Llanymynech | |
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![]() The former goods yard of Llanymynech railway station | |
General information | |
Location | Llanymynech, Shropshire England |
Coordinates | 52°46′52″N3°04′56″W / 52.7812°N 3.0822°W |
Grid reference | SJ271209 |
Platforms | 4 |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Original company | Oswestry and Newtown Railway |
Pre-grouping | Cambrian Railways |
Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
Key dates | |
1 May 1860 | Opened [1] |
18 January 1965 | Closed [1] |
Llanymynech railway station was an important junction station on the Cambrian Railways mainline from Welshpool, Powys to Oswestry, Shropshire, serving the village of Llanymynech which is partly situated in Shropshire, England and partly in Powys, Wales.
The Oswestry and Newtown Railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1855, but delays in securing land, shortage of money and contractors going bankrupt delayed construction. Supported by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), it had agreed to a joint station with the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway in Newtown, Powys. Despite all the difficulties the O&NR was the first railway company to reach Oswestry, where it made its headquarters, on 1 May 1860. [2]
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The O&NR constructed a simple two-platform station southeast of Llanymynech, plus an adjacent goods yard, to enable shipping of locally quarried limestone, and created products of quick lime and lead. However, under its Act of Parliament, it had agreed not to disturb the operations of the existing local tramways or canals, and hence access across each would either be over (bridge) or under (aqueduct).
The Hoffmann kilns were located on the opposite side of the canal to the chosen station site, and if accessed on the level would have required an aqueduct to be built under the canal. Not having the money to achieve this, the O&NR agreed to junction with the local tramways north of its station at "Rock Siding". It hence built a bay platform on the northwest side of the station, from which line extended to the "Rock Siding". To access the Hoffmann kilns, trains would firstly enter the bay, then reverse up the slope to the "Rock Siding", where they would then change direction again by pulling forward over a bridge to the Hoffmann kilns.
Having been merged into the Cambrian Railways (CR) in 1860, in 1863 it had an Act of Parliament approved to build the Llanfyllin Branch, to access limestone quarries along the valley to the regionally important market town of Llanfyllin. However, the same restriction on access was in place, meaning that the LB was accessed by the same route via the "Rock Siding", and hence passing the Hoffmann kilns.
The last piece of rail transport to arrive in Llanymynech was the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway (known as the Potts), which ran from Shrewsbury Abbey. To access its Nantmawr branch for similar mineral extraction purposes, it ran under the O&NR via a bridge south of the station, and the canal via an aqueduct.
However, the Potts ran into financial difficulties, and services were suspended in June 1880. On 28 January 1881 the CR came to an agreement with the Potts receiver and its Chief Engineer Richard Samuel Francis (who also owned the mineral rights along the Nantmawr valley), [3] to maintain the stunted Nantmawr branch. The CR would pay a royalty of 3d per ton, which was renewed but the toll was reduced to 2d a ton in January 1886. [3]
Access to the Nantmawr branch was again via the "Rock Siding", and it junctioned from the Llanfyllin Branch just beyond the Hoffmann kiln at new station Carreghofa Halt.
Revived as one of Colonel Stephens Railways under the title of the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway in 1911, the new company added a few more stations but it did not prosper, and in 1941 was taken over by the War Department/Ministry of Defence, to create Central Ammunition Depot Nesscliffe. [4]
Designed, constructed and operated by the Royal Engineers, they built extensive additional service tracks along the 8.75 miles (14.08 km) of line from Maesbrook to the former Ford and Crossgate railway station, south of the River Severn. [5] The site was made up of four sub-sites: Kinnerley; Pentre; Ford; and Argoed; in total capable of storing around 50,000 tonnes (55,000 tons) of shells. [5] This created far more additional traffic for Llanymynech station, with Shrewsbury Abbey still not connected to the mainline.
There was also a sub-site at Loton Park, under the Alberbury medieval deer park, used for storage of both Incendiary ammunition and chemical weapons shells from 1943. This was one of two chemical warfare depots operated in co-operation with and guarded by the United States Army Air Forces, the second being in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. [6] [7]
Locomotives and train drivers were provided by the Royal Engineers, who also maintained the extensive network. Their main servicing depot for rolling stock was on the stub-junction of the former branchline to Criggion. [5] After the closure of CAD Nesscliffe in 1959, the railway tracks were removed and the line closed in 1961. [4]
On 11 April 1894 the CR agreed to build a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) deviation from the Llanfyllin branch to join the Nantmawr branch at Wern. This enabled the CR to access the Potts aqueduct under the canal, and hence stop use of the "Rock Siding" with immediate effect. [8] The CR also agreed to junction the Potts on the level with the CR mainline north of Llanymynech station.
The Nantmawr branch reopened as a Cambrian subsidiary on 1 January 1896, and the deviation to the Llanfyllin branch followed on 27 January. The reconstruction at Llanymynech required the addition of new through platforms on the northeast side for access by the Potts. Trains to/from Llanfyllin had a cross over installed south of the station, enabling access to any platform.
A lease for 99 years followed on 12 April 1900, with the CR paying £555 a year: half itself, half from the Tanat Valley Light Railway which opened on 5 January 1904. [3]
After signing the agreement, the CR completed a loopline by extending the junction with the Nantmawr branch line through the new Porthywaen Halt, connecting with the Porth-y-waen branch, and then reconnecting northwards with the mainline towards Oswestry at Llynclys Junction.
The "Rock Siding" continued to serve the kilns until their closure in 1914, after which it was used to store redundant wagons. The siding was removed in 1939. [9]
There were two signal boxes for Llanymynech, one immediately to the north, and one on the loopline junction south of the station, where the CR mainline became single track to Welshpool, just before crossing the River Vyrnwy. [10]
As part of the agreement for the Potts deviation, the GWR rebuilt the northern signal box in 1895. There were two road bridges north of Llanymynech, making visibility of trains approaching from Oswestry potentially difficult from a standard height signal box. They hence built a customised signal box with a floor height of just 8 feet 2 inches (2.49 m) above rail level, enabling a signal man of average height to see the complete station view. [10]
The station was allocated and operated by the Great Western Railway from the implementation of the Railways Act 1921, and kept under their successor company on nationalisation in 1948 under British Railways.
In 1963, the former CR mainline was reallocated to become part of the London Midland Region. In the review under the Beeching Axe the Cambrian Railway mainline was decreed uneconomic and the line closed to passengers in 1965.
Freight services continued to run on the Gobowen, Oswestry to Llynclys Junction section until 1988, to access the Llanyblodwel quarry on the Nantmawr branch. [11]
The station was demolished soon after the railway tracks were removed, relaid under tarmac as a heavy goods vehicle carpark, the abandoned state in which it remains today.
The single line, which allowed stone trains to run from Gobowen to Llanyblodwel until 1988, remains in place. [2] It, together with a section south of Llynclys is part of an ambitious plan by the Cambrian Heritage Railways to restore services from Gobowen to the new Penygarreg Lane Halt and possibly beyond.
Oswestry is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads.
The Ellesmere Canal was a waterway in England and Wales that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn. The proposal would create a link between the Port of Liverpool and the mineral industries in north east Wales and the manufacturing centres in the West Midlands. However, the canal was never completed as intended because of its rising costs and failure to generate the expected commercial traffic.
The Montgomery Canal, known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs 33 miles (53 km) from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llanymynech and Welshpool and crosses the England–Wales border.
The Cambrian Railways owned 230 miles (370 km) of track over a large area of mid Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two larger railways with connections to the northwest of England via the London and North Western Railway, and the Great Western Railway for connections between London and Wales. The Cambrian Railways amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1922 as a result of the Railways Act 1921. The name is continued today in the route known as the Cambrian Line.
The Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway was a railway running from Shrewsbury, England to Llanymynech, Wales, with a branch to Criggion. It was promoted by Holman Fred Stephens, better known as Colonel Stephens, proprietor of several ultra-low budget light railways. It adopted the track network of the defunct Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway that had closed in 1880; the S&MLR opened in 1911. Running through sparsely inhabited terrain, it struggled to achieve financial stability, and following a serious deterioration of maintenance conditions, it closed to passengers in 1933, continuing with a basic goods and mineral service.
The Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway,, was a railway built between Shrewsbury, England, and quarry locations at Nantmawr and Criggion in Wales. It was initially opened in 1866; despite the extensive title it never reached further than those extremities. It had cost about £1.5 million to construct, but its financial performance was extremely poor, and economies resulted in near-suspension of maintenance, leading to dangerous conditions. The line rapidly became very run down as a result of low revenues and poor maintenance, and was closed at the instigation of the Board of Trade for safety reasons in June 1880. It lay derelict for 30 years but was revived when the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway re-opened it as a light railway in 1911.
Llanymynech is a village and former civil parish straddling the border between Montgomeryshire/Powys, Wales, and Shropshire, England, about 9 miles (14 km) north of the Welsh town of Welshpool. The name is Welsh for "Church of the Monks". The village is on the banks of the River Vyrnwy, and the Montgomery Canal passes through it.
The Cambrian Heritage Railways is a heritage railway company, trust and society based at both Llynclys and Oswestry in its newly restored Oswestry railway station, Shropshire, England.
The English county of Shropshire has a fairly large railway network, with 19 National Rail stations on various national lines; there are also a small number of heritage and freight lines, including the famous heritage Severn Valley Railway running along its eastern border with Worcestershire.
Gobowen railway station is a railway station on the Shrewsbury to Chester Line of the former Great Western Railway's London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside via Birmingham Snow Hill line, serving the village of Gobowen in Shropshire, England. It is the nearest station to the town of Oswestry.
Pant is a village in Shropshire, England. It lies near the border with Wales. Pant means 'hollow' in Welsh: it is located directly below the disused mines at Llanymynech Rocks Nature Reserve. The population at the 2011 census is listed under the Civil Parish of Llanymynech and Pant. The built-up area of Pant and Llanymynech is roughly 2,000.
Four Crosses railway station was a station on the former Cambrian Railways between Oswestry and Welshpool.
The Tanat Valley Light Railway (TVLR) was a 15-mile (24 km) long standard gauge light railway. It ran westwards from Llanyblodwel in Shropshire, about 5 miles or 8 km southwest of Oswestry. It crossed the Wales–England border and continued up the Tanat valley, terminating at Llangynog in Powys. It opened in 1904, providing access to a fairly remote area, and transport facilities for slate production and agriculture.
The North Wales Mineral Railway was formed to carry coal and ironstone from the mineral-bearing area around Wrexham to the River Dee wharves. It was extended to run from Shrewsbury and formed part of a main line trunk route, under the title The Shrewsbury and Chester Railway. It opened in 1846 from Chester to Ruabon, and in 1848 from Ruabon to Shrewsbury. It later merged with the Great Western Railway.
Llanyblodwel is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England; the spelling "Llanyblodwell" was commonly used in the past, and the village was sometimes simply referred to as "Blodwel". The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 767. It lies 7 miles west of the nearest town, Oswestry, in the valley of the River Tanat. Simon Jenkins, in his guide to English churches says of Llanyblodwel that "the Welsh Marches are seldom so lovely as where the River Tanat crosses the border through the steep wooded valleys west of Oswestry."
Oswestry railway station is a Grade II listed heritage railway station in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. It was closed when passenger services were withdrawn in 1966. The station building today is used as commercial premises, although the Cambrian Railways Society are restoring it.
The Oswestry and Newtown Railway was a British railway company that built a line between Oswestry in Shropshire and Newtown Montgomeryshire, now Powys. The line opened in stages in 1860 and 1861. It was conceived to open up the area to rail transport, when local opinion formed the view that the trunk railway companies would not do so. Subscription money for the construction proved very difficult to generate. It was the action of a contractor partnership, Davies and Savin, in agreeing to accept shares as the majority of their payment for construction work, that saved the company from failure.
The Llanfyllin Branch was a railway line extension of the Oswestry and Newtown Railway to access the limestone resources within the Llanfyllin area; it opened in 1863.
Llanfyllin railway station is the former terminal station of the Llanfyllin Branch of Cambrian Railways, which served the town of Llanfyllin in Powys, Wales.
Llanymynech Heritage Area is an historic former lime kiln, quarry and industrial site near the village of Llanymynech, Shropshire in the Welsh Marches. The site is adjacent to the A483 road and close to the Montgomery Canal. It is about 6 miles (10 km) south of Oswestry on the English side of the border, and about 9 miles (14 km) north of the Powys town of Welshpool.
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
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Pant (Salop) Line and station closed | Great Western Railway Oswestry and Newtown Railway | Four Crosses Line and station closed | ||
Carreghofa Halt Line and station closed | Great Western Railway Llanfyllin Branch | Terminus | ||
Llanyblodwel Line and station closed | Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway | Maesbrook Line and station closed |