Isambard Kingdom Brunel – The Melting Pot

Merthyr’s Ironmasters: G T Clark – part 1

This article is a transcription from a publication now in the public domain: Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1901

George Thomas was born in London on 26 May 1809, the eldest son of George Clark (1777–1848), chaplain to the royal military asylum, Chelsea, and Clara, only surviving daughter of Thomas Dicey of Claybrook Hall, Leicestershire, and he was educated at the Charterhouse. Adopting engineering as a profession, he was entrusted by Brunel with the construction of two divisions of the Great Western Railway; the Paddington terminus and the bridges at Basildon and Moulsford being his principal works While thus engaged he compiled ‘A Guide-book to the Great Western Railway, containing some Account of the Construction of the Line, with Notices of the Objects best worth Attention upon its Course’ (London, 1839). This, the first guide to the line, was published officially without his name, and dedicated to Brunel. A more detailed account, which he subsequently wrote, of the geology and archæology of the country traversed by the railway, was published, with numerous illustrations, as ‘The History and Description of the Great Western Railway’ (London, 1846); but the only name attached to it was that of the artist, John C. Bourne.

In about 1843 Clark went to India, where he was employed by the government to report on the sewerage of the native town at Bombay, and afterwards upon the extension of the salt works of the district. Here he advocated the construction of the first railway in India, that from Bombay to Tannah, afterwards merged in the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, for the promoters of which he also reported on the feasibility of an extension through one of the mountain passes of the Sahyadri or Western Ghauts. On account of the climate he declined an offer of the chief engineership of the new line and returned to England. In consequence of an article on sanitary reform which he contributed to the ‘Westminster Review,’ he was appointed a superintending inspector under the Public Health Act, 1848, and reported on the sanitary condition of a large number of towns and districts, in many of which local boards were formed through his efforts. His success as an inspector was recognised by his promotion to be one of the three commissioners which then constituted the general board of health.

Towards the close of 1852 Clark, however, became trustee of the Dowlais Estate and Ironworks, under the will of Sir Josiah John Guest. For some time previously the works had been carried on at a loss; but having procured the necessary capital and induced Henry Austin Bruce (afterwards Lord Aberdare) to share with him the responsibility of the trusteeship, Clark took up his residence at Dowlais and devoted all his energies to the development of the works and the redemption of the estate. As Bruce devoted himself to politics, the whole responsibility of management devolved on Clark alone, whose rare capacity for administration was displayed no less by his rapid mastery of a complicated situation than by his wise selection of heads of departments, chief among whom was his manager, William Menelaus.

© William Menelaus (1818-1882); Hagarty, Parker; Cardiff University; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/william-menelaus-18181882-159291

To Clark and Menelaus belongs the credit of being the first ironmasters to assist (Sir) Henry Bessemer to perfect his process for making malleable iron direct from the ore. The inventor was invited to Dowlais to conduct experiments, with the result that the first rail ever rolled without the intervention of the puddling process was produced at Dowlais. The prompt adoption of Mushet’s further invention enabled Dowlais to be first in the field in the production of steel rails, and to enjoy for some time the monopoly of that trade in Wales. The consequent expansion of the industry, and the difficulty of procuring an adequate supply of suitable ores at home, led Clark, in conjunction with the Consett Iron Company and Messrs. Krupp of Essen, to acquire an extensive tract of iron-ore deposits near Bilbao in Spain.

To render the works independent of the vicissitudes of the coal trade he also purchased large coal areas, undeveloped for the most part, in Glamorganshire. To save the inland transport he finally procured the establishment, in 1888-91, of furnaces and mills in connection with Dowlais, on the seaboard at Cardiff. He was induced by Lord Wimborne (Ivor Guest, eldest son of Josiah John) to continue his administration of the Dowlais undertakings down to the end of March 1897, though his trusteeship had expired more than twenty years previously. Under his regime Dowlais became in effect a great training school which supplied to similar undertakings elsewhere a much larger number of managers and leading men than any other iron or steel works in the country.

To be continued…….

Quakers’ Yard – A Potted History

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson’s Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Quakers’ Yard like this:

“QUAKERS-YARD, a village in the E of Glamorgan; on the river Taff at the influx of the Bargoed, adjacent to the Taff Vale Extension railway, at the junction of the branch to Hirwain, 7½ miles S S E of Merthyr-Tydvil. It took its name from an old burying-place of Quakers; stands in a fine curve of the valley, engirt all round by hills; and has a station with telegraph at the railway junction.”

The village of Quakers’ Yard was originally known as ‘Rhyd y Grug’ or ‘The Ford of the Rustling Waters’, grew up at the confluence of the Taff Bargoed River and the River Taff, and the name was derived from the fact that the Taff was quite shallow here and there had been a ford crossing the river at this point. The village later became known by its more usual name because of the Quaker burial ground that was erected in the village (see previous article – http://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=5069).

Quaker’s Yard was, until the second half of the 19th century, a quiet rural spot. There was a corn mill, Melin Caiach and a small woollen mill on the banks of the Taff Bargoed, as well as a small scattering of houses. With the building of a bridge across the Taff to replace the ford, the village could even boast two inns – the Quakers’ Yard Inn and the Glantaff Inn.

Quakers’ Yard Bridge and Quakers’ Burial Ground. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The Industrial Revolution, of course, changed all that. Soon the coal trade totally revolutionized the nature of the environment, creating booming and burgeoning communities like nearby Treharris and Trelewis. The link to Quakerism remained strong. Treharris was named after William Harris, a Quaker businessman whose family owned a fleet of steam ships, while streets in the new towns were named after famous Quakers such as William Penn and George Fox.

Religion in the village wasn’t confined to Quakerism. In 1831, members of Groeswen Chapel in Caerphilly broke away from their chapel and built and Welsh Independent Chapel called Soar in the village, The Welsh Independents also built Libanus in 1833 and the Welsh Baptists built Berthlwyd in 1841. There was also a Welsh Wesleyan chapel – Horeb, and a Primitive Methodist chapel – Ebenezer. Finally, in 1862, the Anglicans opened St Cynon’s Church at Fiddler’s Elbow.

In 1858 the Quaker’s Yard High Level station was opened. Together with the village’s Low Level station this created a lively and bustling railway junction where passengers could embark for places like Merthyr and Aberdare and coal could be dispatched down the valley to the docks at Cardiff. In 1840 the engineer – and guiding force behind the Great Western Railway – Isambard Kingdom Brunel began work on a six-arched viaduct across the River Taff. While the High Level station closed in 1964, the viaduct is still there, carrying traffic from Merthyr to Cardiff.

Quakers’ Yard Viaduct and Truant School. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

As the village grew so schools were built here or in the surrounding area. In 1894, the borough’s infamous Truant School was built in Quakers’ Yard, and in 1906, the Woodlands Junior School was built along the river Taff; 70 years later the building was used for a Welsh Medium Junior School, Ysgol Cymraeg Rhyd y Grug. After the First World War, Merthyr Tydfil acquired some prefab buildings for a new secondary school and on the 2 May 1922 Quakers’ Yard Grammar School officially opened by Mayor David Davies, although this wasn’t actually situated in the village, but in Edwardsville.

Perhaps the most famous man to emerge from Quaker’s Yard was the world flyweight boxing champion Jimmy Wilde (right) who was born in the village in 1892. Known as ‘the ghost with a hammer in his hand’, Wilde fought an amazing 864 bouts, losing only four of them, and reigned as champion between 1916 and 1921 (see previous article – http://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=150).

The Vale of Neath Railway

The Vale of Neath Railway was built to connect the industrial centres of Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath to carry iron from Merthyr and coal from Aberdare, and then on to the docks at Swansea.

With the expansion of the railway network in South Wales and authorisation of the broad gauge South Wales Railway, which ran from Chepstow via Neath to Swansea, new opportunities arose for further expansion to capitalise on the industrial boom. Up until the 1840s, all the iron produced in Merthyr was transported via the docks at Cardiff.

H S Coke, the Town Clerk of Neath, and a solicitor by profession, was the driving force in promoting the idea of a railway following the River Neath, and connecting Merthyr with Neath; at Neath there would be the alternatives of onward railway transport on the South Wales Railway, or transfer to ships on the river. On 21 May 1845 he put his ideas to the provisional directors of the South Wales Railway. They were supportive, providing that Coke’s railway was also on the broad gauge system.

His intended route was from Neath up the relatively gentle valley as far as Glyn Neath; from there the line was to climb much more steeply and penetrate the mountain at the watershed, then descending the Cynon Valley to Cwmbach (near Aberdare) and turning north-east pass through another mountain by a long tunnel to reach Merthyr. There would be a branch to Aberdare itself.

The Bill for the line went to the 1846 session of Parliament; Brunel as engineer gave evidence to the committees. He was questioned in detail about the gradients on the line, as the steep and lengthy gradients were not considered suitable for mineral lines. Brunel’s persuasive evidence carried the matter through, and the Vale of Neath Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament of 3 August 1846. Share capital was to be £550,000.

The first section to be opened was the main line from Neath to Gelli Tarw Junction, and the branch from there to Aberdare. Finally on 23 September 1851 a ceremonial opening train for directors and their friends ran from Neath to Aberdare. There were stations at Neath, jointly with the South Wales Railway, Aberdulais, Resolven, Glyn Neath, Hirwain, Merthyr Road, and Aberdare. Merthyr Road was the station for reaching Merthyr by a road connection.

The ordinary public service started on 24 September 1851, with three trains each way daily, two on Sundays. The journey time was 70 minutes.

Passenger traffic was immediately buoyant, but at first wharves at Briton Ferry were not ready to receive coal trains; the company had been relying on these. Moreover, there was a problem with silting at Swansea, so it was not until April 1852 that coal traffic was started. Ordinary goods traffic had started in December 1851.

The extension of the railway to Merthyr was delayed by the major engineering task of building a tunnel between Aberdare and Merthyr. In 1845, Isambard Kingdom Brunel had surveyed and prepared parliamentary plans for the Vale of Neath Railway, and these involved a 2,497-yard hole through the hill between Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, the second longest of Wales’ tunnels. 650 feet below ground at its deepest point. The tunnel, and subsequently the main line opened on 2 November 1853, with its terminus at the grand Central Merthyr Station, designed by Brunel.

Merthyr Railway Station in the 1950s. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

In 1854 to 1857 further branches were opened from Gelli Tarw into the Dare and Amman valleys. These were only used for goods traffic, but included the Dare Viaduct, one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s famous timber viaducts.

Almost the whole of the Vale of Neath system had a third rail added to its tracks in 1863. This mixed gauge allowed the Great Western Railway to run standard gauge trains from Hereford through to Swansea over a connection at Middle Duffryn.

The broad gauge rail was removed after the South Wales Railway was converted to standard gauge on 11 May 1872, although by this time the Vale of Neath Railway had been amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, this happening on 1 February 1865.

The line depended for its business on coal mining, and as that industry declined, so the railway came into question. The Merthyr line passenger service was ended on 31 December 1962, and the main line lost its passenger service from 15 June 1964, and Glyn Neath to Hirwaun closed completely on 2 October 1967.

One of the last trains entering the Aberdare Tunnel on 29 December 1962. Photo courtesy of the Alan George archive.

On 29 November 1971 Aberdare (High Level station) to Middle Duffryn was closed completely.

The last train from Hirwaun to Merthyr waiting to leave Hirwaun Station on 29 December 1962. Photo courtesy of Keith Lewis-Jones

The Taff Vale Railway

In 1835, the major industrialists in Merthyr began considering building a railway line from Merthyr to the Bute Docks in Cardiff. To this end, Anthony Hill, owner of the Plymouth Ironworks, contacted Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to estimate the cost of building such a railway – Brunel replied quoting an estimate of £190,649. The industrialists subsequently held a meeting, chaired by Josiah John Guest, at the Castle Inn in Merthyr, to discuss the issue, and decided to request Parliamentary permission to form a company to build the railway. Permission was granted an the company was incorporated the following year.

On 21 June 1836 Royal Assent was given to The Taff Vale Railway Company’s Act, allowing for the creation of the Taff Vale Railway Company. The founding capital of the Company was fixed at £300,000, in £100 share units. The directors were Josiah John Guest, Walter Coffin, Edward Lee, Thomas Guest, Thomas Guppy, Thomas Powell, Christopher James, Thomas Carlisle, Henry Rudhall, William Wait, William Watson, and Peter Maze. Company profits were capped at 7% originally, with a clause allowing for an increase to 9% subject to a reduction in the rates and tolls charged for use of the line.

The Act also capped the speed of the trains on the line to 12 mph (19 km/h), with stiff penalties for any speeding.

Construction of the railway was started in 1836, and the stretch from Cardiff to Navigation House (later named Abercynon) was opened in a formal ceremony on 9 October 1840, with public services starting the next day. The stretch from Abercynon to Merthyr was opened on 12 April 1841. The railway was single-line for its entire length, with passing only possible at or near the stations. It was not until 1857 that it became a double line. Brunel, the chief engineer, had chosen a narrower gauge (4 feet 8.5 inches or 1.435 m) than the 7 foot (2.134 m) gauge he would later choose for his Great Western Railway in order to fit the railway into the narrow space allowed to him by the River Taff valley.

Construction of the main line was relatively straightforward. The line mostly followed the course of the valley, and therefore needed few bridges and no tunnels. Brunel designed an impressive skew stone arch viaduct at Pontypridd, which spanned 110 feet (34 m) over the River Rhondda; the viaduct is still in use today, although it has been supplanted by a second, parallel viaduct. A similar viaduct was built at Quakers Yard.

The TVR’s original station in Merthyr was at Plymouth Street and was opened on 12 April 1841.

The Taff Vale Railway Station at Plymouth Street. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

This was joined in 1853 by the High Street station of the Vale of Neath Railway. A short joint line (TVR and GWR) was built to connect the TVR line to the new station in 1877. A year later, in August 1878, the Taff Vale transferred all of its passenger services to the High Street station, and used Plymouth Street as a goods depot instead. High Street station thus became the only passenger station in Merthyr, and was used by a total of six separate companies prior to the 1923 grouping. The TVR also opened stations at Merthyr Vale in 1883 and Pentrebach in 1886.

Merthyr Vale Station. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The main line of the TVR was 24 miles (39 km) long. However, no fewer than 23 branch lines took the full length of track to 124 miles and 42 chains (200.40 km). Many of those branch lines were smaller lines taken over by the TVR – in 1841 a branch line was opened in the Rhondda going as far as Dinas, and a second was opened to Llancaiach Colliery. The Rhondda line would subsequently be extended, and by 1856 it had been extended into two lines – one to Maerdy and the other to Treherbert.

The TVR proved its worth immediately. At its peak, two trains a minute passed through the busiest station, Pontypridd. By 1850, the TVR was carrying 600,000 tons (600,000 metric tons) of coal per annum, and was paying a 6% dividend.

The line was conceived as a goods line, carrying iron and coal. However, it also ran passenger services from the beginning. There were two passenger trains each way daily, including Sundays. This was extended to three weekday services in 1844. Single fares from Cardiff to Merthyr were 5 shillings for first class, 4s. for second class, and 3s. for third, and were each reduced by a shilling in 1845.

The Taff Vale Railway continued to operate as a company in its own right until it was incorporated into the Great Western Railway in 1923.

The current railway line between Cardiff and Merthyr now follows the route of the original Taff Vale Railway.

A Map of the Taff Vale Railway System in 1913

Merthyr Memories: Merthyr’s Railways

by Kenneth Brewer

The railway has played an important part in Merthyr’s history, but also in my own personal history.

My earliest memory of the railway stems from the beginning of the Second World War when the evacuees arrived in Merthyr. Quite a number of them came to live in Abercanaid, and I remember them arriving at the old Abercanaid Station. I don’t remember any details however, as I was only a small child myself at the time.

Abercanaid Station. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

I have many more memories of Abercanaid Station – it is where we would start out on our annual holiday to stay with my father’s auntie at Castlemorton near Malvern. This wasn’t a straightforward journey – we started out in Abercanaid, changed at Quakers Yard, and again at Pontypool before catching the train to Malvern, and then a bus journey to Castlemorton. The great excitement of the journey was going over Crumlin Viaduct – it was so high and so rickety-looking there was always a sense of trepidation mixed in with the excitement.

My other childhood memory of Abercanaid Station was having to catch the train from there to Quakers Yard to go to school at Quakers Yard Technical School. After a while I came to realise that from where I lived in Pond Row, I could watch the train passing Rhydycar Junction, and if I ran like the clappers I could make it to Abercanaid Station in time to catch my train. Little did I realise in those days that I would end up working on the railway.

I started my career working on the railway in November 1952, and ended up working there for almost 50 years. I first started working at Merthyr Railway Station as a carriage oiler and greaser.

Merthyr Railway Station. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The old Merthyr Station bears no resemblance to the small station we have today. Originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, by the 1950’s, Merthyr Station had five platforms and was covered by a huge glass roof. There were two waiting rooms (ladies and general), and also a refreshment room. There were many staff there, including the stationmaster and his clerk, four booking office clerks, two inspectors, seven or eight porters, Mrs Watley who announced the trains, and many others. I particularly remember Mrs Pritchard who was a cleaner – she lived to the grand old age of 106.

I left Merthyr Station to do my National Service, and having completed it, I went to work at Dowlais Caeharris Station. I trained as an examiner (or a wheel-tapper as it was called), and my job was to examine passenger rolling stock at Caeharris and Dowlais Central Stations, as well as freight rolling stock at the Ivor Works and the ICI Factory. Although much smaller than Merthyr, Caeharris was a very busy station, and in the time I worked there, there were four people in my department (Carriage & Wagon) as well as a stationmaster, booking clerk, two porters and four carriage cleaners.

Dowlais Caeharris Station. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Whilst I was at Caeharris Station, Dr Richard Beeching, chairman of the British Railways Board, produced his report to streamline Britain’s railway system. This resulted in the closure of dozens of railway lines and hundreds of stations. Caeharris Station was one of the casualties, and Merthyr’s railway network was decimated. I returned to work at Merthyr Station, and one of my lasting memories of that time was catching the last goods train from Brecon to Merthyr – a very poignant occasion. Merthyr Station eventually closed to be replaced by a smaller building, and my job moved at that time from Merthyr to Pontypridd.

Looking back on the way the railways played such a pivotal role in Merthyr’s history, and thinking of the different lines and stations there were in the borough, it is sad to see what we have lost – all in the name of progress.

Merthyr’s Bridges: Quakers Yard Viaduct

Twelve years ago today, two plaques in Welsh and English were unveiled on Quakers Yard Viaduct to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s birth.

The Quakers Yard Viaduct was constructed as part of Brunel’s single-track Taff Vale Railway that connected Merthyr Tydfil to the docks at Cardiff. It carried the railway over the River Taff just south of Treharris.

The Taff Vale Railway was the first in Wales to be powered only by locomotives and the railway company that constructed it appointed Isambard Kingdom Brunel as engineer for the line and its structures. Its original track was standard gauge (4ft 8.5in or 1.435m). The northern section, from Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil, opened on 12 April 1841, and the first rail traffic crossed Quakers Yard Viaduct on 21 April 1841.

Quakers Yard Viaduct during construction

The viaduct is slightly curved in plan and set at a skew angle to the river. Overall, it is 32.3m high, with six arches of 15.2m span each. The masonry is pennant sandstone, which has tooled detailing on all visible faces.

Brunel was concerned about the potential for damage the foundations of the river piers. To minimise this, the piers are octagonal in plan, aligned with their sides parallel to the river’s axis. This was an innovative idea, removing sharp corners that could obstruct river flow and possibly lead to cavitation. Substantial pediments cap the piers and the rounded arches have deep chamfers, echoing the angled pier faces.

The railway’s gradient between the Quakers Yard Viaduct and nearby Abercynon was too steep (up to 1 in 19) for the locomotives of the 1840s, so trains were cable-hauled by a stationary steam winding engine, which was located at the southern end of the viaduct.

In 1861-62, the structure was widened as part of the project to make the Taff Vale Railway double track throughout. Engineer John Hawkshaw (1811-91) designed the new work, which is of plainer masonry, with unchamfered arches and rectangular piers, and located immediately adjacent to the original against its outer curve, on the downstream (north) side.

In 1864, the cable-worked incline south of the viaduct was reconstructed at a shallower gradient (1 in 40). In addition, trains of the 1860s had more pulling power and did not require the winding engine.

In April 1988, the structure was Grade II* listed.

Merthyr’s Chapels: Shiloh Chapel

The next chapel we are going to look at is Shiloh Welsh Wesleyan Chapel – one of Merthyr’s grandest chapels, but now probably better known as the Miners’ Hall.

In 1807 Rev Edward Jones came to the English Wesleyan Chapel in Pontmorlais to work alongside Rev J T Evans and to serve the needs of the Welsh speaking congregation there. That same year a group of worshippers left the English chapel to start a Welsh cause, and by 1811 they had built a small chapel in John Street.

By the 1850’s the Great Western Railway Company asked to purchase the land on which the chapel was built for their new railway station, and an agreement was made to provide a new chapel for the Welsh Wesleyans in Church Street. This new building was reputed to have been designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, though no documentation has been found to substantiate this, and it was opened in 1853.

In 1859 a religious revival took place in Wales, and in Merthyr the revival began at Shiloh Chapel under the guidance of Rev Watkinson, the minister there at the time, “where with great demonstrations and emotional excitement the converts were overcome by strong preaching and hymn singing”.

One of the most prominent ministers to officiate at Shiloh was Rev Thomas Aubrey (1808-1867). Born in Cefn Coed, Thomas Aubrey became a Wesleyan Methodist minister in 1826, and between then and 1865 travelled Wales as a minister at various chapels including Shiloh between 1846-1849. Rev Aubrey went on to be one of the most important preachers in Welsh Wesleyan history.

Unfortunately, the new chapel proved too large and too expensive to run, so it was reluctantly decided to close it in 1912 and the Welsh and English Wesleyans amalgamated at Wesley Chapel. Shortly after this, plans were formulated to build a grand Central Wesleyan Mission Hall on the site of the old Drill Hall, but the plan never came to fruition due to the advent of the First World War.

The building was sold to the Miners’ Welfare Committee, and it was opened as the Miners’ Hall in 1921. It later became a nightclub and was destroyed by fire in 1992. The shell of the building now lies derelict.