The Story of the Cambrian

C >> C. P. Gasquoine >> The Story of the Cambrian

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

The "little company" had, indeed, good reason to be apprehensive; but
fortune favoured its course. Before this onslaught, even the
"overbearing leviathan" quailed. After long and costly struggle in the
Parliamentary committee rooms, accommodation was reached, and in the
House of Commons the Montgomeryshire promoters' scheme passed with flying
colours; but an unfortunate error, by which the levels were proved to be
some 18 feet below the Severn water, wrecked it in the Lords. In August,
1853, however, the scheme received Parliamentary sanction, and out of the
long list of "provisional directors" appointed the previous year, the
first board was formed. They were:--Mr. Whalley, chairman; Mr. W.
Lefeaux, vice-chairman; Alderman E. Cleaton, Llanidloes; Alderman Richard
Holmes, Llanidloes; Mr. Wm. Lloyd, Newtown; Mr. Edward Morris, Oxon,
Shrewsbury; Mr. T. E. Marsh, Llanidloes, and Mr. T. Prickard, Dderw,
Radnorshire. Mr. Rice Hopkins was the engineer, Mr. T. P. Prichard,
general manager, and Mr. John Jenkins, secretary. Mr. Jenkins, however,
soon transferred his services to the office of auditor, and was succeeded
by Mr. Thomas Hayward.

III.

And so, with eager hearts, directors looked forward to a rosy future. It
is interesting to recall what, in their opinion, the financial prospects
of the line were. Larger schemes loomed in ambitious minds, but, even
confined to the local line along the Severn valley, the estimated revenue
was as follows:--

Passengers 2,350 pounds

Coal 750 pounds

Lead, Copper, and Barytes Ore 1,700 pounds

Timber (chiefly used in working the mines) 900 pounds

Iron, Powder, and other articles used by miners 75 pounds

Lime for Agricultural and other purposes 900 pounds

Corn, Flour, and other Agricultural Produce 600 pounds

Cattle, Sheep, and other animals 300 pounds

Wool and Woollen Manufactures 225 pounds

General Merchandise and Shop Goods 250 pounds

Building Stone, Tiles, Bricks, etc. 200 pounds

Total 8,250 pounds

Estimating working expenses at 50 per cent., that left a surplus of 4,125
pounds, being nearly 7 per cent. per annum on 60,000 pounds, the required
capital. With such a scheme the majority of the local owners readily
expressed their agreement, and arrangements were made for cutting of the
first sod, in a field which was to form the site of the Llanidloes
station, on October 3rd, 1855. Mrs. Owen, of Glansevern, was invited to
perform the ceremony, but, owing to what she regarded as a premature
announcement of the fact in the "Shrewsbury Chronicle," that lady sent an
advertisement to the journal announcing the postponement of the function.
Pages of the Company's minute book were devoted to expressions of the
Board's "utmost astonishment" and demands for explanations. Mrs. Owen
was at no loss for material to furnish equally voluminous reply, the pith
of which was that she was simply inspired by a desire to obtain time,
both to secure the attendance of her influential friends and to inform
herself of the financial position of the undertaking.

It was all a storm in a tea-cup, but it was a very severe storm while it
lasted; and Mr. Whalley had to cut the sod himself, in a deluge of rain,
taking occasion, however, in doing so, to express, in graceful terms, the
disappointment felt at the absence of one "who had done so much to
introduce improved means of communication through the county," a
reference equally gracefully acknowledged by letter from Glansevern a few
days later. "Up to the present period," wrote Mrs. Owen, "we have been
strangers in this part of the county to the preparations necessary for
inaugurating a railway, and it should not, therefore, be wondered at if
our first attempt should not have been attended with _perfect success_;
misapprehension, excess of zeal and inexperience might all lead to
mistakes and errors, and it is not, perhaps, possible for us all to
escape censure."

Perhaps not. At any rate, it was a philosophic conclusion, and it
enabled the Board, with unruffled feathers, to proceed to the business of
receiving tenders for the construction of the line. Out of seven, the
lowest was that of Mr. David Davies, who was, moreover, prepared to
accept part payment in shares, an arrangement which, later, paved the way
to the process of leasing these local railways to the contractors, that
became almost a custom. Hardly, however, had these preliminaries been
successfully negotiated, when Mr. Rice Hopkins died, and after a
temporary agreement with one of his relatives to carry on in an advisory
capacity, the Board proceeded to select a successor out of four "persons
who presented themselves as eligible for this purpose."

Their choice was easily made. The line was being built by a local
contractor. Fate was now to throw up a new engineer, whose claims were
not less obvious on similar grounds. A native of Trefeglwys, Mr.
Benjamin Piercy had, from an early age, taken great interest in railway
planning, and, though this branch of the profession did not directly
touch his daily routine, he devoted many leisure hours to its study. In
his journeys through Wales he was impressed with the necessity of opening
out its valleys to the great railway world that was developing beyond the
English border, and when Mr. Henry Robertson began to make his surveys of
the Shrewsbury and Chester line, Mr. Piercy became one of his assistants.
So diligently did the young man discharge his duties here that, it is
recorded, he was the means of preventing the loss of a year in obtaining
the Act for the making of this line.

It was natural, therefore, that, when the Rea Valley line was being
mooted, he should be engaged to prepare the Parliamentary plans. It was
in this connection that an untoward incident occurred, which throws some
light on the tremendous rivalry that existed among the promoters of
various railway schemes and the means that were sometimes adopted to
thwart the progress of antagonistic proposals. Mr. Piercy had, with
great energy, got his plans ready and taken them to London, but they were
surreptitiously removed from his room at the hotel, and the matter was
hung up for a year. In the meantime, as we have already noted, the line
of route was changed. In the following year, however, he duly deposited
the plans for the railway from Shrewsbury to Welshpool, with a branch to
Minsterley, already mentioned. Although strongly opposed, at every
stage, including Standing Orders, Mr. Piercy succeeded in carrying the
Bill through both Houses, and it received the Royal assent. It was in
the Select Committees on this Bill that he first made his reputation as a
witness in Parliamentary Committees. After this he was engaged upon
nearly all the projects for introducing independent railways into Wales,
all of them meeting with fierce opposition. For several days
consecutively he was as a witness under cross-examination by the genial
Mr. Serjeant Merewether, and other eminent counsel, but so little headway
were they able to make against Mr. Piercy that, upon one occasion, when a
Committee passed a Bill of his, Mr. Merewether held up his brief-bag and
asked the Committee whether they would not give that too to Mr. Piercy.
{16}

[Picture: The late MR. GEORGE OWEN, Engineer of the Cambrian Railways for
many years]

In 1858 Mr. Piercy was formally appointed engineer to the Company. With
the assistance of Mr. George Owen, the cordial co-operation of Messrs.
Davies and Savin, and under the enthusiastic leadership of Mr. Whalley,
he was destined to carry these undertakings into being, and to nurture
them in their infancy, and thus to join the little group of pioneer
workers who, in their several capacities, may, in special degree, be
termed the parents of the Cambrian.

CHAPTER II. A BIRTHDAY PARTY.

"_A birthday_:--_and now a day that rose_
_with much of hope, with meaning rife_--
_A thoughtful day from dawn to close_."

--JEAN INGLEOW.

With the advent of the young Montgomeryshire engineer, and his cordial
co-operation with the Montgomeryshire contractor, the public began
eagerly to count the days, or at any rate, the months, before the due
arrival of the first Montgomeryshire railway. The prospects of a
punctual delivery were eminently propitious. In his first report, Mr.
Piercy was able to announce substantial progress with the work, which was
being carried out by Messrs. Davies and Savin, "at a cost below that of
any railway yet brought into operation." True, there were one or two
inevitable set-backs. One of the engines which had arrived by road, and
been set on the rails at Newtown, refused properly to perform its duty;
but, fortunately, a Mr. Howell, of Hawarden, who knew all about the
intricate interior of these new-fangled monsters, happened to be staying
at Llanidloes, and he was called in to diagnose and advise, with
effective result.

A more serious problem was the revision of the terms of the lease of the
line to Messrs. Davies and Savin, which a committee of shareholders were
busily engaged in attempting to carry forward. Complications of another
sort led Mr. Piercy to tender his resignation, which, being somewhat
peremptorily refused, he withdrew. Still further anxiety and
considerable expense was involved in the prosecution of Parliamentary
application for power to extend the line from the originally designed
terminus at Newtown to the Shropshire Union Canal; for, though it was
only a matter of some quarter of a mile, it was strenuously opposed in
both Houses. Such were the distractions which beset railway building in
those days; but enthusiasm and determination still triumphed, and the
work proceeded along the line with sufficient rapidity to admit its being
opened for mineral traffic on April 30th, 1859. At the very last moment
trouble was experienced in obtaining the necessary certificate of the
Board of Trade for passenger traffic, but that precious document came to
hand on August 9th, and, with more fortunate outcome than on a previous
occasion, Mrs. Owen, of Glansevern, was invited to perform the pleasing
duty of declaring the line open.

The day fixed was Wednesday, August 31st, and a local newspaper gives us
some account of the proceedings:--"Preparations were made on an extensive
scale, and the day was ushered in by cannon firing, bell-ringing, and the
hearty congratulations of the people of the town, with their country
friends, who flocked in to take part in the proceedings. The houses were
elegantly decorated with flags and banners, flowers and evergreens, and a
variety of mottoes, more or less appropriate. Amongst others we noticed,
on the Old Market Hall (which, by the way, it was a charity to hide from
the gaze of strangers), a profusion of flags, with a large banner in the
centre, 'Hail, Star of Brunswick.' The Red Lion exhibited a local
tribute to its friend, by placing on the door 'Welcome, Whalley, champion
of our rights.' The Railway Station was profusely decorated, and the
Queen's Head displayed an elegant archway of leaves and flowers. The
Trewythen Arms was also gaily covered with flags, and numbers of private
houses displayed a variety of gay decorations. The cold and wet state of
the weather in no way damped the ardour of the men of Montgomeryshire,
and they were rewarded by a speedy dispersion of clouds, and the grateful
warmth of the noonday sun. Llanidloes was all alive; business was
entirely suspended and soon after 9 o'clock a large crowd collected near
the public rooms, where a procession was formed, headed by the Plasmadoc
Brass Band, and accompanied in the following order by:--

The Mayor (W. Swancott, Esq.), and the Corporation consisting of Messrs.
R. Homes, E. Clayton, T. Davies, T. F. Roberts, D. Snead; L. Minshall,
Pugh, J. Jarman, Hamer, J. Mendus Jones,

Flag.

Banner,--'Whither Bound?' 'To Milford.'

Streamer. Banner. Streamer.

(With the inscription):

'G. H. Whalley, whose unceasing exertions are now crowned with success.'

Mr. G. H. Whalley, Chairman.

Deputy Chairman and Secretary, Directors.

Banner,--'The spirited contractors, Messrs. Davies & Savin.'

Streamer. Streamer.

Banner,--'Our Esteemed Patroness, Mrs. A. W. Owen.'

Mrs. Owen followed in a carriage.

Guests and Shareholders.

Ladies (two and two).

Gentlemen (two and two).

Streamer. Streamer.

Banner,--'Prosperity to the Towns of Llanidloes and Newtown.'

Excavators (with bannerets).

Flag,--'Live and let Live.'

The Public.

"The procession was marshalled by Mr. Marpole Lewis, and after parading
the streets, was met by Mrs. Owen, of Glansevern, who was accompanied by
some lady friends and Mr. Brace, and at another point by Mr. Whalley, the
chairman of the company. These arrivals were acknowledged with
vociferous cheering. The procession, like a rolling snowball, gained
bulk as it proceeded, and before it reached the station, comprehended a
very large proportion of the inhabitants,--ladies and gentlemen,--with a
good sprinkling of their neighbours. At the station there was a
considerable delay, awaiting the arrival of the train from Newtown. At
last it made its appearance, and the band struck up 'See the Conquering
Hero comes,'--an air far more appropriate when applied to the
'locomotive' than to one-half of the heroes to whom it has hitherto done
honour. The Mayor of Llanidloes, with the Corporation, Mrs. Owen and
party, and Mr. Whalley, accompanied by a very large number of the
inhabitants, then took their seats, and amidst the cheers of those left
behind, and counter cheers of the passengers, the train moved off and
proceeded slowly towards Newtown. {20}

"The train arrived shortly after 12 o'clock, when the procession
re-formed and escorted the Mayor and Corporation of Llanidloes, Mrs.
Owen, of Glansevern, Mr. Whalley, and other visitors, to Newtown Hall,
where an elegant _dejeuner_ had been provided by Dr. Slyman. The
decorations at Newtown Hall were chaste and beautiful. The verandah at
the front, was tastefully ornamented with flowers and evergreens,
surmounted by a number of elegant fuschias, in the centre of which stood
out a prettily worked 'Prince of Wales' Feathers.' A variety of flags
were placed around the pleasure ground, which gave a very striking effect
to the scene."

After the party had partaken of refreshments, there were toasts and
mutual congratulations, and the procession tramped back to the station.

"Again there was a little delay, awaiting the train from Llanidloes (says
our chronicler), and it was half-past three o'clock before _The Train_ of
the day fairly started. Filling the carriages and trucks was no joke.
Admirable arrangements had been made, and the ladies were first
accommodated with seats. One or two gentlemen did attempt to take their
place before this arrangement was fully carried out, but they were very
unceremoniously brought out again, amidst the ironical cheers of the
outsiders. At last the forty-eight trucks and carriages were loaded,
and, at a moderate estimate, we should say, 3,000 people were in the
train. The two new engines, The Llewelyn and The Milford, were attached
to the carriages, and were driven by Mr. T. D. Roberts and Mr. T. E.
Minshall. Although the train was so heavily laden with passengers, there
was a large crowd of people left to cheer as it slowly passed out of the
Station. The appearance of this monster train was magnificent. More
than 2,000 of the passengers were in open trucks, and at certain points,
where there was a curve in the line, and a good sight could be obtained,
the train, as it wound its way through the valley, presented a scene not
easily to be erased from the memory.

"Soon after four o'clock Llanidloes Station was reached, and the
passengers alighted amidst the shouts of the inhabitants, who had come to
welcome them. A large circle was formed in the field adjoining the
Station, and Mr. Whalley introduced to those assembled Mrs. Owen, of
Glansevern, who declared the line to be opened."

It hardly required her stirring words to enlist the enthusiasm of the
company concerning the economic change which the railways were to bring
to Wales. Derelict acres were to be brought into cultivation; "the very
central town of the ancient Principality," in which that ceremony was
taking place, was to become the capital of a new prosperity, and as for
Mr. Whalley, were not that day's proceedings "a chapter more honourable
than any wreath of laurel that could be won on the battle field by
success in war?" The plaudits of the assembled confirmed the sentiment,
and "a rush was then made for the tent where the luncheon was provided.
Here again the ladies had the same proper attention paid to them; the
sterner sex was kept out until they could be accommodated with seats.
After a short delay the tent was well filled with visitors, and upwards
of 300 sat down to lunch. Grace was said by the Rector of Llanidloes,
and for a season the clatter of knives and forks was the only sound to be
heard."

Small wonder! For the afternoon was well advanced, and the time-table
had gone rather awry. But that did not in the least damp the ardour of
the company. Refreshed by their belated meal, more toasts were honoured,
more speeches made, and the future continued to assume the most roseate
hue. The district, declared one orator, was destined to become "the
abode of smiling happiness," and Newtown and Llanidloes "the haunts and
hives of social industry." It was, said another, the first link in a
chain "which must, ere long, form one of the greatest and most important
trunk lines in the kingdom." "People," exclaimed a third, "laughed at it
because it had no head or tail"; but let the scoffers wait and see! With
all these glowing anticipations, proceedings became so protracted that
the ladies had to withdraw, but the gentlemen went on drinking toasts
with undiminished energy. They drank to the Chairman; they drank to the
Secretary; they drank to the Engineer, and the Contractors, and the
Bankers who had lent them the money, and to the success of the other
railways springing up around them, including the Mid-Wales, the first sod
of which was to be cut in a few days' time, with what strange
accompaniment will be noted in a subsequent chapter. Not until the
health of the Press,--"may its perfect independence ever expose abuses
and advocate what is just, through evil and through good report,"--had
been duly honoured did the company disperse.

The workmen, too, were entertained, with good fare and more speeches.
Salvers and cake baskets were presented to Messrs. Davies and Savin.
Master Edward Davies, aged 5, and Master Tom Savin, aged 6, were held up
aloft, and presented with watches, and the cheering, which had gone on
almost continuously for hours, broke forth afresh. One of the workmen,
who was also, at any rate, in the opinion of his colleagues, something of
a poet, stepped forward, and, "amidst roars of laughter and tremendous
cheering," sang his thanks as follows:--

Well now we've got a railway,
The truth to you I'll tell,
To be opened in August,
The people like it well;
We've heard a deal of rumour
O'er all the country wide,
We'll never get a railway,
The people can't provide.

Well now we have the carriages,
For pleasure trips to ride;
The Milford it shall run us,
And Henry lad shall drive;
There's also Jack the stoker,
So handy and so free,
He lives now at Llandiman,
A buxom lad is he.

We have a first rate gentleman
Who does very nigh us dwell,
And he has got a partner,
The people like him well;
Look at the trucks my boys,
Their names you'll plainly see;
They've took another Railway,
There's plenty of work for we.

Well now our gen'rous masters
Do handsomely provide
A store of meat and drink my boys,
Come out and take a ride;
For we are in our ribbons,
And dress'd so neat and trim;
Drink up my charming Sally,
We'll fill it to the brim.

When these few days are over,
The navvies they will part,
And go back to their gangers
With blithe and cheerful heart;
And Jack he will be hooting,
And getting drunk full soon;
I wish there was a railway
To be opened every moon.

And now I have to finish,
And shall conclude my song;
I hope and trust my good friends,
I've stated nothing wrong;
All you young men and maidens,
That are so full of play,
I hope you'll all take tickets
On that most glorious day.

"When the song was concluded, Colonel Wynn purchased the first copy, for
which the fortunate bard received a shilling. Several other gentlemen
followed this example, and the poet must have regretted that his stock in
trade was so limited.

"During the latter part of the proceedings, several had left the
enclosure to join the merry dance, to the strains of the Welshpool Band,
in the adjoining field. We cannot use the usual stock phrase of the
penny-a-liner and say to 'trip it on the light fantastic toe,' for in
several instances a pair of stalwart navvies might be seen in anything
but dancing pumps kicking out most gloriously. In another part of the
field, a party were deeply engaged in an exciting game of football. All
was mirth and jollity. From the oldest to the youngest, the richest to
the poorest, every one seemed to try to get as much enjoyment out of the
evening as possible, and if there were any grumblers to be found at
Messrs. Davies and Savin's monster picnic, the fault must have been with
themselves.

"The same evening rejoicings were being kept up at Llanidloes. All the
school children of the place were feasted in the tent. Mr. Whalley (the
'champion of the people's rights,' as the flag had it) was chaired
through the town, and the evening was finished by a ball. And on the
following day, several loaves of bread and gallons of porter were sent by
Messrs. Davies and Savin to the poor people of Llandinam." Finally, a
medal was struck in commemoration of the event, and presented to the
workmen.

Thus, sixty-three years ago, did the community, already conscious of the
momentous influence the steam engine was exerting upon the social and
economic condition of the countryside, but yet to discover the not less
remarkable potentialities of the electric or the petrol spark applied to
the problems of transport, herald the birth of the infant Cambrian.

CHAPTER III. EARLY DEVELOPMENTS AND DIFFICULTIES.

"_We may perceive plenty of wrong turns taken at cross roads, time
misused or wasted, gold taken for dross and dross for gold, manful
effort mis-directed, facts misread, men misjudged_. _And yet those
who have felt life no stage play, but a hard campaign with some lost
battles, may still resist all spirit of general insurgence in the
evening of their day_."--VISCOUNT MORLEY OF BLACKBURN.

Though one or two earlier bubbles, blown by eager railway promoters, had
burst almost as they left the bowl of the pipe, the issue of the
prospectus of the Montgomeryshire Railways Company, in 1852, not
unnaturally inspired new hope in the border counties of some extension of
already projected lines in the locality. At Oswestry, in particular,
there was a rapidly growing feeling that such a development was overdue,
and they looked with eager eyes towards the possibility of forging a
connecting link with the system growing up in the heart of Powysland.
The Shrewsbury and Chester Railway, soon to become part of the Great
Western, had opened its branch to the busy Shropshire market centre under
the hills at the beginning of 1849,--the year which saw the birth of the
Oswestry Market and of the "Oswestry Advertizer," which, in its earlier
years, was to devote so many pages to the record of the making of the
Cambrian. But beyond Oswestry travellers had to proceed by coach. The
"Royal Oak," leaving the town daily at one o'clock, arrived at Newtown
about five. Goods were carried by more ponderous road transport, and it
is rather astonishing to recal that as late as 1853 dogs were employed as
draught animals, and local records include the circumstance of the death
of a "respected tradesman" by a fall from his horse, caused by the
animal's "fright at one of the carts drawn by the dogs, which are much
too often seen on the roads in this neighbourhood." Legislation was soon
to prohibit this custom, and railways to make it unnecessary.

[Picture: Some early Chairmen: reading from top left to bottom, The late
EARL VANE (afterwards Marquis Of Londonderry). Chairman of the Newtown
and Machynlleth railway Co. and first Chairman of the Consolidated
Cambrian Rys. Co., 1864-1884; The late MR. W. ORMSBY-GORE, First Chairman
of the Oswestry and Newtown Railway Co.; The late SIR W. W. WYNN, BART.,
Second Chairman of the Oswestry and Newtown Railway Co.]

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12