Railways

Imagine Whitchurch 250 years ago, you probably couldn’t. A pastoral corner of the country that hadn’t changed much in the hundreds of years previously. Quiet local tracks linking the various farms, and a ‘dodgy’ rural road down to Cardiff. Less than 700 people living in the whole parish

When the turnpike road was opened through the village in 1767, it must have been a rude awaking. Linking up to the countryside northwards, with traffic passing through the village for the first time. This was only worsened when the Glamorganshire Canal opened in 1794, winding its way south, through the village

This was the time of the Booker empire at Melingriffith and the Pentyrch ironworks. There had been a connection between the two industrial centres for many years previously. At first there were mule trains, crossing the river at Radyr at the ford, then about 1815, the Melingriffith and Pentyrch Railway linked the two with a narrow-gauge railway running alongside the river, complete with a bridge at Tongwynlais. The first railway in the village!

I wonder, did this line have steam engines? Does anyone know? The railway was improved in 1871 with the introduction of a standard-gauge track. This though was only a local railway with little impact on the village

Imagine the shock then, when the first ‘proper’ railway was built. The Taff Vale Railway in 1841 from Merthyr, which squeezed its way through Tongwynlais and crossed the river south of Melingriffith There was a station at Primrose Hill (named ‘Llandaff for Whitchurch’), and then running east towards Gabalfa, and into Cardiff

The next line was the Rhymney Railway in 1858, which crossed the Taff Gorge with its incredible Walnut Tree Viaduct at Taffs Well. It’s fascinating to learn that Taffs Well was known as Walnut Tree for many years previously, named after the local pub. And that Peter Finch’s father was the local blacksmith with his forge next to the pub! Sadly, only one of the mighty pylons remains as you pass by on the A470

This was the time when lots of railwayman’s cottages were being built in the lower village and Llandaff Yard, and the census’ began to list all of the various railway-related trades coming to the village

Then, in 1909 came the Cardiff Railway. This was the Bute attempt to get coal delivered to their own docks in Cardiff, branching off the Rhymney Railway line at the Heath, and cutting across the upper village with stations at Birchgrove, Rhiwbina, Whitchurch and Coryton. The line originally extended further, to Tongwynlais, Nantgarw and Rhydfelin, but it finished fractionally short of the main line at Trefforest (the TVR had acquired a vital strip of land, thus preventing the link up). Because of this, the line was never successful, and it was closed beyond Coryton by 1931, surviving as a passenger line only

Dic Mortimer says that at its narrowest point, the Taff Gorge shared the Barry Railway, the Radyr to Pentyrch road, the Melingriffith and Pentyrch Railway, the Pentyrch Feeder, the River Taff, four tracks of the Taff Vale Railway, the Glamorganshire Canal, the Merthyr Road and the Cardiff Railway, all in a space just 250 m (800 feet) wide! Nine arterial routes in such a narrow gap

Alan, from the village, has shared lots of stories about his life working on the railways, and the growth of the Radyr marshalling yard, just across the river. We’ve included an OS map of the Radyr yard, dated 1950, just to show how enormous it was. Of course, there was another yard almost as big at Gabalfa. Both yards are now long gone, replaced by housing. Only the old photographs and stories of the railway workers remain. Do you know of any?

We’ve been told from older residents that much of the local damage by bombing in WW2, was of German bombs aimed at the railway yards at Radyr and Gabalfa, using the reflected light of the River Taff as a silvery guide for the night bombers

So, what of the future? Welsh Government have exciting plans to upgrade the various lines which still remain, and also the possibility of extending the Coryton line to cross the River Taff to the main Merthyr line, thus creating a circle line for the city. I wonder if these plans will ever be accomplished, particularly as we seem to be in a continual time of recession

Dic Mortimer wrote a blog in 2011 about the railways and how they affected Whitchurch and Tongwynlais. It’s a really interesting read if you can still get hold of it

What are your memories of the railways passing through the village? We’d love to know more

 

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