Author: Philip Morton
Publisher: Mortons Books (Silver Link)
ISBN:9781857944334
Price: £20
Publication Date: 24th October 2013
Number of pages: 144
Format: Softcover
How Obtained: Purchased
The Beeching Report! The infamous report on railway reform was published just over 60 years ago in April 1963. Titled The Reshaping of British Railways, its consequences for the rail network divides railway historians and enthusiasts to this day.
Philip Horton examines the impact on individual routes in The Beeching Legacy: Volume 3, South & Central Wales and the Marches. Actually published in 2013 to mark the report’s 50th anniversary, it is a volume in the Nostalgia Collection from Silver Link Publishing
The Beeching Report in South and Central Wales
Horton begins by surveying the overall rail system in South and Central Wales on the eve of the Beeching Report. His survey divides into two sections; routes where services were proposed for modification and routes where services were scheduled for withdrawal. In each case Horton presents a brief history of the lines from inception, which in many cases were in the early to mid-19th century.
Where services were marked for modification, the change is outlined along with the railway’s eventual fate. In each case the description is backed up by black and white photographs, maps and timetables.
The foregoing comments may lead you to conclude that the book is focussed on the detail rather than broad analysis. You would largely be correct, as there is little in the form of overall impact in terms of numbers, the challenge from road traffic, industrial decline and much more. One impression is that the book simply uses the Beeching Report as a rationale for selecting lines for inclusion in a photograph-with-annotations album. While this is true to a point, it is no bad thing as the text and visual materials are combined in an entertaining and informative manner.
The Beeching Report: an unjust reputation as a hatchet job?
A valuable point which the book makes is that to view the Beeching Report as simply a hatchet job on South Wales railways is unfair and simply inaccurate. Many routes had started to be withdrawn from the 1920s following the grouping into the Big Four. The Great Western, for example, had quickly started closing duplicate lines such as the Barry Railway Extension in the Rhymney Valley. This was closed in 1926 with the impressive Llanbradach Viaduct dismantled in 1937.
Nevertheless many closures were over a period of decades in a piecemeal fashion. The notoriety of the Beeching Report is partly a result of the fact that all the closures were outlined in one place. As such it acts as a kind of lightning rod for opponents.
Similarly, the point is emphasised that for South Wales the Report dealt largely with passenger services, since the carriage of bulk minerals was protected. With many lines being used for this traffic, much track and infrastructure remained in place. However, persistent decline in this activity means that route mileage continued to shrink.
In Summary
A book which examines the Beeching legacy as a pretext for presenting interesting photographs and background information on specific routes in South and Central Wales. Detailed rather than strategic, but an entertaining read.
The Good
- Interesting background to the lines under consideration
- Good range of photographs mostly from the ’50s and ’60s, but going back many decades
- Oozing nostalgia which will resonate particularly with older readers
The Not So Good
- If you want a strategic analysis on the implications for South Wales transport this is not the book for you
- A few instances of careless editing including a duplicate sentence at one point. Not too intrusive,
Outline Comtents
Introduction
1. The railways of South & Central Wales and the Marches ore the Beeching Report
- Lianelly – Pontardulais – Llandovery – Craven Arms Shrewsbury (still open)
- Swansea (Victoria) — Pontardulais (15 June 64)
2. Passenger services proposed for modification
- Gloucester Central-Cardiff (General)
- Cardiff (General)-Carmarthen
- Carmarthen-Neyland and Milford Haven
- Carmarthen-Fishguard Harbour
- Whitland-Pembroke Dock
3. Passenger services listed for withdrawal
- Cardiff (Clarence Road)-Cardiff (General) (16 March 1964)
- Penarth-Cadoxton (6 May 1968)
- Abercynon-Aberdare (Low Level) (16 March 1964)
- Porth-Maerdy (15 June 1964)
- Caerphilly-Senghenydd (15 June 1964)
- Barry-Bridgend (15 June 1964)
- Bridgend-Treherbert (22 June/15 July 1970)
- Cardiff-Coryton (still open)
- Gloucester Central-Hereford (2 November 1964)
- Carmarthen-Aberystwyth (22 February 1965)
Appendices
About the Author – Philip Horton
Philip Horton was born in Bath in 1947 and was educated there before leaving to go to University. He developed an early interest in two rather disparate subjects: natural history and railways. Both have stayed with him, the first as a career, the second as a hobby.
He started trainspotting in 1959 when BR was in a state of flux, culminating in 1963 with the publication of the Beeching Report. Already fascinated by railways, he realised that the scene would be changed forever. He decided that he would try to travel on as many of the lines affected as possible. Starting in south-west England, he eventually covered many lines in both England and Wales. These included one of his favourites, the former Somerset & Dorset from Bath Green Park to Bournemouth. Since then he has followed and photographed Britain’s railway scene. After the end of BR steam in 1968 he turned his attention to the Continent and travelled widely in both Western and Eastern Europe, in many cases travelling with his wife, who is a linguist. In recent years he has made good use of the material collected in a series of books published by Silver Link.
He has had numerous articles published on a wide range of railway-related topics over more than 30 years. Latterly he has been a regular contributor to the magazine Narrow Gauge World. It is, however, only since his retirement from English Nature that his first book: Volume 1 of his ‘Beeching Legacy’ series: ‘The West Country’, based on his travels in the 1960s, was published by Silver Link in 2010. Four more volumes followed, which cover the whole of Wales and southern England respectively.
(From Mortons Books)
Related reviews
Railways of Wales by Stuart Owen-Jones
Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: South Wales by D.S.M. Barrie