Lost Lines of Wales: Monmouthshire Eastern Valley – Book Review

The Monmouthshire Eastern Valley railway ran from Newport up to Blaenavon. From a troubled start and infancy, the lower part of the line eventually formed a section of the famous ‘North and West’ strategic route from Severn Tunnel to the Midlands.

In Lost Lines of Wales: Monmouthshire Eastern Valleys, Geoffrey Lloyd takes us on a photographic journey from the main line station at Newport up to Blaenavon Low Level. The volume was published in September 2022 by Graffeg Books in their Lost Lines series.

A Pictorial Journey Up the Monmouthshire Eastern Valley line from Newport

The early history of the Eastern Valley line was complex and controversial involving multiple companies, appalling infrastructure and legal wrangles. Lloyd does an excellent job of compressing this convoluted story into a handy eight page Introduction. The main section features each station on the line with one or more photographs accompanied by informative annotations.

Two companies ultimately created the Eastern Valley line, the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company (MRCC) and the Pontypool, Caerleon and Newport (PCN). The MRCC, notorious for poor infrastructure, poor timekeeping and accusations of profiteering was finally converted from its original tramway to an edge railway in the mid 1850s.

Convoluted genesis of the railway

Conversely, the GWR backed the PCN which provided an alternative route from Pontypool to Newport, opening about 20 years later in 1874. However, north of Llantarnum Junction up to Blaenavon the line was all MRCC, until effectively taken over by the GWR in 1875.

The creation of the Maindee East Loop greatly enhanced the usefulness of the southern section of the line. Trains from the South West (when the Severn Tunnel was opened in 1886) could then access the line to Hereford without having to reverse at Newport. Finally, the line to Blaenavon sadly closed to passenger traffic in 1962.

A tale of two halves, North and South!

Similar to Lloyd’s book on the Western Valley line to Ebbw Vale, most of the content is devoted to stations with a consequent focus on passenger services. This is despite the line’s heavy industrial usage, especially on its northern section. The separate character of the sections south and north of Llantarnum is highlighted by the rolling stock depicted. Befitting its intercity character the southern section features GWR express Saint, Castle and King class locomotives, while the characteristic Panniers, 56xx and early DMUs feature prominently to the north.

The Lost Lines series is unusual in using an approximately A5 landscape format which serves the photographs well. Again, the overall good quality feel with substantial hard covers, route map and good image reproduction is evident.

In Summary

A great quality little book which features the stations on the Monmouthshire Eastern Valley route in the twentieth century. However, there are few images of the line’s all-important industrial activity. A great gift for a railway enthusiast or local historian.

Outline Contents

• Introduction
• Newport
• Caerleon
• Ponthir
• Llantarnam
• Cwmbran
• Upper Pontnewydd
• Pontrhydyrun Halt
• Sebastopol
• Panteg & Griffithstown
• Pontypool Blaendare Road
• Pontypool (Crane Street)
• Pontnewynydd
• Snatchwood Halt
• Abersychan Low Level
• Cwmffrwd Halt
• Cwmavon (Mon) Halt
• Blaenavon Low Level

Related reviews

History of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company by Aubrey Byles
Monmouthshire’s Lost Railways by Peter Dale