Great Western Railway – The Melting Pot

The Railways of Romance – part 1

Today marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of one of Merthyr’s greatest writers – J. O. Francis. To mark the occasion, one of his excellent short essays is transcribed below, following a short introduction by Mary Owen who wrote a marvellous biography of him.

John Oswald Francis (J.O.) was born at 15, Mary Street, Twynyrodyn in 1882, and lived later at 41, High Street, next door to Howfields, when his father, a blacksmith, opened a farrier shop in the busy shopping centre. In 1896 he entered the County Intermediate and Technical School on the day of its opening and benefited greatly, like many others, from the education he received there. It formed the grounding for the rest of his life. A blacksmith’s life was not for him. In 1900, he gained a scholarship to University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he graduated with first class honours in English.

He lived for the rest of his life in London, where he was well known as a dramatist, journalist, broadcaster and a popular public speaker. He found fame in 1913 with his play, Change, about ordinary Welsh working-class people and the problems they were facing as changes were taking place in politics, religion and education. It was the first of its kind and gave a new genre to drama, which influenced writers for decades. Although he lived away from Merthyr Tydfil for most of his life, his knowledge of it in his youth inspired him to write about it in the years that followed until his death in 1956. His many short comedies helped to bring about the popularity of amateur dramatics, especially in Glamorgan. He was a pioneer and he became a leading member of the First Welsh National Drama Movement. He was regarded as ‘a distinguished dramatist, ‘a gentle satirist, and ‘always a Merthyr boy’.

Mary Owen

The Railways of Romance

None of us can determine which of the impressions we are always unconsciously receiving is being most deeply written on our minds. What abides is, often enough, that which might least be expected to remain. It is, too, sometimes a little incongruous, as if memory were in part jester, playing tricks with recollection – perhaps in kindness – lest the past should have too grim a visage.

Setting up to be a serious and philosophic person, I must confess to some perplexity over my remembrance of South Wales. There is an interloping thought that persists in creeping into the midst of more exalted memories. I cannot think of the high places of my early destiny – my home, my school, the houses of my more generous relations, and the chapel of my juvenile theology – but that a railway station crowds unasked into the mental scene. In the station of that Town of the Martyr in Glamorgan, an there, no doubt, small boys, stealing away from the harsh realities of the High Street, still snatch a fearful joy upon the trolleys, and staring away past the signal box, weave for themselves the figments of young romance.

Merthyr Railway Station in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The small boy’s zest in railway stations has, I may argue in self-defence, a basis in the deep instincts of humanity. In the old primitive world the barbarian, looking up on the sun, was overwhelmed by a sense of its vast power. He made a god of it, and bowed in reverence. So, also, that unequivocal barbarian, the average small boy, beholds in a railway engine an example of power well within the range of his understanding. It is, perhaps, the same old instinct of adoration that kindles in every healthy youngster his burning desire to be a railway-guard.

Even in this riper stage, when life holds joys more attractive than the right to blow the whistle and to jump authoritatively upon a moving train, I find that a railway station can still exercise a certain lure. To every good Welshman, Paddington and Euston are wondrous places. He may not be one of the happy pilgrims, but it is a pleasure merely to look at carriages that go out under such banners as “Cardiff”, “Fishguard”, “Aberystwyth”, “Dolgelley” or “Barmouth”, and if he is not quite a curmudgeon he can find a vicarious delight in the blessedness of those departing.

But Paddington and Euston have a strenuous air. They do not encourage people to loiter upon trolleys and watch the pageant of the trains. In that station of the Martyr’s Town there was more tolerance. Over Paddington and Euston it had also this other advantage – it did not monotonously receive and despatch the rolling-stock of a single company. Oh, no! It had trains in a variety that I have never since seen equalled. Almost all the lines in Glamorgan gathered to it, just as all paths are said to lead to Rome.

Simply to enumerate the companies that sent their trains to pause under that grimy but catholic roof is to recover something of the rapture of the schoolboy “with shiny morning face”. We had the “Great Western” and the “Taff”; the “London North Western”, the “Rhymney”, and the “Brecon and Merthyr”. I am sorry that, by some kindly roundabout way, the Barry Railway did not run in also. But I am sure that it was then much more than a project.

We small boys of the station-hunting breed knew the different types of engine point by point. We had each of us a favourite. Bitter indeed were our disputes on the question of comparative worth, and devotion went occasionally to the chivalry of fisticuffs. Squeaky voices were raised in partisan abuse. Young eyes shone with the light of a noble championship. (Grown-up people, I have since learnt, land themselves in the law courts for issues less important than those falsetto controversies).

The engine of each company had its own characteristic quality, fully appreciated in our loving study after school hours and in the joyous emancipation of Saturday. The “Great Western” arrived from some vague place called “Swansea” – made after the “local” model, and with its well-known “tick, tick!” rather like a stout lady in a dark-green costume catching her breath after exhausting movement. To many of us the “Taff” was the most impressive of them all. I daresay that on a general suffrage, with a secret ballot to nullify the influence of some of our brawnier members, the “Taff” would have been voted the finest thing that ever went on wheels. How big and burly was the “Taff” engine as it swung past the signal box! How cheerfully it whistled, and how inevitably did it suggest a robust representation of John Bull!

Often did we wonder what would happen if it failed to stop before it reached the buffers. About our expectant platform hung the legend of a day when an engine had crashed right through and gone in mad career almost to the door of the Temperance Hall without. But not for us were such catastrophes! They were the story of an older era, a reminiscence of giants before the flood.

An old print showing the terrible accident mentioned above at Merthyr Station on 16 May 1874

To be continued…….

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).

John Nixon

John Nixon was born at Barlow in Durham on 10 May 1815, the only son of a tenant farmer of that village. He was educated at the village school and at Dr. Bruce’s academy at Newcastle-on-Tyne, famous as the training-place of many great engineers.

Leaving school at the age of fourteen, Nixon was set to farmwork for a time, and shortly after was apprenticed to Joseph Gray of Garesfield, the Marquis of Bute’s chief mining engineer.

On the expiry of his indentures he became for two years overman at the Garesfield colliery. At the end of this time, in 1839, he undertook a survey of the underground workings of the Dowlais Company in South Wales. Some years later he accepted the appointment of mining engineer to an English company, working a coal and iron field at Languin near Nantes. He perceived, however, that the enterprise was destined to fail, and did not hesitate to inform his employers of his opinion. After labouring for some time to carry on a hopeless concern he returned to England.

During his first visit to Wales Nixon had been impressed by the natural advantages of Welsh coal for use in furnaces. On his return from France he found that it was beginning to be used by the Thames steamers. He perceived that there was a great opening for it on the Loire, where coal was already imported by sea. At the time, however, he was unable to obtain a supply with which to commence a trade. Mrs. Thomas of the Graig Colliery at Merthyr, who supplied the Thames steamers, was disinclined to extend her operations, and Nixon was compelled to return to the north of England. But business again taking him to South Wales, he chartered a small vessel, took a cargo of coal to Nantes, and distributed it gratuitously among the sugar refineries. He succeeded also in inducing the French government to make a trial of it. Its merits were at once perceived; the French government definitely adopted it, and a demand was created among the manufactories and on the Loire.

Returning to Wales he made arrangements for sinking a mine at Werfa to secure an adequate supply. After being on the point of failure from lack of capital he obtained assistance and achieved success. Continuing his operations in association with other enterprising men of the neighbourhood, he acquired and made many collieries in South Wales. In 1869 he began sinking the Merthyr Vale No 1 Colliery, and the first coal was mined in 1875.

Merthyr Vale Colliery. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

In 1897 the output of the Nixon group was 1,250,000 tons a year. Nixon succeeded, after a long struggle, in inducing the railway companies of Great Britain to adopt Welsh coal for consumption in their locomotives. He had great difficulty also in persuading the Great Western Railway Company to patronise the coal traffic, which now forms so large a part of their goods business.

Much of Nixon’s success was due to his improvements in the art of mining. He introduced the ‘long wall’ system of working in place of the wasteful ‘pillar and stall’ system, and invented the machine known as ‘Billy Fairplay’ for measuring accurately the proportion between large coal and small, which is now in universal use. He also made improvements in ventilating and in winding machinery. He was one of the original movers in establishing the sliding-scale system, and one of the founders of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coalowners’ Association. He was for fifteen years chairman of the earlier South Wales Coal Association, and for many years represented Wales in the Mining Association of Great Britain. Nixon materially contributed to the growth of Cardiff by inducing leading persons in South Wales to petition the trustees of the Marquis of Bute in 1853 for increased dock accommodation, and by persuading the trustees, in spite of the objections of their engineer, Sir John Rennie, to increase the depth of the East Dock.

He died in London, on 3 June 1899 at 117 Westbourne Terrace, Hyde Park, and was buried on 8 June in the Mountain Ash cemetery, Aberdare valley.

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

Notes on the Merthyr Tydfil Tramroads – part 2

by Gwilym and John Griffiths

Cwm Cannaid Tramroad: We do not know when this tramroad was constructed. We would guess it was sometime around 1800-1814. Despite its name, the tramroad was built before the shaft of Cwm Cannaid Colliery was sunk. The track was shown clearly on the 1814 Ordnance Survey Map and on Robert Dawson’s 1832 Boundary Commission Map whereas the shafts of Cwm Cannaid Colliery were apparently sunk about 1845. The purpose of the tramroad was to relieve the inefficient old tub canal, or coal canal, sometimes called the Cyfarthfa Coal Canal, of the 1770s. The latter transported coal (and perhaps ironstone?) in two-ton tubs from levels (some suggested via dangerous leats) in Cwm Cannaid to Cyfarthfa Works: some say horse-drawn, others say hauled or pushed by men and women. The Cyfarthfa Coal Canal was closed around 1835, which gives an explanation of Cwm Cannaid Tramroad on Robert Dawson’s 1832 Boundary Commission Map.

The tramroad followed roughly the route of the old coal canal: the latter a twisting route, the former almost a straight line. It skirted Glyn Dyrys Ironstone Mine, a coal shaft below Lower Colliers Row, in front of Lower Colliers Row itself, Tir Wern Uchaf (where it crossed the canal twice), a link to Cwm y Glo Colliery and Ironstone Mine, Upper Colliers Row, Tir Heol Gerrig and hence to the coke ovens and yards above (to the west) of Cyfarthfa Works.

Lower Colliers Row. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

When Cwm Cannaid Pit was sunk in 1845, that became the terminus of the system. The 1901 Ordnance Survey Map named it ‘Cwm Pit Railway’, and the line linking it to ‘Gethin Railway’ was labelled ‘railway in course of construction’. We saw the remnants of these mines, canal and tramroad in the 1940s and 1950s, and often walked the old canal embankment, by then well wooded.

A section of the 1901 Ordnance Survey Map showing the tramroad marked as ‘Cwm Pit Railway’. Lower Colliers Row and the old Cyfarthfa Canal are also shown.

Again, industrial despoliation was reverting to nature: delicious wild strawberries on the old waste tipping, a nightingale singing by the disused and reed-covered canal reservoir, woodcock and common snipe, pied flycatchers and wood warblers, and numerous other birds; with wild orchids amongst the damp marshy vegetation with dragon-flies, damsel-flies, glow-worms and water-boatmen. We doubt if this still exists in the coniferous plantations which replaced them all in more recent years.

Dowlais Tramroad: This was constructed about 1792-93 to connect Dowlais Works with Pont y Storehouse near the Glamorgan Canal terminus, roughly near present-day Jackson’s Bridge. It gave Dowlais Works access to the then ‘recently’ constructed Glamorgan Canal. The route may well have followed initially the Morlais Quarry Tramroad from Dowlais via Gelli Faelog, keeping to the Gelli Faelog side of Nant Morlais. The 1793 extension from this tramroad is today represented by the main road and high pavement from Trevithick Street down to Pont Morlais and thence via the tunnel, formerly a bridge, into Bethesda Street to Jackson’s Bridge. Did the Glamorgan Canal Company pay the £1,100 for the construction of the tramroad (and Jackson’s Bridge) in lieu of the proposed linking canal from Merthyr Tudful to Dowlais?

Bethesda Street in the 1950s. The car is parked on what was the where tramway exited the tunnel mentioned above and continued to the Glamorganshire Canal at Pontstorehouse. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Gethin Tramroad: This tramroad or railway linked Gethin Colliery (sunk between 1845 and 1849 and opened 1849) initially, and Castle Colliery later (1860s?), with Cyfarthfa Works, taking a route in between those of Cwm Cannaid Tramroad and Ynys Fach Tramroad. No tramroad was shown on the 1850 Tithe Map and Schedule. By 1886 the track left Castle Colliery, skirted the hillside west of the Glamorgan Canal between Furnace Row and Tir Pen Rhiw’r Onnen, through Gethin Colliery (with a link to pit-shaft No2), past Graig Cottage and a bridge over Nant Cannaid. At (the 1853) Cyfarthfa Crossing it curved northwestwards past Tir Wern Isaf and Tir Llwyn Celyn, looping under the 1868 Brecon and Merthyr Railway near Heol Gerrig, and thence to the coke yards.

Gethin Colliery. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

By 1886 the route was upgraded to the GWR and Rhymney Railway as far as the Cyfarthfa Crossing. The 1876 six-inch Ordnance Survey Map showed the terminus for the ‘cwbs’ at the rear of Cyfarthfa Works. The 1901 Ordnance Survey Map called it ‘Gethin Railway’. Our grandfather used the railway to get to work at Castle Colliery, and we regularly used this route (then upgraded to a full railway) in the 1940s and 1950s on our daily journeys to and from school at Quakers Yard. One of us was on the last train to use this line before the viaduct between Quakers yard and Pont y Gwaith was found to be unsafe.

Gyrnos Quarry Tramroad: This was used to bring limestone from Gyrnos Quarry (Graig y Gyrnos) alongside Tâf Fechan, past the limekilns and coal yards, over Afon Tâf by Pont Cafnau to Cyfarthfa Works. We have no details of dates, but walked the route many times in the 1950s in search of dippers, kingfishers, grey wagtails and the rest. It was the first tramroad recorded in the 1805 list of John Jones and William Llywelyn: 1 mile 106 yards to Cyfarthfa Furnaces and just over 1¾ miles to the new Ynys Fach Furnaces. In view of the size of the quarry, it must have transported many tons of material.

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

Merthyr’s Bridges: The Brandy Bridge – part 2

Within a matter of years of opening, people started remarking on the instability of the new ‘Brandy Bridge’. It was not uncommon for the bridge to ‘bounce’ if a horse and cart drove over it. In 1925 the driver of a road-roller reported serious movement in the bridge as he passed over it. When tested, it was noticed that each cross-girder twisted seriously as the roller drove across the bridge over a certain speed, but would then correct themselves after the roller had passed. After structural tests were performed, it was concluded that the cross-girders were too lightly constructed for the traffic using the bridge, and a two-ton maximum weight limit was imposed.

The Borough Council became increasingly worried about the situation. Of major concern was the fact that if a serious fire broke out in Abercanaid, the fire brigade would be unable to attend as the fire-engine weighed well in excess of two tons. The Borough Engineer examined the possibility of using one of the other bridges nearby – the ‘First Brandy Bridge’ or the old Llwyn-yr-Eos Bridge further down the river. Neither of these proved a viable solution due the cost and length of time it would take to make either bridge structurally sound enough to carry road traffic.

Again, bureaucracy between several parties intervened, and it wasn’t until 26 July 1929 that a start was finally made on a solution – constructing a ferro-concrete arch over the Taff, using the existing abutments, with reinforced concrete girders spanning the Great Western (formerly Taff Valley) Railway line, and the Plymouth Railway line being lowered to permit the line of the roadway to be maintained. The contract for the work was given to Lewis Harpur, grandson of Samuel Harpur who oversaw the construction of the original bridge. The repairs cost £4,430 and the bridge re-opened to traffic on 28 February 1934.

The ‘Second Brandy Bridge’ in 1934 following repairs. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

In December 1965, after exceptionally heavy rainfall, the River Taff turned into a torrent. The Plymouth Weir roughly 450 yards downstream, which had been disintegrating for some time, finally collapsed, releasing all the debris and silt which had been accumulating behind it. With the removal of this ‘barrier’ the flow of the river increased rapidly, undermining the foundations of the abutment on the west side of the bridge. The bottom of the abutment was ripped from its base, taking with it the bottom end of the arch, and consequently twisting the whole arch structure and breaking the roadway from the abutment. Below are some photos showing the damage.

Photos courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The bridge was rendered unusable. Within five days a temporary Bailey Bridge was installed by the army, which remained in operation until a new bridge was built.

The new bridge, the ‘Third Brandy Bridge’ was built down river from the old bridge. A reinforced concrete structure, it opened in December 1967, and is still in used today carrying traffic over the river and railway into Abercanaid.

The ‘Third Brandy Bridge’. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Of the two previous bridges there is no trace. The first bridge was dismantled during the 1960’s, and the second shortly after the new bridge opened.

That is the story of the ‘Brandy Bridge’…but not quite. One question remains – why is it called the ‘Brandy Bridge’?

The original bridge was informally called the cinder bridge, built to carry waste from Anthony Hill’s works to Abercanaid,and the story goes that the trams that were used to transport the waste over the bridge were horse-drawn. Apparently the horse in question was called ‘Brandy’, and it is said that the bridge was renamed in his honour. How true this story is remains unclear, but it would be nice to think that there was some truth in it, and that a simple, hard-working horse was remembered in this way.

Merthyr’s Bridges: Court Street Railway Bridge

Following on from the previous couple of posts concentrating on Court Street, here is another of Merthyr’s Bridges.

Court Street Railway Bridge

In 1851 the Vale of Neath Railway was constructed to carry goods from the Merthyr Ironworks to Neath, and then onto Swansea for export by sea. The line originally stopped at Aberdare, but with the construction of the Aberdare/Merthyr Tunnel the line finally reached Merthyr in 1853.

The Court Street Railway Bridge was built in 1852 to carry the new line to Merthyr Station, over the main parish road to Twynyrodyn.

The original bridge was built on a slight skew and had three spans – the main central span for road traffic of 24 ft 9in, and two smaller side spans for pedestrians of 8ft each. The bridge was built with dressed stone abutments and piers, with a wrought iron ‘trough’ across them to carry the railway.

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

From the time of its construction, the bridge was prone to problems with large volumes of water coming off the bridge on to the traffic below. The Vale of Neath Railway, and later the Great Western Railway (when they took over the Vale of Neath line) continually tried to rectify the problem, but without success.

In 1938, the GWR requested permission to reconstruct the bridge, but this was denied. In 1946 however, permission was granted for the bridge to be modified, with a single trestle being built in place of the side piers. As a result of this modification, only one pedestrian footpath could now be used due to the base of the trestle being built on the other side.

In 1963, British Rail and Merthyr Borough Council agreed that a new bridge should finally be built to accommodate the increase, and type of traffic using the roadway. Work began in 1965, with the removal of the old urinal at the bridge, and the road was lowered to provide more headroom for traffic. The new single-span bridge, built of masonry abutments and stressed concrete beams was opened in 1967, and the bridge is still in use today.

Memories of an Octogenarian

From the Merthyr Express 110 years ago today (24 July 1909):

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.