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

Robert Rees – ‘Eos Morlais’

Robert Rees was born on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1841, in Dowlais, the son of Hugh and Margaret Rees. Both his parents hailed from Machynlleth, but they moved to Dowlais soon after they married where Hugh began working as a collier. His father died when young Robert was eight years old and his mother died soon afterwards.

Put in the charge of his uncle, William Ellis, at the age of nine he began working in the coal-mine.His uncle soon noticed that the boy had prodigious talent for singing and recitation, so William began to give him lessons in music. Robert supplemented these lessons by studying text books.

As an adult Robert joined the Libanus Chapel Temperance Choir under the leadership of David Rosser, and later, on Rosser’s retirement he became the choir’s conductor. He took the pseudonym Eos Morlais (Morlais Nightingale), in reference to the River Morlais, which ran near his home during his childhood. He won several prizes at local eisteddfodau as a vocalist and in 1867, at the age of 26, he won the tenor competition at the National Eisteddfod at Carmarthen.

In 1870, Rees moved to Swansea and became precentor at Soar Congregational Chapel. He took a course of instruction at the Swansea Training College and was successful enough to give up work to devoted his whole time to music. Rees served for three years as precentor of Walter Road Congregational Church in Swansea and he conducted in singing festivals and served as adjudicator.

Having heard him sing, the famous soprano Adelina Patti, as well as many other highly regarded musicians tried to persuade him to move to London to take formal musical training, and to pursue an operatic career. Robert refused, preferring to stay in Wales.

In 1874, at the National Eisteddfod, held in Bangor, Rees performed the song Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and according to the Baner ac Amserau Cymru journal “had taken the Eisteddfod by storm”. Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau was subsequently adopted as the Eisteddfod song in 1880 and sung at every Gorsedd ceremony since. In 1887 Rees was invited to sing at the National Eisteddfod in London in front of the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward. Rees led the singing of God Bless the Prince of Wales and at the end of the meeting he also sang Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, to which the prince and his family rose, the first time royalty had stood to the Anthem of Wales.

Rees sang throughout Wales and England and in 1879 he performed a tour of North America, and he was considered to be Wales’ finest tenor at the time, despite his lack of formal training.

Robert had married in 1865, and the early death of his wife, Margaret, on 11 April 1889 at the age of 45, affected Robert deeply. By the early 1890’s he also began to suffer from ill-health, and he was diagnosed with diabetes. At the time, diabetes had only been ‘discovered’ as an ailment a few years before, so treatment was rudimentary to say the least, and Robert’s condition gradually worsened. Despite his failing health, he continued to perform, and on 18 April 1892, he sang at the Independent Cymanfa Ganu at Bethania Chapel in Dowlais.

This would prove to be his last public appearance. His condition worsened, and he went to Langland Bay in an effort to help improve his health. Unfortunately, he contracted tuberculosis, and he died at his home in Swansea on 5 June 1892.

His death was mourned throughout Wales, and the route of his funeral procession from Swansea to Aberdulais was lined by hundreds of mourners. He was buried at Aberdulais Methodist Chapel. During the funeral, one of the speakers commented that it was apt that his last performance was in Dowlais – the town of his birth.

Merthyr’s Lost Landmarks: The ‘Throttle Valve’

by Carolyn Jacob

Merthyr Tydfil had a long struggle to achieve a Charter of Incorporation.

As early as 1837 this was considered to be worth applying for, but there was opposition from the Ironmasters. During the failed Incorporation Inquiry of 1897, the Carmarthen Arms and the Bluebell Inn were satirically referred to as being a ‘Throttle Valve’, blocking the important flow of traffic to and from Cardiff into the centre of the town.

A map of the Caedraw area of Merthyr from 1875. The ‘Throttle Valve’ is the block of buildings in the middle of the road just below St Tydfil’s Church
A photograph from 1897 showing the Carmarthen Arms and the Bluebell Inn

Before Merthyr Tydfil again applied for the Royal Charter it was felt that a number of crucial public improvements had to be made and that  the ‘Throttle Valve’,  was an obstruction which must be removed  to improve traffic access to the town.

A more detailed view of the ‘Throttle Valve’

In 1903 the Merthyr Tydfil General Purposes Committee began negotiations with Mr Gomer Thomas for the proposed acquisition of the two large public houses at the lower part of the High Street. This block of buildings, known as the ‘Throttle Valve’ was acquired by the Urban District Council from Messrs. Thomas Brothers, for the purpose of widening the roadway at that spot.

The photograph below shows Carmarthen Arms and the Bluebell Inn actually in the process of being pulled down. There are so many people in the photograph because on the morning of the 21 May 1904, prior to the final stage in the demolition, a large number of townspeople assembled in the neighbourhood of the doomed pile to have their picture taken next to this local landmark.

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

The graveyard of the Old Parish Church of St Tydfil was also reduced in size to widen the road and many graves were disturbed for reburial in Cefn Coed Cemetery. These measures proved to be highly successful in the long term; after several abortive attempts, in 1905 the Town was at last successful in obtaining the important Royal Charter.

In 1906, the ‘Fountain’ (see http://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=720) was erected on the site of the ‘Throttle Valve’, and in 1908 Merthyr Tydfil was granted County Borough Status.

Below is a newspaper cutting about the demolition of the ‘Throttle Valve’.

Cardiff Times – 14 May 1904

Company Sergeant-Major Charlie Jones

by Ann Lewis

I remember the above photograph of a handsome soldier in uniform, in a black frame taking pride of place in my parents’ living room. He was my father’s uncle, Charlie W. Jones, born at Dowlais, son of Mary and William Jones.

He served in the South African War with the 5th Welsh Regiment, being decorated with a medal. On his return to Dowlais, he, along with several other veterans of the war, was presented with a silver watch by the Dowlais Chamber of Trade at a public meeting. He was also presented with a long service medal by the Territorial Army. To date, however, I have been unable to obtain any information about his service in South Africa.

He was subsequently employed at the Bedlinog Colliery and lived at Greenfield Terrace, Gellifaelog with his wife Annie and his three sons.

At the start of the First World War, Charlie Jones, 37 years of age at the time, was promoted to the rank of Company Sergeant Major, number 59 in the 5th Welsh Regiment, and he was sent to fight in the Dardanelles. Sadly on 21 August 1915 he was killed in action and was subsequently buried at sea. Coincidentally, his eldest son, Private David J. Jones was also in action in the Dardanelles with the 5th Welsh Regiment (Gun Section). How he felt losing his father we can only imagine.

Charlie’s name is included on the Roll of Honour on the Helles Memorial in Turkey, and also on the Roll of Honour at the Merthyr Tydfil Conservative Club.

Merthyr Tydfil Conservative Club Roll of Honour

Our family has lost touch with Charlie’s side of the family, and I have often wondered if there are any of his grand- or great-grandchildren still living in the area, and whether they would be interested in having the original photograph.

If anyone has any information regarding CSM Charlie Jones, or of any of his family, please contact me at merthyr.history@gmail.com, and I will pass the information on to Ann.

Any Questions?

Happy New Year to everyone.

I hope you are continuing to enjoy reading this blog. I certainly enjoy putting it together as I am learning so much about Merthyr’s fascinating history. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed articles over the last year, and I hope that there will be many more contributions this year.

As well as the current regular features on the blog, I hope to introduce a few more throughout the year….so watch this space!!!

I have received a number of enquiries from people asking who they should contact regarding answers to questions about various aspect of Merthyr.

I will try to answer any queries I can, but if I can’t answer (which is highly likely), I should be able to re-direct you to someone who can.

I am very fortunate that I am in touch with most of the marvellous historians we have here in Merthyr, so between us all, there is usually someone who can answer almost any question asked.

I hope that last statement won’t end up proving me wrong!!!!

If anyone has any questions about Merthyr’s history please get in touch using the e-mail address merthyr.history@gmail.com.