"Y ddel gerbydres welir--yn rhedeg
Ar hyd ein dyffryn-dir,
Ac yn gynt ar ei hynt hir
Y fellten ni theithia filltir.
O ganol tre Llangynog--am naw
Cychwyn wneir yn dalog,
Fe'n ceir cyn tri'n fwy gwisgi na'r gog,
A hoenus yn Llundain enwog." {91}
--A WELSH BARD.
The traveller along the main artery of the Cambrian, from Whitchurch to
Aberystwyth, will note that, as he proceeds on his way, past the Welsh
border foothills, and on by the waters of the Severn to the highlands of
central Montgomeryshire, a series of more or less attractive lateral
valleys branch off to the left, and still more definitely, to the right.
Up some of these the eyes of ambitious engineers and railway promoters
had often been cast as the main line was being constructed. No less
eagerly did the residents at the remoter ends of these sequestered
hollows among the hills look forward to the day when they might be linked
up with the central system, and so brought into direct touch with the
great world beyond.
There had, as we have seen, already been plans for carrying a line right
up the Vyrnwy or the Tanat Valley, through the Berwyns to the vale of the
Dee--the wonderful West Midland line which was to run from Shrewsbury to
the shores of Cardigan Bay, over hill and down dale with "only one
tunnel." But the route left Llanfyllin eight miles to the south, and
Llanfyllin, as the largest town among these upland valleys, was not
disposed to take that lying down. The Oswestry and Newtown line crossed
the end of the vale, at Llanymynech, only nine miles away, and that was
clearly the route by which the engineers could most easily construct a
connective link. In the autumn of 1860, one of Llanfyllin's most
prominent citizens, Mr. J. Pugh, had posted over to Oswestry, where he
had an interview with Mr. Whalley. "Can you help us to get a railway?"
Yes, anything in his power, the hon. Member for Peterboro' would do, and
he was as good as his word. Within a month a crowded audience pressed
into the Llanfyllin Town Hall to listen to the scheme which Mr. Whalley
and his colleagues had to lay before them. The chair was taken by Mr. R.
M. Bonner Maurice, of Bodynfoel, who had, it was happily recalled,
presided at one of the meetings eight years earlier at Newtown out of
which the germ of the Montgomeryshire Railways sprang. This was, indeed,
good augury, and when, not only Mr. Whalley and Mr. Johns, with their
enthusiasm, but Mr. George Owen, with his plans in his pocket, came
before them to show how the thing could be done, at a cost of some 60,000
pounds, enthusiasm rose high.
The meeting, however, was not "like Bridgnorth election, all on one
side." Mr. A. C. Sheriff, of Worcester, manager of the West Midland
Railway, existent, so far, merely on paper, was there too, only he had no
plans in his pocket, and little more than vague notions in his head.
"If" they did make a second tunnel, out of the Tanat Valley, then
Llanfyllin should certainly be brought on to their main line, which would
carry the farmers straight into Shrewsbury market. The farmers, however,
did not want to go to Shrewsbury market. They wanted to go to Oswestry
and Welshpool, and it was by Llanymynech that their way lay. So it
scarcely needed Mr. Abraham Howell's warning to avoid the "shoals and
pitfalls" which threatened any deviation from the branch line scheme.
"Great companies," cried the redoubtable lawyer, "have been the bane of
Montgomeryshire," and Llanfyllin shouted back that they would have none
of them, whether they found they could tunnel out of the Tanat Valley or
not. Besides, "if" the West Midland could not put Llanfyllin on the main
line--and a very big "if" it seemed--then, Mr. Sheriff admitted, it would
not touch the town at all.
So, sweeping aside all "ifs" and "buts," Llanfyllin voted for the
Llanymynech branch. Whether it might be worked as an independent
undertaking or as part of the Oswestry and Newtown Company's concern,
mattered comparatively little. In either case, Mr. Savin was ready to
guarantee a dividend of 4.5 per cent., and Mr. Whalley had so much
confidence in the firm of contractors that he would back the guarantee
with his own name. Big companies should have no blighting and delaying
influence on their little valley. Like the other local companies to
which Mr. Howell alluded as examples of self-reliance, they would "trust
to their own exertions," and since, as somebody said, the Oswestry and
Newtown Railway was already a concrete fact, and no mere hypothetical
proposition, it was agreed to "join heart and hand" with the company. A
resolution to that effect was proposed by Mr. C. R. Jones, seconded by
Mr. John Jones--two names long intimately associated in close comradeship
with the public life of Llanfyllin--and carried unanimously; a similar
conclusion being arrived at at a meeting of "a few of the most
influential inhabitants of Llanymynech," with the Rev. J. Luxmoore,
Rector, in the chair, later in the day.
[Picture: Latest Cambrian Composite Bogey Coach, built for through
traffic between Aberystwyth and Manchester]
As to the rival West Midland scheme, like the ogre in the fairy tale
which ends happily ever afterwards, "little more was heard of it," at any
rate as a great through route from Shrewsbury to the sea. The project
was revived in the Parliamentary session of 1864, and a crowded meeting
at Llanrhaiadr gave it tumultuous blessing in speech and bardic effusion.
{94} But, though ultimately a line was constructed from Shrewsbury (as
we have shown in a previous chapter) it got no further than the Nantmawr
quarries, a few miles north-west of Llanymynech, and after running some
years, became derelict, until revived under the Light Railways Act as the
Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway. Not until 1904 did the Tanat
Valley itself echo to the sound of any sort of railway coach, "lightning"
or otherwise. Here again it was the Light Railways Act which made
construction possible. The Tanat Valley Light Railway Company was
formed, the directors being gentlemen interested in the locality, with
Alderman Charles E. Williams, of Oswestry, as Chairman. After some
controversy as to whether the line should be narrow guage, starting from
Oswestry and running along the Morda Valley through Llansilin, or an
ordinary guage extension of the mineral branch from Llynclys to
Porthywaen, via Llanyblodwel, the latter plan was adopted, and, under
pressure from the Earl of Bradford, a large local landowner, a connection
was also formed over the old Nantmawr mineral line to Llanymynech. The
railway which had its terminus at Llangynog has well served an important
quarrying and agricultural district, but it has never flourished
financially. For many years, indeed, the Company existed only in name,
and in 1921 it was formally absorbed in the Cambrian, which had worked
it, under agreement, from the outset.
But let us go back to the more successful enterprise in the neighbouring
valley. The middle of July 1863 saw the Llanfyllin branch ready for
traffic and on the seventeenth the opening ceremony took place. It
included an excursion to Borth in twenty-three carriages packed with
people, many of whom had never seen the sea. The train, we are told by a
contemporary chronicler, failed to keep time, but who cared? There were
some piquant scenes on the beach when the ladies, essaying to bathe,
found themselves closely surrounded by "gentlemen" in anchored boats, but
that, again, was a short-coming in the ordered programme which was
readily overlooked! Anyhow, it seems, a good many people managed to miss
the return train which "started punctually" at 1-30, arriving at
Llanfyllin at half-past five, and so they also missed the dinner,
presided over by the High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire, Mr. J. Dugdale, and
the speeches, with which the official proceedings closed. The next day,
following the precedent set at the opening of the Llanidloes and Newtown
Railway, Messrs. Savin and Ward entertained the navvies to a "good
substantial dinner" of their own, after which they, too, were entertained
to a flow of oratory from the "big wigs" of the railway company and the
locality, and another series of toasts were honoured with "three times
three."
The promoters had cautiously qualified their promises as to the length of
the branch by proposing to have its terminus at Llanfyllin for "the
present." Some years later, when the Liverpool City Council, seeking
fresh water supplies for their growing community, found a rich source in
the valley of the Vyrnwy at Llanwddyn and constructed their giant works
at what is now Lake Vyrnwy, thoughts began to turn to the prospect of a
continuation of the railway in that direction, but it was not a
practicable proposition. Up the Llanfyllin branch, however, there came
the bulk of the stores, including the huge pipes, and the Portland cement
for the bed of the lake. The cement was landed in bags at Aberdovey and
from Llanfyllin a team of ninety-five horses was employed to draw it by
road to the site of the works. Half were stabled at Llanfyllin and half
at the Lake, and those in charge noted a curious fact. The horses living
at the Lake went down empty in the morning and came back loaded in the
afternoon, and in a few years were all out of condition, whereas those
who started in the morning with their heavy load from Llanfyllin and
returned empty later in the day were always in excellent fettle. To-day
the development of the motor has solved many a transport problem where
heavy loads are concerned, but Llanfyllin remains, perhaps, the most
convenient approach to Lake Vyrnwy for the increasing number of visitors
who go year by year to enjoy its scenic beauties and its piscatorial
delights.
Less rapid success attended a similar enterprise a dozen miles away.
While the good folks of Llanfyllin were pushing on with their branch, the
residents of Llanfair Caereinion were asking themselves why they, too,
should not have their railway. Here, also, the initial problem was one
of route; but, instead of a somewhat easily disposed-of rivalry on the
part of a competitive company, the crux here was the measure of support
which could be won from the owner of the Powis estate, through which it
would almost inevitably, in some form or another, have to pass. In July
1862 Mr. R. D. Pryce of Cyfronaith, who was much interested in the
development of the Llanfair district, asked the Earl of Powis to receive
a deputation, but to a proposal that the line should go by the Black Pool
dingle his lordship found himself unable to agree. The promoters were
disappointed, for it seemed at the time, that no other way was feasible.
But a month later another route was discovered, by way of Newton Lane,
Berriew and Castle Caereinion and so by Melinyrhyd Gate to Llanfair; or,
as an alternative suggestion, from Forden or Montgomery by the "Luggy
Brook."
A meeting was held at Llanfair at which Mr. Edwin Hilton explained a
scheme which was estimated to cost 60,000 pounds, of which 20,000 pounds
should first be raised in ordinary shares, the rest to be made up
afterwards of preference shares and debentures. But nothing directly
came of it, and it was not until October, 1864, that another proposal was
formulated, this time of more ambitious character. This was a variation
of the original Shrewsbury and West Midland route, which Llanfyllin had
already laughed out of countenance, starting from Welshpool and making
its way through Llanfair over (or rather under) the Berwyns to the Great
Western system by the Dee. Mr. David Davies, on being consulted,
favoured a 2ft. 3in. guage, though he advised that enough land should be
taken and bridges built to accommodate an ordinary guage later if found
necessary. The minimum speed on the narrow guage was to be fifteen miles
an hour, and it was estimated that the average receipts would work out at
5 pounds per mile.
Amongst the leading advocates of this scheme was Mr. Russel Aitken, a
well-known civil engineer of Westminster, the home of many Welsh railway
projects in those days. He got into correspondence with Lord Powis about
it, pointing out that, as a beginning, the line might be made as far as
Llanfair, and then the promoters might "wait and see." But Powis Castle
was not so easily to be persuaded. The Earl considered a railway from
Welshpool below Llanfair Road to Sylvaen Hall "very objectionable" and
much preferred the alternative route of branching off the Llanfyllin line
at Llansantffaid, via Pont Robert. This Mr. Aitken "could not
successfully try to contest" and therefore "gave up the idea of trying
for powers to construct the proposed railway," but he still thought a
line "from Bala to Welshpool would pay and that it would be a great
benefit to the country through which it passes." How far these
prognostications may have been justified experience has never given us
opportunity to ascertain. A railway through the mighty ramparts of the
Berwyns is as remote an accomplishment to-day as it ever was; though,
after many years, Llanfair itself was to obtain its narrow guage line, an
inch less than Mr. Davies's original design, which, under the name of the
Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway, with the Earl's successor as its
most enthusiastic promoter and chairman, was opened for traffic on April
4th, 1903, to be worked by the Cambrian as an important feeder to its
main system.
[Picture: Two famous figures. The late CHIEF INSPECTOR GEORGE THOMAS, of
Oswestry, popularly known in his day as one of "The Three Georges," the
other two, of course, being Mr. George Lewis, General Manager, and Mr.
George Owen, Engineer. The late GUARD CUDWORTH, of Oswestry, for many a
long year the highly esteemed custodian of the principal passenger trains
on the Cambrian, beloved of all the travelling public]
A shorter branch, some five miles in length, from Abermule winding up the
course of the Mule to the village of Kerry, was in course of construction
while these other schemes were maturing or languishing. On Monday, March
2nd, 1863, the first engine puffed its way up the long incline (some of
it as steep as 1 in 43) to Kerry, drawing one carriage, and on its
arrival, after several stoppages on the way to "make steam," was met by a
company of local ladies and gentlemen. It had been intended to indulge
in some speechmaking, as befitted so auspicious an occasion, but the
assembled guests were so absorbed in shaking hands with one another and
looking at the engine, panting after its exertions, that the oratory was
forgotten, and folks were content to offer their personal congratulations
to Mr. Poundley, through whose enthusiasm and activities the branch was
mainly built. It had also been arranged to attach to the train a truck
of coal from Abermule to distribute amongst the poor, but this was more
than the locomotive could accomplish. It went up the next day, and, no
doubt, contributed to a wide endorsement of the views of the newspaper
scribe, detailed to record these stirring events, that the branch was
"everything Kerry can want." Anyhow, with its still rare trains, it is
all that Kerry has ever had, and possibly Kerry is still content.
The Kerry branch is also noteworthy for another thing, that it is the
first arm of the system which diverges to the east of the main line. So
does what was originally the first portion of the trunk, the line from
Moat Lane to Llanidloes, later extended by the amalgamation with the
Mid-Wales Railway, to Brecon, and so also does another diminutive line,
another mile further, which, though not part of the Cambrian proper,
deserves notice in these pages, if only for the personality of its former
manager.
This is the Van line, which ran from Caersws (whose station is built on
the site of an old Roman settlement) up to the Van mines, once productive
enough of valuable lead ore, but now derelict. Constructed under the
Railways Construction Facilities Act, 1864, the line was opened for
mineral traffic on August 14th, 1871 and for passenger traffic on
December 1st, 1873. It was leased to the Cambrian, but got into Chancery
and was closed a few years later. While it ran many made pilgrimage
along its short length, less for the purpose of traversing its rather
uninteresting course than for a chance of conversing with one of the most
notable characters, under whose charge the trains ran. To many Welshmen,
indeed, who never travelled on or even heard, except perhaps quite
incidentally, of the Van Railway, the name of John Ceiriog Hughes is a
household word.
Born at Llanarmon-Dyffryn-Ceiriog, in Denbighshire, on September 25th,
1832, he passed his early years in the romantic vale of the Ceiriog,
amidst the glowing memories of Huw Morris of Pont-y-Meibion. Beginning
his business career in Manchester, he soon returned to his native land,
and, after occupying a position as stationmaster at Llanidloes, was
appointed to the management of this little line. The duties were not
particularly arduous, and, in any case, "Ceiriog" was apt to take life
with a light heart. Whether he sat in his office or in the cosy corner
of some favourite rural inn the muse burned brightly within him, and,
from his remote retreat among the hills which look down on the infant
Severn, he poured out his soul in poetry, which ranks high in Celtic
literature. Welsh verse always suffers in translation into the more
cumbrous English, but there are many who have known the charm even of an
Anglicised version of "Myvanwy Vychan," and when he died, in 1887, he was
acclaimed by such an authority as the Rev. H. Elvet Lewis, to be "one of
the best lyrical poets of Wales," who had "rendered excellent service to
the national melodies of 'Cymru Fu' by writing words congenial to their
spirit,--a work which Robert Burns did for Scottish melodies." He was
buried in Llanwnog churchyard, where a simple plate marks his resting
place, and friends and neighbours who attended the funeral service on the
following Sunday did not feel that it was out of place that it should
have been based on the text "Know ye not that there is . . . a great man
fallen this day." They did know it, humble as his station might be; and
more than one of his admirers has since visited the little deserted
office where he worked on the Van line and ransacked its drawers and
cupboards for hidden gems of poesy he might have left behind him. Alas!
nothing more inspiring was ever found there than faded way-bills and torn
invoices! But who shall say that there is no romance clinging close
around even the humblest, and now the most woe-begone, of all the little
offshoots of the Cambrian?