Lost Lines of Wales: Monmouthshire Western Valley – Book Review

In common with almost all the railways in South Wales the Western Valley line to Ebbw Vale and Brymawr was built to serve industry. Intended at first to replace the canal and tramroads taking iron products and coal down the valley, later on, iron ore travelled in the opposite direction.

Lost Lines of Wales; Monmouthshire Western Valley by Geoffrey Lloyd presents a photographic portrait of the line in the heyday of steam during Great Western and British Railways days. It was published in September 2022 by Graffeg Books as a volume in their Lost Lines of Wales series.

A Pictorial Journey Up the Monmouthshire Western Valley from Newport

Lloyd presents a background to the Western Valleys in a nine page introduction. He then takes us up the valley starting at Newport. Each passenger station is featured individually and sequentially until Aberbeeg is reached. At that point the line splits and we take a right turn along the Ebbw Fach (Little Ebbw) to Brynmawr. Finally, the Ebbw Fawr (Big Ebbw) is then covered in four stops from Cwm to Ebbw Vale Low Level.

To those unfamiliar with South Wales transport history the description of the valleys headed by Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr as Western may seem strange. After all they were not even the western valleys in Monmouthshire, lying east of the Sirhowy! The answer is provided by Lloyd in his introduction when describing the original two major branches of the canal built by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company.

A railway line where industry was king…and passengers were an afterthought!

Evolving from a canal with associated tramroads to a railway, the primary role of the route was to serve industry. The transport of passengers something of an afterthought! This is starkly illustrated when passenger services were withdrawn in 1962, while the line to Ebbw Vale survived until 2002 to serve the steelworks. Nevertheless passenger transport had the last laugh with the line reopening in 2008 to a newly built Ebbw Vale Parkway station.

Despite the line’s industrial character, Lloyd devotes most space to stations with a consequent focus on passenger services. However, some images reflect the extensive freight facilities which existed. These include both infrastructure such as Pontymister Sidings (serving Bird’s scrapyard) and motive power featuring the iconic BR 9F on a heavy ore train.

The book is unusual in its format of approximately A5 landscape which serves the photographs well. Moreover, there is an overall good quality feel to the book with substantial hard covers and great photograph reproduction. A handy map of the lines with marked locations is included.

In Summary

This is a charming little book which gives a good impression of the Western Valleys line during the later part of the twentieth century. The quality feel and unusual format makes it distinctive and ideal as a gift for anyone interested in local history as well as railway enthusiasts.

Outline Contents

• Introduction
• Newport
• Bassaleg Junction
• Rogerstone
• Tynycwm Halt
• Pontymister Sidings
• Risca
• Cross Keys
• Cwmcarn
• Abercarn
• Celynen South Halt
• Newbridge
• Celynen North Halt
• Crumlin Low Level
• Lianhilleth
• Aberbeeg
• Six Bells Halt
• Abertillery
• Bournville Mon Halt
• Blaina
• Nantyglo
• Brynmawr
• Cwm
• Victoria
• Tyllwyn Halt
• Ebbw Vale Low Level

Related reviews

History of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company by Aubrey Byles
Monmouthshire’s Lost Railways by Peter Dale
Steam in South Wales: Vol 4, Monmouthshire by Michael Hale