Cycling Ceredigion - History of the Ystwyth Trail...

THE MANCHESTER & MILFORD RAILWAY The original ambition of the Manchester and Milford (M&M) Railway Company involved profiting from connecting the transatlantic port of Milford Haven, in Pembrokeshire, with the cotton industry of north west England. What the original proponents were not to know, of course, was that the development period was going to coincide with the American Civil War (1860-65) and its aftermath. The initial plans involved laying a track from an existing railway at Pencader - north of Carmarthen - to link with Llanidloes and onwards, through Newtown to link to Shrewsbury and Manchester. Between 1845 and 1860, when the Manchester and Milford Railway Bill was passed, a number of other railway companies had also been active in developing and proposing new railways in west and mid Wales . Despite obtaining Royal Assent for the work to link Pencader and Llanidloes, the M&M did not venture into development until 1864 when it entered into an agreement with the famous Welsh engineer and entrepreneur David Davies of Landinam (born in Lledrod, Ceredigion) and a Frederick Beeston to lay 27 miles of track between Pencader and Pontrhydfendigaid. The M&M arrived at Tregaron in 1866. The major questions, however, were always going to be how to get north east from Tregaron, to Pontrhydfendigaid and beyond. The first challenge was posed by the great expanse of Cors Caron, one of the largest peat bogs on mainland Britain. Beyond Cors Caron and Pontrhydfendigaid at its northern extreme, some of the most lonely upland expanses of the Cambrian Mountains loomed on the intended route towards Pontrhydygroes, Devil's Bridge, Llangurig and onwards to Llanidloes. Indeed, difficulties were being already encountered in attempting to tunnel between Cwm Ystwyth and Llangurig. Along the way, a decision was made not to head towards Pontrhydfendigaid. A local history website for Pontrhydfendigaid, on its page dedicated to Cors Caron, suggests the estate of Lord Lisburne strongly influenced the decision not to head towards Pontrhydfendigaid - cutting across the land of many estate farms - but to cross the eastern extreme of Cors Caron towards the settlement of Ystrad Meurig, the station built there being called Strata Florida after the historic Cistercian abbey east of Pontrhydfendigaid. By now, the idea of laying a track to Llangurig had been abandoned. It is interesting to note, however, that a track was actually laid between Llanidloes and Llangurig - its remains can still be seen. It appears that it was only ever used once - by a single goods train. By August 1867 the M&M had been extended to reach Aberystwyth. Strata Florida was one of the line’s passing places, and was to serve the local villages with three trains each way per working day. It was constructed on a tight curve westward towards Aberystwyth with the line climbing at 1:43 towards Caradog Falls before descending to Trawscoed on a 1:41 grade. The M&M encountered financial difficulties and was taken over by the Great Western Railway Company in 1911. The Aberystwyth to Carmarthen railway line eventually ceased transporting goods in 1964 with passenger trains ceasing a year later.	Flash Clips: The flash clips shown below are derived from copyright material in the ownership of Michael Clemens Railways. Ceredigion County Council is indebted to Mr Clemens for permission to display these extracts from a comprehensive DVD which is available comercially from Michael Clemens Railways Clip 1: Tregaron:
	Clip 2: Strata Florida
	Clip 3: Caradog Falls
	Clip 4: Trawscoed
	Clip 5: Llanilar
	Clip 6: Aberystwyth