. The gradient along Lon Ddinas would have been much more suitable. However, records indicate that there was an incline at this location – known as the Ddinas Incline. [27]The lane which can easily be confused with the route of the old tramway is clearer on the 6″ Ordnance Survey. However, the Ddinas Incline followed the present field boundaries from close to Ddinas Farm up the relatively steep escarpment to meet the later Penrhyn Quarry Railway route. [32]
“The Ddinas Incline was one of three gravity-worked inclines on the original line of the Penrhyn Railway, built 1800-1801 to transport slate from the Penrhyn quarries to Port Penrhyn. … About half-way up the incline was an overbridge carrying a minor road, now widened and straightened at this point. To the north a cutting can still be seen, but the lower part of the incline has been destroyed by construction of a sewage works. To the south the line is visible as a terrace in the field. A ruined wall constructed of large roughly squared stone blocks near the top of the incline may be a surviving fragment of the winding house.” [33] W J Crompton, RCAHMW, 5 November 2009.
From this point on, the old Tramroad and Penrhyn Quarry Railway followed approximately the same route. The second article about these lines will follow the Penrhyn Quarry Railway to this point at Tregarth.
Dan Quine; The development of Port Penrhyn, Part One: 1760-1879; Archive. No. 110. Lightmoor Press, June 2021.
James I.C. Boyd; Narrow Gauge Railways in North Caernarvonshire, Volume 2 The Penrhyn Quarry Railways; The Oakwood Press, Usk, 1985. (The British Narrow Gauge Railway No. 5.)
Susan Turner; The Padarn and Penrhyn Railways; David & Charles; Newton Abbot, 1975.
This post is a short addendum to my post about the pre-railway age and the tramways of Pembrokeshire. In that post there was a section about the Porthgain to Abereiddi Tramway. In writing about that tramway, I failed to include details of the 3ft-gauge clifftop tramway which linked the slate quarry at Pen Clegyr Point with Porthgain.
I also failed to note the detail of the tramway tunnel between St. Bride’s Quarry and Porthgain Harbour. The original post can be found here:
Much of this current post about the Clifftop Tramway is summarised from a book by R.C. Jermy – “The Railways of Porthgain and Abereiddi,” which is an excellent study of the location. [2]
The 1906 6″ OS Map shows the clifftop tramway. [1]By the time the 1906 survey was undertaken the tramway tunnel and St. Bride’s Quarry were abandoned and the tramway rails through the tunnel had been lifted. The two short branches of the clifftop tramway can be seen to good effect on this map extract. [1]
By 1906, lines which linked St. Bride’s Quarry with the harbour via two inclines had been removed. The later tramway tunnel was also redundant and the tramway rails had been lifted. “Traces of the earthworks and inclines, including the lines to the spoil tips, are the only remains on the 1906 map. There remained on the clifftop just the lines of the horse-drawn tramway fetching stone from the quarries at Pen Clegyr Point. From loading sidings in the quarry the line entered a shallow cutting passing a small smithy on the right, after which maps indicate a short passing loop. The line then climbed upwards towards the summit close to Pentop Gate at which point it curved right, passing the weighing machine which measured the wagon weights. The line then forked into two, one track leading to each of the stone crushers located above the storage hoppers. Small passing loops were located on each of these tracks.” [2: p17]
There is, for me, an interesting connection between this area and the Forest of Dean. In 1900, the Forest of Dean Stone Firms were registered in Bristol.”This concern took over the harbour and mining interest at Porthgain but after November 1909, and until it was finally wound up in 1922, its interests were managed by United Stone Firms, another Bristol-registered Company. This firm raised a mortgage of £200,000 on the Dean Forest and Porthgain interests in 1910 and indeed this was the time when the crushed stone demand was reaching its peak. Sailing ships and powered vessels called regularly, the quarry and harbour railway systems were well developed and the Company ran its own fleet of steam coasters, each of about 350 tons.” [2: p10]
However, by 1913, despite the success of its Porthgain operations the parent company passed into the hands of the receiver. It remained so until 1926 “when it was reorganised and taken out of receivership by Walter Bryant of Coleford, Gloucestershire, who formed United Stone Forms (1926) Limited.” [2: p10]
However,by July 1931, that company became insolvent and was closed by 31st August 1931.
The 1948 revision of the 6″ Ordnance Survey was published in 1953. As far as the map extract is concerned all remnants of the clifftop railway have disappeared. This seems to be an over simplification of the situation as a number of remnants were still present even if not recorded. [5] The line of the track can still be traced as a levelled strip on the clifftop, adjacent to the path to Porthgain harbour. [4] R. C. Jermy includes a number of photographs, taken in 1951 by H. Townley, which show the engine shed (with ‘Newport’ gently rotting away on one of the roads) and the remains of two traction engines, ‘Daisy’ and ‘Dinah’. Dinah was sited at Pen Clegyr and was used as a winding engine. Daisy sat on the clifftop. [2: centre-pages]
Jermy notes that “by 1908 the demand for roadstone had increased and the Forest of Dean Stone Firms made the decision to invest in a steam locomotive for operating the clifftop system. … It was realised that with the arrival of a heavy locomotive complete relaying with heavier track would become a necessity. Accordingly 200 sleepers were ordered … and … between 20th and 22nd January, 1909 the tramway was [re-laid] with heavy rails and sleepers from Pentop Gate by the water tank to the winding engine house at the top of the incline leading from the lowest quarry levels. A new engine shed was constructed, the roof over the single road being completed just six days after the arrival of the first locomotive! An inspection pit was located between the rails in the shed. Later, in November 1909 a ten ton weighbridge was installed in a brick building close to the water tower.” [2: p18]
Later, two further locomotives arrived at Porthgain necessitating the addition of a second road to the engine shed.
Records appear to show that one of these locomotives, Singapore, was too heavy for the tramway rails in place when they arrived and as a result in some expenditure was necessary to upgrade the tramway. In fact, the prevailing weather conditions and the weight of the locomotives seem to have resulted in a significant regular maintenance programme being implemented.
Jermy shows two plans of the railway – the first shows it much as on the 1906 6″ Ordnance Survey. He dates his sketch plan to 1905. [2: p20]. The second is the result of a survey of the line by Jermy in the 1980s which seems to show the small network at its fullest extent in around 1925. [2: p21] This sketch plan shows the engine shed in its position on the Northeast side of the St. Bride’s Quarry, three roads serving the crushers and hoppers, a small Yard on the North side of St. Bride’s Quarry, a weighbridge and water tank to the Northwest of the Yard, a long straight length of line with two tracks, one known as ‘The Cutting’, the other as ‘Jerusalem Road’. These two line led to the Upper Level of Pen Clegyr Quarry and, via a cable-worked incline to the lower level of the quarry. [2: p21]
Locomotives
The first locomotive was named ‘Portgain‘. It was built in 1909 by Andrew Barclay in Kilmarnock. It was Works No. 1185. … No. 1185 was an 0-6-0T with 7″ x 13″ outside cylinders, 2ft 2½in wheels 3ft gauge. … Despatch Date: 26th July 1909. [2: p23][3] This locomotive was out of use by 1929 and was scrapped on site shortly after 1931. [4]
The second, ‘Charger‘ was built in 1891 by W.J. Bagnall in Stafford and had the Works No. 1381. It had a copper firebox, brass tubes and two 5½in x 10in outside cylinders. It passed through a number of ownerships before, in September 1912, it was moved to Porthgain. [2: p29-30] This locomotive was scrapped shortly after 1931. [4]
The third, ‘Singapore‘, was a 0-4-2 saddle tank built at the Kerr-Stuart works in Stoke-on-Trent and had Works No. 659. It had 9½in x 15in outside cylinders. It was built in 1899. It was first bought by the contractor G. Pauling and Co. It was shipped to Ireland and was used on the Burtonport Extension contract which Pauling’s were undertaking for the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway. Sold in 1903, it went to Scotland and remained there until 1912 when it was transferred to Porthgain. [2: p31-33] This locomotive was out of use by 1929 and was scrapped on site shortly after 1931. [4]
The fourth locomotive was ‘Newport‘, a 0-4-0T loco. It was built by Hudswell, Clarke and Company of Leeds. It was originally built as a 2ft 10in gauge loco with Works No. 311 in 1889. In 1900 it was owned by Kellett & Sons who worked on the Hagley to Frankley section of the Elan Valley Aqueduct. It went through a number of ownerships after this before entering service at Porthgain in May 1929 after an overhaul. [2: p33-36] This locomotive remained in the Porthgain Railway Locomotive Shed after closure until scrapped in 1953. [4]
The featured image above shows the Locomotive Bulldog which was used on the length of the line between the Inclined Plane and Reynalton Colliery.
This is a follow-up to the first article about the Saundersfoot Railway. The first article covered the history of the Railway and then went on to look at the route of the line from Saundersfoot Harbour via Wiseman’s Bridge to Stepaside. That is the arm of the Railway shown on the right-hand side of the image below.
The first article can be found by following this link:
These articles are part of a series looking at the railways of Pembrokeshire. Full details of that series can be found in the first article about the Saundersfoot Railway.
This map of the Saundersfoot Railway was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Mark Davies on 26th November 2015. [148]
This article follows the line running West from Saundersfoot Harbour under Saundersfoot Railway Station to Reynalton at the left side of the map above.
Saudersfoot Harbour to Reynalton Via Saundersfoot Tunnel (Kingsmoor Tunnel)
We start this journey with some of the pictures from the first article of Saundersfoot Harbour. We begin with two very early views of the harbour and its tramroad.
This picture showing coal being loaded onto a vessel at Saundersfoot Harbour was shared on the Saundersfoot & District Historical Society’s Facebook Group on 25th May 2020 by Gillian Hibberd.[141]
This picture showing Saundersfoot Harbour was shared on the Saundersfoot & District Historical Society’s Facebook Group by Gillian Hibberd on 24th May 2020. Note the railway tracks leading onto the North Harbour Wall. [225]A 1936 image of Saundersfoot Harbour looking Southeast from the North wall with the railway in the foreground. This image was shared by Gary Davies on 15th September 2019 on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group. Gary Davies writes that there appears to only be “one coal wharf operating to fill the hold of this steamer the industrial era of the Harbour is coming to an end. As Bonvilles Court Colliery had closed in 1929 and the screens there were washing coal from Broom and Kilgetty Collieries. It wasn’t to long before the coal was sent out on the mainline branch of the GWR via the siding at Bonvilles Court Colliery. This would have been one of the last few coal steamers to come into the Harbour to load coal as by 1939/40 the export of coal from the Harbour had ceased.” [159]This image shows Rosalind heading away from the South quay at Saundersfoot Harbour. She is heading for Railway Street (The Strand) with the Miner’s Express. If she were to be travelling on Milford Street she would be turning left just behind where we are standing. [187]1906 6″ Ordnance Survey [199]Modern satellite imagery of the same area with the railway alignment shown as a red line. [199]Looking West along Milford Street, Saundersfoot in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, March 2022]Looking West along Milford Street, Saundersfoot in the 21st century. The railway ran approximately on the red line, heading off Milford Street (which turns to the right) down what is now called Brookland Place. [Google Streetview, March 2022]Looking back East along Milford Street from Brooklands Place. The railway ran approximately on the red line. [Google Streetview, August 2021]Looking West along Brookland Place. The road has been laid over the line of the old railway. [Google Streetview, August 2021]The view West from the end of Brookland Place looking along what is in the 21st century known as ‘The Incline’. The footpath follows the line of the old railway. [Google Streetview, August 2021]Looking back East along ‘The Incline’ towards Saudersfoot Harbour. [Google Earth, August 2021]Looking West along ‘The Incline’. The footpath continues to follow the line of the Saundersfoot Railway. [Google Streetview, August 2021]The route of the old railway crosses Westfield Road. [Google Streetview, August 2021]This enlarged view of the 6″ OS Map of 1906 shows the area around the bottom of the Inclined Plane. [199]The key buildings on the map above are highlighted on this NLS supplied satellite image of the same area. All of the buildings have been adapted for modern living. One, Incline Villa, is identified as a holiday let in the 21st century. [199]Incline Villa as advertised as a holiday let. The two storey element of the building has been expanded by the single storey extension. [205]The photograph was taken at approximately the point where the railway crossed what is now Westfield Road. It was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Mark Davies on 26th November 2015. [151]Beyond Westfield Road the footpath follows the line of the old railway. [Google Streetview, August 2021]Looking back towards Saundersfoot Harbour towards the line of the old railway from the East end of Incline Way. This footpath links to the line of the old railway. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The east end of Incline Way almost meets the line of the old railway which is shown in red and which continues to be a footpath in 21st century. At this point the incline is carrying the railway up onto the escarpment behind Saunderfoot. [199]Two pictures taken at different points along the Incline in November 2021 by Jonathan Kedward and shared by him on the Ancient Monuments UK’s website. [204]
This small extract from the 1906 6″ Ordnance Survey shows the same are as appears in the satellite imagery immediately above. As can be seen, very close to this location the three rails of the incline separated into four to allow wagons to pass. [199]
This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey shows the full length of the Incline. As can be seen there was a passing loop at half-height, referred to above, and a passing loop at the head of the incline. The building at the head of the incline shown below does not appear on the 1906 Survey, but does appear on the 1887 Map. [199]
The 1887 6″ Ordnance Survey shows the building at the head of the incline and a second loop closer to the highway which does not appear on the 1906 Survey. The existence of remains of the winding house in 2021 (see below) suggests that the building was missed off the 1906 survey. [201]
The photograph was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Mark Davies on 26th November 2015. It shows the passing loop at the head of the Incline. The photograph was taken facing Southeast towards Saundersfoot Harbour. [151]The remains of the winding house in November 2021. This photograph was taken by Jonathan Kedward and shared by him on the Ancient Monuments UK website. [204]The excellent information board at the Winding House pictured above. [206]The photograph was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Mark Davies on 26th November 2015. It shows the top of the Incline, facing Southeast, after closure and was probably taken from the location of the winding house shown in the picture above. [151]
Coflein records the Inclined Plane as follows: “The main line of the Saundersfoot Railway … opened in 1832 between Saundersfoot Harbour … and Thomas Chapel. It was built to a gauge of 4ft 0 3/8in and originally worked by horses. A self-acting incline, some 300m long and on a gradient of 1 in 5, lay about 800m west of the harbour. At the foot was a siding and hut whilst at the summit was a winding house. The track on the incline was double with a shared inner rail, widening to a loop midway allowing wagons to pass.” [203]
The incline was 363 metres long. Ancient Monuments UK’s website records the site as follows: “The monument consists of the remains of a complete tramroad incline formation from an important horse-drawn tramroad built in 1832, including a former counterbalance drum housing and marshalling areas at top and bottom. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of 18th and 19th century industrial and transportation practices. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques. A drumhouse may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.” [204]
Looking back Southeast towards the Incline from ‘The Fan Road’, the modern road which follows the line of the old railway. Valley Road enters from the right in this image. [Google Streetview, March 2022]Looking Northwest, The Fan Road follows the line of the Saundersfoot Railway. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The Saundersfoot Railway’s branch into the Bonville’s Court Colliery. [Google Streetview, August 2018][201]The 1906 Ordnance Survey shows the branch-line from the Great Western Railway which was installed around the turn of the 20th century after a long campaign by Boneville’s Court Colliery’s owner. It finally superseded the Saundersfoot Railway and its access to the mainline at Saundersfoot Railway Station, see below. [202]The modern satellite image has the key features mark in red and ochre. [202]The Locomotive Bulldog sits taking water close to the entrance to the colliery. This image was shared by Gary Davies on the Saundersfoot and District Historical Society Facebook Group on 10th November 2018. [180]Bonvilles Court Colliery, which was active between 1842 and 1930; it was served first by the Saundersfoot Railway (and then from 1896 by a branch from the Pembroke & Tenby Railway (GWR). Following closure, part of the site was converted into a screening plant and storage yard. This picture was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Kenneth Townsend on 12th July 2019. [156]Two more photographs of the Colliery. [209][208]The photograph was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Mark Davies on 26th November 2015. [151]Looking North-northwest along The Fan Road, beyond Bonville’s Court Colliery, which follows the line of the old railway. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The 1906 6″ Survey shows the Saunders foot Railway snaking across the fields towards Saundersfoot Station. [200]Modern satellite imagery confirms that The Fan Road follows the alignment of the old railway to reach the B4316. The trees on the North side of the B-road hide the alignment of the old railway as it approached Saundersfoot Station along an alignment separate from but parallel to the B4316. [200]Saundersfoot Railway Station as shown on the 1906 6″ Ordnance Survey provided by the NLS. Both the transshipment siding and the line down to the tunnel have been added as red-lines. [210]The same area on the modern ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. The area of the siding as theaccess to the tunnel are shown heavily wooded. In around 2018 the undergrowth was cutback to reveal the man-made embankment and rail routes. Please see the photograph below. [210]The same location on the 1887 6″ Ordnance Survey. By this time, the tunnel already appears dis-used. However, at a later date, 1915 or so, the line was opened up again and the locomotive Bulldog was purchased to supply the colliery at Reynalton. Sadly that period of operation is not picked up by the Ordnance Survey as the next revision took place in 1948 after closure of the line. [211]from the site of Saundersfoot Railway Station in 2018, this view shows the alignment of the Saundersfoot Railway. The B4316 is on the right of the image. This photograph was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Gary Davies on 15th April 2018. He commented at the time: “Now the trees have been cut its … possible to see the route of the Saundersfoot railway. On the left side is the route to the Kingsmoor tunnel and on the right is the embankment siding for discharging coal from the Saundersfoot railway onto coal wagons of the Main Pembroke Dock to Whitland Railway via the exchange siding which came in behind Saundersfoot Station.” [164]Saudersfoot Railway Station. This picture was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by John Stoot on 16th December 2017. [162]Saundersfoot Railway Station in 1914. This photograph was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Penny Brace on 13th February 2020. [163]Saundersfoot Railway Station. This photograph was share by Sarah Whiddett on the Saundersfoot & District Historical Society’s Facebook Group on 3rd March 2020. [207]Saundersfoot Station Bridge. Mark Davies shared this image on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group on 26th November 2015. [165]
The tunnel under Saundersfoot Railway Station was constricted in size and as a result dictated the size of any locomotive which could be used. Bulldog was purchased in 1915. Full details of the loco can be found on the first post about the Saundersfoot Railway. There is a picture of it above at the entrance to Bonville’s Court Colliery. [213]
Coflein records the tunnel as follows: “The main line of the Saundersfoot Railway opened in 1832 between Saundersfoot Harbour and Thomas Chapel. It was built to a gauge of 4ft 0 3/8in and originally worked by horses. King’s Moor Tunnel carried the line under rising ground below the hamlet of Hill and the site of the 1866 Saundersfoot Station on the Whitland extension of the former Pembroke & Tenby Railway. The tunnel is 450m long, 2.44m wide and approximately 2.6m high with a semi-circular arch.” [214] The route of the tunnel appears most clearly on the 1948 revision of the 6″ Ordnance Survey. …
28dayslater comments that the tunnel “is very wet and very muddy in places due to the years of neglect and non-use but is a very important part of Welsh industrial history.” [167]
To the North of the tunnel the line was in cutting for 200metres or so. It then traversed open country until passing on an embankment and bridge over New Road (it’s present name).
The 6″ 1906 Ordnance Survey shows the line continuing in a generally northwesterly direction [215]A thind red line shows the route of the old railway on this ESRI satellite image. Modern roads seem to make the most impact on the landscape although there is a caravan site sitting over the line of the railway in the bottom right quadrant of the satellite image (Kingsmoor Caravan Site). [215]Looking East along the A477 at the approximate location where the old railway route crosses the main road. It appears that it enters the caravan site (on the left) just at the Eastern edge of the entrance road. [Google Streetview, March 2022]As we have just noted, it appears that the route of the old railway enters the caravan site just at the Eastern edge of the entrance road and then runs roughly parallel to the road through the site but perhaps 50 to 100 metres to the Northeast. [Google Streetview, March 2022][215]The point at which the Saundersfoot railway crossed New Road, Begelly. Note the relatively large bungalow with its wall running parallel to the old railway. It would seem that the property boundary followed the line of the embankment![215]The location of the old railway in relation to New Road can be fixed by the bungalow shown to the left of this image, of which part seems to straddle the route of the old railway. [Google Streetview, March 2022]Begelly Railway Bridge over what is now New Road. This picture looks through the bridge to the West. The photograph was share on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Ron Powell on 24th January 2017. [166]North of New Road a public footpath follows the old railway line as far as the West end of Parsonage Lane. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The route of the Miner’s Walk Path is shown here in mauve. It follows the old railway which is now a bridleway. [218]The path as it approaches Parsonage Lane, (c0 Two Dogs and an Awning. [217]The view West from the end of Parsonage Lane. The gated track is met by the old railway route coming in from the left and the track then follows the Saundersfoot Railway formation. [Google Streetview, March 2022]Bulldog at the head of a train of wagons North of Kingsmoor Tunnel. This picture was shared by Gavin Thomas on the Saundersfoot & District Historical Society Facebook Group on 17th October 2018. I am not sure of the location of this photograph but it is possible that is in the length that we are currently looking at. If so, Parsonage Lane runs just to the left and the buildings visible beyond the train are at Parsonage Green. [140]This extract from the 6″ OS Map published in 1889 is of what I consider to be the likely location of the photograph above. The rectangle shows the suggested location, with the train facing East towards the bridge at what is now called New Road. If I am right, the original building in the photograph no longer exists, it has been replaced by a bungalow. [219]
The line continued across the fields before it approached Thomas Chapel. We do know that there was a short branch to Broom Colliery. Its existence is recorded by Coflein: “An earthwork linear feature, probably a relict tramway, runs for c.400m NE-SW from SN11220814, at Broom Pit, … to SN10900788, where it effects an apparent junction with the Saundersfoot Railway . … It is not depicted as a railway on Ordnance Survey County series 25inch mapping of 1889 as it was disused by this time. … Broom Colliery was re-constructed and re-opened in 1933 and improvements included a 600-yard electrically-hauled narrow-gauge tramway to carry coal to the Saunderfoot Railway.” [228]
That statement from Coflein is supported on their website by an Ordnance Survey extract which is reproduced here and annotated with the key features. [228]
Thomas Chapel on the 62 Ordnance Survey of 1906. The Saundersfoot Railway can be seen approaching from the South. [220]Approximately the same are as on the map extract above. The red line on the satellite image shows the route of the old railway. [220]
The lane serving Honeywood Cottage and other deellings runs across the top-half of the map and satellite image above. Just left of, and above the centre of, the image it is crossed by the old railway. The location is marked with a red arrow. It is of interest because there appears to be a remnant of the Saudersfoot Railway just at this point. I am not entirely sure that this is the case. However, if it is then is fixes the route of the line beyond here to Reynalton. I’d be interested to know whether anyone can provide details of what it ia that appears in the photograph below.
The location of the Reynalton Cooliery and the New Reynalton Colliery as indicated by Coflein. [221]
Urbex tells us that the railway “was extended for about one and a half miles beyond Thomas Chapel to serve a new colliery at Reynalton. To avoid heavy expenditure on earthworks and bridges, the line followed a somewhat circuitous course through open country. The existing railway from Thomas Chapel to Saundersfoot was relaid.” Horse traction was finally abandoned, and all traffic between Reynalton and the head of the incline was worked by 0-4-0ST Bulldog. Bulldog was slightly larger than than Rosalind which worked the line between Stepaside and the harbour. “It had 9inch by 15inch outside cylinders, 2feet 6inch wheels, and weighed 12 and a half tons in working order. To enable it to pass through the tunnel under the Great Western Railway to Saundersfoot, the maximum height and width had to be restricted to six feet nine inches respectively.” [227]
Coflein comments that the colliery site at Reynalton was a former anthracite drift mine. “Reynalton Colliery was opened by 1906. It was rebuilt in 1914 under the New Reynolton Anthracite Colliery Co., and served by an extension of the Saundersfoot Railway. … The mine closed in 1921 and the site was cleared, the only survivors being a brick-built winding house, six houses in the village and some railway embankment. There are various shafts and pits shown on the 1948 OS 6inch map. A cinder and slag heap near the church was removed during the Second World War to assist with the construction of Templeton airfield, … 2km to the north. [217]
Reynalton Bridge Abutments. This photograph was taken and shared by Dewi H. Davies on 7th October 2015 (c) People’s Collection Wales and used here under the Creative Archive Licence. [222]View from the SouthView form the North[223]We know that the Reynalton extension was constructed with frugality in mind, that it sought to follow the contours as much as possible and avoided building embankments, cuttings or structures as much as possible. With these factors in mind the red line shown on this satellite image is an estimation of the likely route which roughly follows the contours of the land and picks up on features that exit in the 21st century. A solid red line has been used where I have reasonable confidence over the alignment of the railway, the red-dotted line where I have a greater uncertainty but feel that showing the probable line is warranted.
We have already identified the two bridge abutments alongside the road South of Reynalton and it is possible (see below) to pick out the line of the railway either side of that for a couple of hundred yards at most. Closer to the line to Thomas Chapel there is a linear section of woodland which is in the shape of an upturned ‘U’ which closely follows the contours of the land. Between these two lengths the presumed route does approximately follow the contours and existing features, specifically, a lane to the East of the modern tarmacked road running North-South at the centre of the picture and an obvious lane running to the West of that road which does not appear on any of the revisions of the OS mapping carried by the NLS.
This leaves us with a question about the line’s approach to Reynalton colliery. The blue flag on the Coflein map above locates the colliery with reasonable accuracy. That position is shown again below and is marked on this satellite image as an ochre-coloured circle. At the moment the line approaching the colliery is shown in ochre as well and dashed because I have little certainty over its exact line. I hope to be able to clarify this further as time goes by. [223]Coflein provides two aerial photographs looking from the North across Reynalton to the most visible remains of the Saundersfoot Railway extension to Reynalton Colliery. The remains can be picked out towards the top of this image. A tree-lined curve runs from the West to two bridge abutments and the line can then be seen as a straight line running East through the first two fields East of the highway. The photograph was taken taken on 11 January 2006 by Toby Driver. [224]The location of Reynalton Colliery. An enlarged version of the map as shown by Coflein. [221]
This last satellite image taken from Google Earth shows that my presumptions about the line of the railway close to the colliery may be right. The field which is centre-right on this image has an area of curved land which appears to have retained water differently to the rest of the field and which is as a result greener. [Google Maps, September 2022]
Writing about the Reynalton extension to the Saundersfoot Railway, Coflein says: “The main line was extended to serve Reynalton Colliery … in 1915. The colliery closed in 1921 and the extension was abandoned, the whole Saundersfoot Railway closing finally in 1939.” [226] Some detailed reasoning for my proposed alignment for the extension is given in the comments under the satellite image above. I am hoping that at some time I may be able to find further information on the alignments that I have shown and would be very happy for someone to correct my assumptions.
Making the assumption that I have the correct alignment a few more photos on the line of the old railway can be offered. …
A telephoto image looking along the line of the railway to the East from the lane at the centre of the satellite image above. [Google Streetview, August 2021]A wider view of the probable line of the old railway taken from the same lane, looking East. [Google Streetview, August 2021]This time looking ahead along the probable line of the Saundersfoot Railway Extension. [Google Streetview]
It goes without saying that if anyone has photographs from along the routes shown, and is prepared to share them, I would be delighted to include them properly referenced in this article.
One final note: OpenRailwayMap [235] is usually an excellent source for following rail lines throughout the UK and abroad. Sadly the only length of the Saundersfoot Railway covered is a short length either side of Saundersfoot Railway Station. That length include the tunnel under that station. [235]
A holiday in West Wales in the early Autumn of 2022 led to a little research on the railways in the area.
This is the fourth article about Pembrokeshire’s Railways. The first focussed on the pre-railway age, the second focussed on the mainline railways of the county. The third article focussed on the industrial railways in the vicinity of Milford Haven. The links to these three posts are provided below. This article looks specifically at the Saundersfoot Railway in Pembrokeshire.
The Saundersfoot Railway (covered in this article and a follow-up article).
The Milford Haven Docks Railways (covered in a previous article).
The Milford & St. Bride’s Bay Light Railway and proposals for expansion of the Docks at Milford Haven (covered in a previous article).
The Royal Navy Armaments Depot at Newton Noyes (RNMD Milford Haven) (covered in a previous article).
The Royal Navy Armaments Depot at Trecwn (RNAD Trecwn) (covered in a future article).
Milford Haven Oil Refineries (covered in a previous article).
The Freystrop Colliery Railway (covered in a previous article).
The Hook Colliery Railway (covered in a previous article).
The Saundersfoot Railway
“Saundersfoot began life as a few medieval cottages in a forest clearing in Coedrath, a hunting ground of the Norman Earls of Pembroke. Five hundred years later it had grown into thriving coal port with its abundance of anthracite coal, and exported 30,000 tons annually from its harbour.” 150 years on when the coal industry vanished Saundersfoot evolved into a seaside resort. [132]
“‘Saundersfoote’ was first referred to by the Elizabethan Historian George Owen when describing the coal measures of Pembrokeshire, however on county maps from the 16th century it was referred to the village as St. Issells, the name of the parish. A water course paid rent for by Walter Elisaunder in 1332, Elisaunder’s Ford may originally have given the hamlet its name, being shortened to Saundersford.” [132]
Wikipedia tells us that the Saundersfoot Railway was an industrial narrow-gauge railway in Pembrokeshire, Wales, built between 1830–1834, to connect Saundersfoot harbour to the local coal mines. Trading began on 1st March 1834 and within a few years it comprised a small network of over 4 miles (6.4 km) along the coast from Saundersfoot to Wisemans Bridge and on to the collieries at Stepaside and Kilgetty, and later, running inland to Thomas Chapel near Begelly. [1: p131][49]
The Saundersfoot Railway provides the first example in Pembrokeshire of the joint construction of a harbour and tramway, and remained independent until it closed in 1939.[1: p128][49] The first image below comes from the very early 19th century and shows Saundersfoot before the construction of the harbour and railway. …
The 1809/1811 Ordnance Survey shows Tenby (at the bottom of this extract) and Saundersfoot village before the construction of the harbour and railway [130]This enlarged extract from the 1906 6″ Ordnance Survey which was published in 1908 focusses on the harbour at Saundersfoot and shows the two main tramroad lines. One heads immediately West along Milford Street and off the map extract centre-left. The other heads along what was then called Railway Street and leave the map extract centre-top. [131]
I guess that it is appropriate to ask whether it is a tramway/tramroad or a railway. I have chosen to treat it as a ‘railway’ because of its longevity, it’s own claim to be a ‘railway’ and because, ultimately it’s tracks were re-laid with flat bottom edge-rails on wooden sleepers which made it as much of a railway as any other line. Indeed Connop-Price says that “the Saundersfoot Railway and Harbour Company was an important undertaking in the context of Pembrokeshire. As it developed it metamorphosed from early tramroad to true railway (my emphasis), and by so doing was, in transport terms, a pivotal enterprise.Futhermore it was the earliest example in Pembrokeshire of an idea pioneered in South Wales – the planning of a railway and harbour as a single combined undertaking.” [1: p128]
High quality anthracite was found in the Saundersfoot area which was part of what became known as the Pembrokeshire Coalfield. The likely quantities involved were large and it quickly became essential to create a tramroad to move the extracted coal to the coast for onward shipping. “The Saundersfoot Railway and Harbour Company was formed in 1828 to build a harbour at Saundersfoot and a tramway to connect it to the collieries around Begelly and Stepaside. In 1829, Parliamentary authorisation was given for the Saundersfoot Railway and Harbour Company. This was to be a four-feet gauge horse operated tramroad, connecting collieries with a new harbour at Saundersfoot.” [49]
This map of the Saundersfoot Railway was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Mark Davies on 26th November 2015. [148]
The Act authorised a length of tramroad from the new harbour to pits in the hamlet of Thomas Chapel, Northwest of Begelly – close to 5 miles inland. “Two branches were also approved – the first from Ridgeway near Saundersfoot due West to Morton, … a distance of about a mile, and the second running North along the coast from the harbour to Wiseman’s bridge.” [1: p128 &131]
It is interesting to note that prior to the coming of the tramroad through Wiseman’s Bridge to Stepaside and Kilgetty a canal, the Kilgetty Canal, was built about 1792 to link collieries in Kilgetty/Stepaside to Wiseman’s Bridge, where high quality anthracite was carted onto beached schooners for dispatch to UK and European customers. The canal was only 10’-12’ wide and without locks, only tub boats would have operated along it. Being poorly designed, the canal was not successful and a horse-drawn tramway to Wiseman’s Bridge replaced it. Little remains of the canal today, except for the canal basin and the sluice at Wiseman’s Bridge, which controlled the level of water in the canal. [144]
Coflein tells us that “the harbour was built in 1829-30 … for the exportation of anthracite. By 1837, the harbour had five jetties handling coal, iron ore, pig iron and firebricks from local companies and mines. In 1884, Sailing Directions noted that the southern pier … ‘has a spur for checking the in-run of the sea, the entrance faces east, and is 35 yards wide; off which is a warping buoy. The bottom on the west side of the harbour is hard, but the rest consists of mud and sand, with a shelving beach in the northeast corner. At the south pier end, a yellow ball is hoisted while there is a depth of 8 feet water within the entrance; at night a red light is shown during the same time, which is elevated 15 feet above the highwater. Vessels of 16 feet draught can enter the harbour on spring tides, and those of 9 feet on neaps; two qualified pilots attend every tide, and whose charge is by agreement. In entering, it is necesssary to luff short round the south pier head and check the vessel’s way in time?’ Those Directions also note: ‘Tramroads connect the western side of the harbour with the collieries, which are situated about 3 miles within.’ [133]
Coflein comments: “The Saundersfoot railway was built to link Bonville Court mine and others to the Stepaside Ironworks (NPRN 43501, 43052).” [133] It seems, however, that Boneville Court Colliery and the Ironworks were built a little later than some of the other collieries opened, [134] so it seems fairer to say that a component of traffic on the line was generated by the existence of the Stepaside Ironworks until its closure in the mid- to late-1870s.
In its original form the Saundersfoot Railway was an edge-railway but it was like a tramroad in that the Company provided a transport facility for which it charged tolls to users of the line. Connop-Price says that “such a line was an entirely logical development from the era of canals and turnpike trusts, but it was only adequate when traffic was not continuous, and haulage was by horse or oxen.” [1: p131] As we have already noted, the original cast Iron rails supported on stone-blocks had to be replaced and the line developed into a railway, albeit of 4ft gauge (perhaps 0.75in wider?), rather than standard-gauge and, as we will see, a very reduced headroom.
This photograph shows one of the original cat-iron fish-bellied rails of 4ft length used on the Saundersfoot Railway. They spanned bewteen stone blocks laid in the ground. The rails were made locally. The image was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group by Mark Davies on 26th November 2015. [151]
The authoritative text is ‘The Saundersfoot Railway’ written by M.R. Connop-Price which is No. 28 in the Oakwood Press series of Locomotion Papers. [136] Oakwood Press is now owned by Stenlake Publishing but existed independently from its founding in 1931 until 2016. The early editions of this book were all published from Usk in Monmouthshire. Connop-Price has also written ‘Pembrokeshire: the Forgotten Coalfield, publihed in 2004 by Landmark Publishing, Ashbourne Derbyshire which contains a significant chapter on Mining Transport. [1: p120-144]
The Saundersfoot Railway had two main mineral lines which were fed by a number of branches. Horse-power was used at first with horses pulling up to three laden trams (wagons). Wikipedia tells us that the two main lines were:
A line connecting the collieries and the later ironworks close to Stepaside which ran along the coast to the harbour in Saundersfoot. [32][49]
A line from Thomas Chapel colliery near Begelly to the harbour in Saundersfoot. This line passed beneath the GWR station in a tunnel at King’s Moor and had an incline around half-a-mile from the harbour which had a gradient of 1 in 5. [49]
This, while true, somewhat simplifies the development of the line. We noted above that the 1829 Act authorised two branches, one of which was the nascent form of first line mentioned immediately above, although it limited the line running North to a terminus at Wiseman’s bridge until the harbour was operational at Saundersfoot. [1: p131]
The mainline running towards Begelly and Thomas Chapel was substantially complete between Begelly and the harbour by the time the Company officially began trading on 1st March 1834. The branch to Moreton, however, was not constructed immediately. The line to Wiseman’s Brdige was substantially complete by June 1834. Connop-Price tells us that the line suffered a number of rock falls and, as a result, broken rails and it seems highly unlikely that the line saw any significant use. [1: p131]
Both the branch along the coast and the harbour suffered storm damage. An extension to the North pier of the harbour narrowed the harbour entrance and gave much greater protection to vessels within. [1: p131]
It was decided to realign the tramroad to Wiseman’s Bridge and, when another Act of Parliament was needed to renew powers to build the Moreton branch (1842), the realignment of the coastal line was included as well as an extension to Lower Level Colliery at Kilgetty. “The line to Wiseman’s Bridge was rebuilt on a slightly altered alignment, and at a slightly higher level beneath the cliffs North of Coppet Hall; the extension to Kilgetty gradually steepened over its final mile until it reached a gradient of 1 in 32 on the approaches to Lower Level Colliery.” [1: p132] That 1842 Act also authorised another branch from Kingsmoor to Broadmoor and Masterlands, although a decision not to contract that line was made before the middle of the 1840s. {1: p132]
On the line West from the harbour after about a half-mile journey there was a self-acting incline which worked well for those exporting goods from the harbour bringing it down the line. The loaded trams lifting the empty trams up the incline. It did not work well for those importing freight such as pit-props or stone. Eventually a winch was provided so as to avoid damage to the land alongside the incline. [1: p132]
On learning of the South Wales Railway’s plan to build a branch from its mainline to Pembroke, the Saundersfoot Railway’s board of directors decided to construct a line to meet the GWR at Reynalton. Their scheme was authorised in 1846. However, the South Wales Railway failed to provide the branch to Pembroke. The Saundersfoot Railway’s proposed Tenby, Saundersfoot & South Wales Railway and Pier Company line was not built. [49] Another Company built a standard-gauge line between Pembroke and Tenby -The Pembroke and Tenby Railway (in 1863), and then extended that line to meet the South Wales Railway at Whitland. (in around 1865). Moreton Colliery got its own siding on that line but Boneville Court Colliery did not. Coal drops were provided at the point where the Saundersfoot Railway passed under the standard-gauge line. [1: p133] Eventually Saundersfoot Station was built at this site.
As part of a modernisation project, the whole line was upgraded to a narrow gauge railway in 1874. The tramway along the coast was re-laid with flat bottom rails on wooden sleepers allowing a locomotive to be used on the line to Stepaside. [49]
In April 1874 an 0-4-0ST built by Manning Wardle of Leeds (Rosalind) was purchased and worked the line between the harbour and Lower Level Colliery. “Horses were retained to work the portion of the line from the harbour to the incline, and also from the top of the incline to to the exchange siding at Saundersfoot Station. The failure of collieries at Thomas Chapel, and the decline in mining at Begelly, meant that by this date traffic worked through Kingsmoor Tunnel was negligible.”[1: p133]
The track north of the standard-gauge line was lifted in 1887, however, in 1914 it was re-laid and a new 1.5 mile branch line built to support the opening of a short-lived colliery at Reynalton. A new engine was purchased for this purpose. [49]
In 1889/1890 the track between the harbour and the incline was re-laid to allow it to be worked by Rosalind. In 1893, Bonevilles Court colliery was provided a siding from the standard-gauge line and the exchange sidings at Saundersfoot Station fell into disuse as did the line between the incline and the station. By this time harbour traffic was limited to coal and culm from two collieries, Bonevilles Court and Lower Level. [1: p133]
By the late 1920s coal mining was in recession and the line closed. In 1932 a brief resurgence in local mining led to the lines being briefly reopened. [49]
However, only seven years later, due to financial considerations and the workings becoming exhausted, the railway finally closed on the eve of the Second World War. Subsequently, the rolling stock along with the tracks were scrapped for use in the war effort. [49]
Locomotives – Both engines used on the line had low profiles so they could work the tunnels. Although Rosalind was scrapped, Bulldog continued to work at Llanelli steel works until 1951. [49]
Name
Builder
Wheel arrangement
Date
Works number
Notes
Rosalind
Manning Wardle
0-4-0ST
1874
476
Bulldog
Kerr Stuart
0-4-0ST
1915
2040
Purchased from the New Reynalton Anthracite Coal Company in 1921
This table comes directly from the Wikipedia article about the Saundersfoot Railway [49]
We have already noted that there were two main lines which met at Saundersfoot Harbour. It seems to be a good idea to start at the harbour and to look at each line in turn. This article covers the line to Stepaside via Wiseman’s Bridge. A second article will cover the line which heads West from the Harbour.
Saudersfoot Harbour to Stepaside via Wiseman’s Bridge
We start this journey at Saudersfoot Harbour with two very early views of the harbour and its tramroad.
From the harbour we head out along what was Railway Street (now called ‘The Strand’). First we have a series of views of Railway Street and its railway from the late 19th century and the early 20th century.
Before Saundersfoot Harbour’s development, coal was loaded into boats at Swallow Tree Bay (South of Saundersfoot) and Coppet Hall, (thought to derive from ‘coal pit haul’). [169]
The 1906 6″ Ordnance Survey of Coppet Hall showing the old tramroad curving from the tunnel under Craig-y-Mor to then pass through a very short tunnel while traveling to the East on the North side of the beach. The following tunnel entrance can just be made out to the top-right of the image. [170]The line of the old railway through Coppet Hall follows the line of the Coastal Path highlighted by the red line, dashed through tunnels. [Google Maps, June 2022]An information board at Coppet Hall giving some details about the Saundersfoot Railway, (c) Gareth James, 20th May 2010, authorised for us under a Creative Commons Licence [CC BY-SA 2.0) [183]This view from the tunnel mouth of the coastal line to Wiseman’s Bridge faces back towards Saundersfoot with Coppet Hall Beach visible in the centre of the image beyond the railway tracks. The image was shared by Stephen Hughes on the Pembrokeshire – I LOVE IT! Facebook Group on 12th January 2018. [138]A view back to Saundersfoot along the Coastal Path from approximately the same location as the monochrome image above. Around the curve ahead is a short tunnel before Coppet Hall and its beach which can be seen beyond the railings. [Google Streetview, June 2016]Turning through a half-circle the view looks along the tunnel from the position of the last image. [Google Streetview, June 2016]The 1906 6″ Ordnance Survey shows the tramroad/railway heading North after leaving the tunnel at the bottom of the map extract, closely following the sea wall. [171]the coastal path continues to follow the route of the old railway [171]The North portal of the railway tunnel which appears at the bottom of the last two images and carries the modern coastal path, looking back South towards Saundersfoot. [Google Streetview, June 2016]Turning 180 degrees, this photograph shows the coastal path and hence the old railway’s route heading North towards Wiseman’s Bridge. [Google Streetview, June 2016]The 1096 6″ OS Map shows the railway continuing North through an S-bend along the sea wall and then running along the highway yo Wiseman’s Bridge. The Iron Foundry was Woodside Iron Foundry. Coflein says that it was serves by a siding from the Saundersfoot Railway, (although the siding does not appear on this edition of the Ordnance Survey) It is shown on OS 1st edition mapping of 1889. The tramway siding terminated in the yard of a disused brickworks – comprising a large building and four kilns. Opened in 1849/50, Hean Castle Brickworks produced firebricks from black clay underlying the coal seams and were reputedly the best in the country. [172][173][174]The 1887 6″ Ordnance Survey published a year or so later shows the Iron Foundry and Brickworks together with the tramroad branch which ran from the Saundersfoot Railway in-between the two curves of the S-bend in the line. It then ran along the South side of the Foundry before turning to the North, close to the Brickworks. [175]This modern image shows the location at which the short siding referred to above diverged from the Saundersfoot Railway. [Google Streetview, June 2016]The same area as shown on the 1906 6″ OS map extract above which the line of both the coastal path and railway marked by the red line. The Ironworks discussed above were sited in the grass area to the West of the railway to the North of the woodland. The brickworks were to their West. [172]This photograph shows the point at which the old railway joined the verge of the road to Wiseman’s Bridge. It is takenlooking back towards Saundersfoot with the old railway’s route on the left adjacent to the sea-wall. [Google Streetview, June 2016]The old railway crossed the coast road and followed Back Lane northwards. [Google Streetview, June 2016]Wiseman’s Bridge. The old railway ran off the left of this image at the top of the steps which can be seen on the left. Ahead between the steps and the bridge Kilgetty Canal can be glimpsed. The railway and Canal followed each other up the valley. The canal passed under the nearest arch of Wiseman’s Bridge. [Google Streetview, March 2022]Wiseman’s Bridge and Step Cottage on 28th January 2010. The Saundersfoot Railway ran on top of the wall in front of the cottage along what is now called Back Lane. There was a passing loop on the railway which ran from the front of the cottage to the right of the image. It can be seen at the top of the 1906 6″ OS map extract above and at the bottom of the 6″ extract below, (c) Humphrey Bolton, authorised for use under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [176]The Kilgetty Canal and towpath seen from the road crossing Wiseman’s Bridge. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The Kilgetty Canal Basin between the sea and the coastal road/path. The Saudersfoot Railway ran at the top of the wall visible to the right of the picture. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The old railway heads North up the valley from Wiseman’s Bridge. We have already noted the passing loop which features at the bottom of this map extract. [The old railway route runs North from Wiseman’s Bridge along Back Lane. Immediately South of what is called Wiseman’s Bridge Cottage on the OS Map extract. Back lane turns away to the left and the route of the old railway continues up the valley. [177]The Saundersfoot Railway followed Back lane heading North from Wiseman’s Bridge. The canal can be seen on the right of the image. [Google Streetview, July 2021]The point at which Back Lane and the Railway diverged as it was in July 2021. A footpath now follows the old railway. [Google Streetview]The old railway turned gradually towards the West as it ran North. The 1906 6″ Ordnance Survey again. [178]The same area as on th emap extract. There is no need to mark the route of the old railway as the public-right-of-way which follows it can be clearly seen on this 21st century satellite image as provided by the National Library of Scotland (NLS). [178]This next extract from the 1906 6″ Ordnance Survey covers the remaining length(s) of the line to Stepaside. The line served a number of industrial sites. Low Level Colliery, Kilgetty Colliery and the Saw Mill are all shown as having connections to the railway. [185]The modern satellite image supplied by the NLS covers the same area as the 6″ OS Map extract above but it shows a dramatically different transport situation! The old railway and sidings have gone and the most prominent feature is the A477 running North-South across the image. [185]This extract from the 1887 Ordnance Survey shows, in addition to the Saw Mill appearing on the 1906 revision, the Ironworks and Grove Colliery which were at that time alongside the Railway branch to the South of Stepaside. The Ironworks and the Saw Mill (in 1887) had their own connection from the mainline of the Railway in the valley to the East of Stepaside, having a bridge across the canal adjacent to the Ironworks. The truncated network in the vicinity of the Ironworks appears on the 1906 survey, the full extent appears on this extract. Elsewhere in the immediate area, there is little difference between the 1887 and 1906 OS Maps. [186]
The satellite image above shows how significant the industry in the area of Stepaside was. Only a little remains. Amroth and District Community Association say that Stepaside was “a heavily industrialised site during the latter end of the nineteenth century with a thriving iron works using iron ore and limestone from local quarries. Today, this site is privately owned and features a chalet style complex. At one time, the village offered a school, post office, shop, garage and petrol station, a cobbler, a tailor and numerous public houses. Today, the only industry is the very busy coachworks, with several small housing estates.” [188]
Stepaside Ironworks as they appear in the 21st century. [188]
The remains of Stepaside’s Ironworks are pictured above. Grove Colliery’s Engine House remains as a substantial ruin and is shown below.
Grove colliery had a deep shaft which extend 182 metres down into the ground and it’s workings extended over a large area as it followed the anthracite-bearing strata to extract the coal. The owners aim was to find the Kilgetty vein, which took until 1858, a period of some 5 years after opening and at a cost of £30,000. Eventually, the Grove Colliery was linked underground to the Kilgetty Colliery, a distance of some 795 metres.
Coal from the Grove Colliery was carried both on the Saundersfoot Railway via Stepaside and on a self-acting incline to the Ironworks in the valley below. The colliery had its own stables, stores, carpenter’s shop and smithy.
Lower Level Colliery, according to Coflein, appears on the early OS mapping (1887/1889) but on the second edition of 1906/1907 it is marked as disused, having closed in 1900. According to OS mapping of 2013, the site has been cleared and landscaped. [190]
Coflein also notes that Kilgetty Colliery was an anthracite colliery dating from around 1843. It closed in 1873 but was re-developed and re-opened in 1935, with a weighbridge house, ventilation drift and winding engine house. Another winding engine house (now converted) stood nearby. The colliery closed finally in 1939 by 2003 the site was largely built over. [191]
On the approach to Stepaside village the railway ran adjacent to the road. In 22st century the railway route remains protected as a footpath running just below the the level of the road. It is highlighted on this image by the red line. [Google Streetview, March 2022]This Google Streetview image shows that the remains of the Ironwork sit at the entrance to a caravan park. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The Kigetty Ironworks (or the Stepaside Ironworks) drawn as they were in 1866. The tramroads serving the site feature prominently. This is the picture on the information board at the site of the Ironworks in the 21st century. THe picture is an extract from an image shared by David Holland on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group on 20th April 2020. [198]Closer in to the village the railway ran immediately on the verge. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The old railway with the lane beside it used to pass under the road above. There is a modern bridge in place of the double-arched masonry structure that once stood at this location. The read line entering the image from the left was the Saundersfoot Railway branch to Grove Colliery [Google Streetview, March 2022]A distant view of Stepaside from the Southwest. The arch bridge is visible at the centre of the image. This photograph was shared by Paul Wyatt on 28th January 2020 on the Kilgetty, Begelly, Stepaside and Pentlepoir Community Voice Facebook Group. [194]Looking East across the old arch bridge in Stepaside. This picture was shared on the Kilgetty, Begelly, Stepaside and Pentlepoir Community Voice Facebook Group by Paul Wyatt on 27th April 2018. [193]The old bridge at the centre of Stepaside. [192]Gary Davies shared this image from May 1970 of the old bridge. He notes that it was built by Thomas Telford. The image was shared on the Tenby and Saundersfoot Through Time Facebook Group on 9th May 2020. [197]This close up image of the 6″ OS Map shows the railway and lane running under the double-arched masonry structure supporting the road. It also highlights the two railway junctions either side the the bridge. [185]
Before passing under the bridge we take a quick look back down the branch to Grove Colliery.
Looking south from the modern bridge over the old railway route the Saundersfoot Railway ran along the verge of the highway. A branch-line ran off to the West to Grove Colliery. The old line has been built over by a small housing estate. That branch climbed the hill behind the estate in this picture. [Google Streetview, March 2022]
Beyond the housing visible in the picture above the railway crossed the old Kilgetty Canal before climbing the hill beyond. The tramway bridge now carries a footpath as shown on the OpenStreetmap extract below. British Listed Buildings website tells us that the bridge carried the “private branch of the tramway known as the Saundersfoot Railway to the high level of Kilgetty Ironworks of the Pembrokeshire Coal and Iron Company (which commenced production in 1849) and on to Grove Colliery of the same Company. As it is likely to have been one of the first things constructed, its date is probably c.1846. It probably remained in tramway use until the closure of the colliery in c.1900.” [196]
The bridge is a single-arch skew bridge of local sandstone, with an arch span of about 4 m. and a width of about 6 m. Low parapet on the SW side, restored, with modern railings.
The location of the bridge on the line to Grove Colliery (c) Openstreetmap. [196]
On the other side of the bridge the old railway has another junction. The longer arm to the left heads for Lower Level Colliery. The route ahead served Kilgetty Colliery. I have not as yet been able to find photographs of these two collieries.
The Railway ran on to Lower Level Colliery along the track to the left. Kilgetty Colliery was ahead on what is now called Kilgetty Lane. [Google Streetview, March 2022]The site of Kilgetty Colliery in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, March 2022]
We noted above how the route of line to Lower Level Colliery crosses the line of the A477. The composite image below brings together the 6″ OS Map of 1906 and modern satellite imagery to show how close Lower Level Colliery was to the line of the new road.
A translucent combined image of Lower Level Colliery and the modern A477. [185]
This is the point at which we leave the arm of the Saundersfoot Railway which ran North from the Harbour.
This picture of the ……. portal of the tunnel was taken and shared by Steve Briers on the Kilgetty, Begelly Stepaside & Pentlepoir Community Voice on 2nd February 2019. [184]
32. D S M Barrie, revised Peter Baughan; A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 12: South Wales; David St John Thomas, Nairn, 1994.
36. Wing Commander Ken McKay; A Vision of Greatness: The History of Milford 1790-1990; Brace Harvatt Associates, 1989.
134. The tramroad was built between 1839 and1834, [1: p131][49] the harbour, between 1829 and 1830. [133] Boneville Court Colliery was not established until 1842 [1: p132] and the Ironworks were established in 1848/1849. The Ironworks were active intermittently until 1868 when the complex was sold to Bonville’s Court Coal and Iron Company around 1873. The ironworks finally closed in 1877 and were dismantled in 1887-89. The chimney stack above the furnaces was eventually demolished in 1909. [135]
144. These comments were made by Mike Roch and he indicates that he picked up the information from a book by M.R. Connop-Price, ‘Industrial Saundersfoot’. The comments are made alongside a series of photographs of the remailing lengths of the canal taken and shared by Mike Roch on 23rd November 2021 on the Saundersfoot & District Historical Society Facebook Group. The pictures can be found by following this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1806381086087895/search/?q=tramway, accessed on 23rd September 2022.
187. I found this image while searching on Facebook and cannot now find the dull link back to it. This is the record of the image that I kept … facebook_1664055146584_6979553157540841155.jpg … if anyone is better at following these things through on Facebook, please feel free to do so.
Since posting about the Town Section of the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway I have received some pictures from people who visited the railway in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and I have identified a few other items worth including in this addendum.
The featured image above is one taken by K.H. Cribb and used by kind permission of his son Russ.
The original article about the W&LLR Town Section can be found here:
Most of the images included in this article are shared with the kind permission of the photographers. My thanks to all who have been willing to let me share their photographs. The author of an image is credited in the text under that image and, as appropriate, the source is provided in the ‘References’ at the end of the article. There are a number of images for which it has not been possible to determine or to contact the original photographer to seek permission to share the image. Any help in identifying a copyright holder, if one exists, would be appreciated.
1. A set of three photographs sent to me by Tony Jervis are included in the photographs below. All were taken in 1977. One shows the remaining dual-gauge track as it existed in 1977. Another shows the location of the Seven Stars Halt, the third shows the Bron-y-Buckley length of the line after the lifting of the track.
2. Three pictures were sent to me by Malcolm Peakman.
The first to mention was from the abandoned section of the narrow-gauge line in the town and particularly the dual-gauge track alongside the Smithfield livestock market and mirrors Tony Jervis’ photograph of the same location. This photo is included in the series of pictures following the route of the town section of the line below.
The other two are from further along the line and show some of the stock purchased by the preservation society when it took over the line. I have included these here for their historical interest, even though they do not relate directly to the Town Section of the line.
Malcolm Peakman also shared some memories of the early preservation period:
“As a volunteer on the W&L between 1962 to 1964 I travelled the town section many times, despite the failure to obtain long term permission we were allowed to use the line to recover spent ballast from BR to spread further up the line, so a typical weekend would see 2 or 3 trips with empty wagons down and loaded back up and then off loaded. As I was a teenage apprentice in a Locomotive Works I was a lot fitter than I am now and this part of the job certainly helped keep me in shape!
The worst part of the run was at Raven Square where we perforce ran wrong direction in the road due to the island. This caused several near misses where motorists ignored the red flags and tried to proceed in the face a steam loco. I only saw one collision, that was outside the Seven Stars where an irate local who had parked on the tracks despite knowing it would be used at the week end, chose to deliberately drive into the locomotive, he burst his radiator and scratched the paint on the loco. The police were not very sympathetic towards him.
I was there when the pannier tank and The Earl stood side by side.”
3. An image of the W&LLR is used by the Lightmoor Press on their website to advertise one of their publications, Michael Whitehouse’s, ‘Narrow Gauge Album 1950-1965 In Colour’. [1] The photograph was taken by Patrick Whitehouse and is covered by copyright so cannot be reproduced in this article. It can be seen by clicking here. [2]
The picture shows the view from the main W&LLR yard adjacent to Welshpool Railway Station towards the town centre. It shows No. 822 idling gently in the yard whilst the day’s goods train awaits its journey to Llanfair Caereinion having already been assembled. The passenger platform was behind the photographer to the left, behind the waiting goods train. Although no regular passenger services were offered at the time that Patrick Whitehouse took the photograph, having been withdrawn by the GER in the early 1930s. Beyond the engine to the right a second goods brake van can be seen. Behind that is the dual-gauge Smithfield Siding and the Smithfield livestock market. [2]
(On its webpage, Lightmoor Press writes: “Patrick Whitehouse (PBW)… travelled far and wide to photograph many … narrow gauge lines and systems before they were lost. In 1957, he compiled his seminal Narrow Gauge Album, which brought many of these wonderful but obscure railways to the attention of thousands of other enthusiasts, some of whom followed in his footsteps with their cameras. Now, PBW’s son Michael has delved in to the family and other archives to compile a similar album for the 21st century, accompanied by essays from a variety of well known names and sources.”) [2]
4. Then and Now Images. Tim Abbot has posted two images on Flickr with permission to use under a Creative Commons Licence. These are included in the series of photographs following the route of the line. Both appear early in that series of pictures as they show the length close to the mainline railway station.
5. Ken Cribb(K.H. Cribb) took around 1000 photographs of a series of different railways. All his photos come from the 1950s and 1960s. These photographs are very recently uncovered and mostly unseen by others. His son Russ is at present cataloguing those photographs and hopes one day that publication may be possible. Russ has very kindly allowed me to include a number of his dad’s photographs in this article.
Russ has been sharing a few of the photos on a number of Facebook Groups “to gain a bit more knowledge from people or railway groups that could help. This has been a bit of an eye opener as to some of the photos, not realising what historical importance some of them are.” [22]
He writes: “Dad was great friends with Richard Blenkinsop and many photographic locations were done together, Dick taking loads of notes and then publishing so many fantastic books over the years, with Dad showing up in a few. Sadly we lost dad in 1995 after Alzheimer’s set in very early at the age of 56, passing away at 64. There was never enough time to go through all the photos with him at the time as I had just started my own family and time was centred around the children. Then it was sadly too late and the recollection were very mixed and distorted so now left with the enormous task of trying to make as good a job as I can with the information available.” [22]
Russ would be delighted if there are people who might want to assist in understanding the pictures he has. He has kindly watermarked the photographs included here and would love to hear from anyone who can add to his knowledge. For the purposes of this blog, I have to remember to keep photograph file sizes relatively small, so please don’t judge the quality of the photographs on the basis of what appears here. In my view Ken Cribb’s photos are a great asset and they need to be shared more widely, If you have something significant to offer, please get in touch with me and I will pass your details on to Russ.
Ken Cribb took 26 photographs of the W&LLR, many on the last SLS special. Russ again: “His friend Pat Webber was with him that day, (who he cycled with for two weeks around Ireland and at Letterkenny) also sent one of his photos as a Christmas card. The photos are along the route, so he didn’t travel on the train on this occasion.” [22]
Russ continues: “Any publication is miles away yet, have to get the spreadsheet finished first and proper inventory of what photos there are before proper scanning. … [Dad] spent most of his spare weekends and holidays helping out on the Ffestiniog Railway and photographing Welsh narrow gauge along with the 1950’s steam on standard gauge across the UK and Ireland.” [22]
9 of Ken’s photographs are included below.
Photographs taken along the Town Section of the W&LLR
The photos which follow illustrate the Town Section of the line throughout its history. They begin close to the mainline station in Welshpool and end at Raven Square.
Welshpool now has a town trail which follows the line of the Town Section of the W&LLR. This is one of the information boards along the route. Each has a map which fills the centre of the board with illustrations and photographs surrounding the map. Text is in both Welsh and English. This is Board No. 2 which can be found the wall at the southwestern edge of the Tesco car park. The board explains: “Having crossed Smithfield Road the line entered the narrow gauge yard with the running line passing between a loop and warehouse siding. The warehouse, again a timber framed building, had a double pitch roof clad in corrugated iron sheets. Supported on pillars a canopy protected the rail-side entrance of the warehouse, whilst the yard-side entrance was protected by a canopy cantilevered out from the roof. … This area was an extremely busy one as not only did the standard and narrow gauge lines run side by side but also a busy cattle market was held adjacent. After the railway had closed the town section and the track removed the area was taken over and incorporated into the Smithfield until it moved to its present location on the outskirts of town in 2009.” [My photograph, 2nd September 2022]A plan of the yard at Welshpool which was shared by Rob Bishop on the Narrow Gauge Railway Enthusiast’s Facebook Group on 20th January 2017. It shows: the triangle formed by the dual-gauge length of line on the East side of the triangle, adjacent to the Smithfield market; the transshipment line extended across the bottom of the triangle; and the curving sidings of the goods yard. This image was shared by Rob Bishop on the Narrow Gauge Enthusiasts Facebook Group on 20th January 2017. [21]
The following photographs are, as far as possible, shown in sequence along the line through Welshpool starting at the mainline station and the W&LLR yard.
The first is a ‘then and now’ photograph created by Tim Abbot.
Tim Abbott comments: “The first train on the newly opened Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway stands in the Smithfield Road outside the Cambrian Railway station in Welshpool on 4th April 1903. Where once stood the proud directors of the company, road improvements and a mini roundabout now lead intending passengers through Welshpool to the preserved railway’s new station on the western edge of the town.” (c) Tim Abbott, licenced for use under a Creative Commons Licence, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). [3]
The second shows the view from Smithfield Road in front of the mainline station car park in the year s after the W&LLR rails had been lifted.
The site of the terminus of the W&LLR on in front of Welshpool Railway Station on 14th July 1978. Smithfield Road is in the foreground and extends down the left side of this photograph. The passenger terminus was to the right of this image, the goods yard was off to the left. The transshipment facilities were through the gateway at the centre of the photograph. The image was taken by Keith Spencer and shared by him on the Disused Railway Lines of Britain Facebook Group on 30th December 2019. [17]
Tim Abbott comments: “Smithfield Road, then and now: The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway started from a siding beside the road outside the main line station. Trains, passenger up to 1931 and freight until closure in 1956, were made up here before departure for Llanfair. Road improvements have since wiped out all memory of the original line and the main line goods yard adjacent to it. (c) Tim Abbott, licenced for use under a Creative Commons Licence, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). [4]This is the first of 9 photographs taken by Ken Cribb which are included in this article. Chronologically, it is not the first, but it is correctly placed geographically for the purposes of this article. This is a SLS Special being readied for a trip on the W&LLR in November 1956. The headboard has yet to be put in place. The locomotive is No. 822, The Earl. The train is made up of brake vans and open wagons for what will inevitably be a steady run along the line to Llanfair, (c) Ken Cribb. [23]No. *22 The Earl again, just a little later in the morning. The Locomotive’s headboard has now been fixed and the crowd of enthusiats have arrived of the train in Welshpool Railway Station. It looks as though it will be quite a tight fit to get everyone on board, (c) Ken Cribb. [23]This is a photograph from an earlier visit to the W&LLR. Ken Cribbs visited the W&LLR twice in the 1950s. This is from the first visit in 1955 and shows No 823 Countess leaving the W&LLR platform on the forecourt of Welshpool Mainline Railway Station and taking the curve through the W&LLR goods yard in July 1955. The route appears on the picture below curving round to the left, (c) Copyright Ken Cribb. All of Ken’s photographs are used by kind permission of his son, Russ Cribb. [23]An extract from an aerial image showing a train of horseboxes sitting in the Smithfield siding in 1939. The cattle market is beyond and the W&LLR good yard is in front of the horseboxes, (c) Historic England and sources from the Britain from Above website, Image No. WPW061716, authorised for non-commercial use. [8]The third side of the triangle looking Northeast the narrow-gauge would have crossed the standard-gauge approximately where the cattle wagons stand in the distance beyond the shed. There was apparently a length of narrow gauge track which was placed across the standard-gauge when it was needed. The length of track concerned is shown dotted on the plan above. Again, the photographer is not known. The image was shared by Rob Bishop on the Narrow Gauge Enthusiasts Facebook Group on 20th January 2017. [21]This photograph shows the point close to the Cambrian Mainline where the narrow-gauge separated from the standard-gauge. The timber yard which it served was off to the left of the picture. The photographer’s identity is not known. The image was shared on the Narrow Gauge Enthusiasts Facebook Group on 20th January 2017 by Rob Bishop. [21]
The Smithfield Siding ran alongside the Smithfield livestock market and over part of its length was dual-gauge.
It is worth noting that the provision of the narrow gauge as part of this dual-gauge track was not to allow loading and unloading at the cattle dock but to provide access for W&LLR wagons to a sawmill farther down next to the standard gauge lines. The goods and cattle were unloaded from the narrow gauge in a different part of the yard. [11]
In 2003, Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust recorded the site of the dual-gauge siding on its website [5] in 2003 as follows: “PRN 85212 – Welshpool, Smithfield Road, railway transfer dock (multiple site) Scheduled Ancient Monument MG254(POW): NGR:- SJ22980734 (SJ20NW); Unitary authority:- Powys; Community:- Welshpool; Preferred site type:- 20th Century – Cattle docks (Multiple – Intact) … A rare surviving interchange facility between narrow and broad gauge railways. Built 1903 to provide a connection between the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway (narrow gauge) and the Cambrian Railways (later Great Western) (standard gauge), it remained in use until 1956. Three parallel rails in the transfer dock allowed access for both standard and narrow gauge rolling stock to the same platforms. The site is well documented in the papers of the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway in the National Library of Wales. A triangular island platform of stone, brick and concrete survives with mixed gauge track on both sides, laid into concrete without sleepers. The island platform has two rows of cattle pens with concrete and iron fencing and timber gates, and a single-storey brick office. Of national importance as a rare surviving railway transfer dock, believed to be the last surviving example in Wales, and possibly Britain (Cadw, 2003).” [5]
An interesting aside to the photograph above is the content of a short discussion on the Narrow Gauge Railways Facebook group. This discussion started with a comment from the photographer about the fact that the locomotive was facing towards Llanfair and a recollection that on another visit it was seen in the loco shed with its bunker facing towards Llanfair.
In response to Alfred Fisher, Tim Abbott commented that “Countess worked bunker first towards Llanfair in the 1920s. But your experience suggests this might not have been the only time. Until 1937 it was theoretically possible to turn locos on a triangle at Welshpool, but the connecting sidings were removed after this date.” [12]
The triangle Tim Abbot refers to was probably formed from the narrow gauge line which was part of the dual-gauge Smithfield Siding and a line which connected to the transshipment siding in the mainline goods yard at Welshpool.
A 21st century view along the route of the old railway looking towards the canal bridge and Welshpool town centre from the old W&LLR goods yard. This image was taken and then shared on the Narrow Gauge Railways Facebook group by David Knott on 28th May 2018. [13]The climb to the Canal bridge, also taken and shared by David Knott on 28th May 2018. [13]
These quotes come from private messages which Russ has sent me. He has kindly given permission for these to be shared here along with some of his father’s photographs.
All Ken Cribb’s photographs are included with permission from his son Russ. Rus would be interested in hearing from anyone with information to share about his father’s photographs. Please get in touch with me, if this is the case, and I will pass your details on to Russ.
Roger Farnworth 
