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73-630: The Golden Valley Railway was a railway company which constructed a branch line from Pontrilas in Herefordshire , England, to Hay on Wye . Pontrilas was on the Great Western Railway main line between Newport and Hereford . The Golden Valley Railway Company opened the first part of its line from Pontrilas to Dorstone in 1881. It was constantly beset with shortage of money, but opened an extension to Hay in 1889. Its directors had grand ideas of extending further to Monmouth and forming part of

146-534: A Survey of production —an up-to-date compendium of detailed statistics necessary for regulating specific industries. In 1906, the Merchant Shipping Act upgraded the minimum working conditions, and the safety protections for both British sailors, and crews of foreign ships that used British ports. In 1907, the Patents and Design Act gave financial protection to British designs to stop unfair foreign copies. In

219-565: A bill to authorise it was presented in the 1876 session of Parliament. Initial opposition was later withdrawn, and the Golden Valley Railway Act 1876 ( 39 & 40 Vict. c. cxli) received royal assent on 13 July 1876. However this was only to build from Pontrilas to Dorstone. The railway would be 10 miles in length from a junction with the Great Western Railway (GWR) line at Pontrilas where there would be running powers into

292-486: A board meeting on 25 October 1876 the directors undertook to promote a bill for an extension from Dorstone to Hay, provided local people would subscribe for £10,000 of shares. A route was planned and on 7 February 1877 a shareholders' meeting approved the intended bill; the route was to lead to an independent station at Hay, some distance from the existing HH&BR station. Thoughts of the Golden Valley line becoming part of

365-732: A government department with considerable power and a diverse range of functions, including regulation of domestic and foreign commerce, the development, implementation and interpretation of the Acts of Trade and Navigation , and the review and acceptance of legislation passed in the colonies. Between 1696 and 1782 the Board of Trade, in partnership with the various secretaries of state over that time, held responsibility for colonial affairs, particularly in British America . The newly created office of Home Secretary then held colonial responsibility until 1801, when

438-458: A line... would not only pay interest on the debentures but provide a fair dividend for the preferred and ordinary shareholders." Green-Price was successful in his view, resulting in the resignation of the chairman, Gavin Robinson and several other directors; Green-Price took over the chairmanship. On 29 June 1885 it was announced that the train service would be temporarily suspended from 2 July, for

511-476: A long-distance trunk route. It issued misleading promotional material which secured significant investment from the public, but exposure of the falsehoods resulted in collapse. The line closed in 1898, and the company sold its undertaking to the Great Western Railway in 1899 for £11,000; the capital expended on the line had already amounted to £334,786. Passenger operation on the line ceased in 1941 and it closed completely in 1957. Hay, later renamed Hay on Wye ,

584-635: A mile from the border with Wales . It is in the parish of Kentchurch and lies midway between Hereford and Abergavenny . In 2011 the main village contained 66 residential dwellings, as well as Pontrilas Business Park. The village name comes from the Welsh language, and means 'bridge over three rivers' due to the River Dore , Dulas brook and another smaller stream (which descends via Dineterwood but appears to have no specific name) meeting there. The main A465 road skirts

657-575: A new Committee of Council on Trade and Plantations (later known as 'the First Committee') was established by William Pitt the Younger . Initially mandated by an Order in Council on 5 March 1784, the committee was reconstructed and strengthened by a second order, on 23 August 1786, under which it operated for the rest of its existence. The committee has been known as the Board of Trade since 1786, but this name

730-535: A number of businesses including Pontrilas Timber which has been there since 1947, an estate agency and a number of other smaller businesses. The former World War II Elm Bridge munitions depot is now the site of the Qinetiq managed Pontrilas Army Training Area . Pontrilas is served by Stagecoach South Wales service X4 which runs between Hereford and Cardiff and National Express Coaches service 321 which links Aberdare and Bradford Pontrilas railway station

803-562: A reputation as a conciliator. In Cabinet, he worked with Lloyd George to champion social reform . He promoted what he called a "network of State intervention and regulation" akin to that in Germany. Churchill's main achievements came in 1909. First was the Labour Exchanges Bill . It set up over 200 labour exchanges with William Beveridge in charge. The unemployed would come in and be assisted in finding employment. He also promoted

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876-464: A separate body. The board carried on this work but also had long periods of inactivity, devolving into chaos after 1761 and dissolved in 1782 by an act of Parliament by the Rockingham Whigs . William Pitt the Younger re-established the committee in 1784, and an Order in Council of 23 August 1786 provided the formal basis that still remains in force. A secretariat was established which included

949-524: A separate education committee for Wales. The bill passed the House of Commons greatly amended but was completely mangled by the House of Lords. No compromise was possible and the bill was abandoned, allowing the 1902 Act to continue in effect. Nonconformists were bitterly upset by the failure of the Liberal Party to reform the 1902 Education Act, its most important promise to them, and over time their support for

1022-407: A shareholders' meeting of 22 May 1891, still recommending completion to Monmouth as the means of resolving the company's financial embarrassment. The company continued in a chaotic fashion, with many immediate bills being paid by directors personally. On 23 August 1897 the line between Dorstone and Hay was closed because of the unsafe condition of the track. In 1894 the directors had offered to sell

1095-435: A short sharp descent from Pontrilas, the line to Dorstone climbed all the way, steepening to 1 in 111 at Dorstone. After that there was a further climb of nearly a mile at 1 in 75. From then the line descended at varying gradients, at a ruling gradient of 1 in 75 except for a very short rise near Clifford. Pontrilas Pontrilas ( English: Bridge over Three Rivers ) is a village in south Herefordshire , England, half

1168-411: A suit against the directors on the grounds that the 1886 prospectus for preference shares was misleading, in that it claimed that shares had been fully paid up, when in fact they had been allocated to Chambers free as if they were fully paid up. Miss Brown's case was confirmed and it seemed likely that other similar suits would quickly follow. The debenture holders held a meeting with the directors and it

1241-590: A through route were in doubt if the railways were not to link up. The Golden Valley Railway (Extension to Hay) Act 1877 ( 40 & 41 Vict. c. clxxvii) was passed in August 1877; additional capital of £72,000 was authorised. The work of construction proceeded, but the Company quickly overspent its available funds, and the Hay extension was not started. Debenture loans were taken out at 6%; this proved an expensive way of funding

1314-567: Is currently closed but has the potential to be re-opened with services calling for passengers on the Welsh Marches Line . 51°56′34″N 2°52′48″W  /  51.94271°N 2.88009°W  / 51.94271; -2.88009 Board of Trade The board was first established as a temporary committee of England's Privy Council to advise on colonial ( plantation ) questions in the early 17th century, when these settlements were initially forming. The board would evolve gradually into

1387-560: The American War of Independence , both the board and the short-lived secretaryship were dismissed by the king on 2 May 1782 and the board was abolished later by the Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 ( 22 Geo. 3 . c. 82). Following the Treaty of Paris 1783 , with the continuing need to regulate trade between its remaining colonies, the independent United States and all other countries,

1460-588: The American plantations and elsewhere. Staff appointed to serve the board in 1696 included a secretary, a deputy secretary, some clerks, office keepers, messengers, and a necessary woman; more staff such as a solicitor and a porter were added later. The Lords Commissioners of Trade and Foreign Plantations , commonly known as the Lords of Trade, did not constitute a committee of the Privy Council, but were, in fact, members of

1533-548: The English colonies , depending on the internal demographics and political and religious division of each. Between 1643 and 1648 the Long Parliament would establish a parliamentary Commission for Plantations to take the lead in colonial and commercial affairs. This period also saw the first regulation of royal tonnage and poundage and begin the modernization of customs and excise as growing sources of government revenue. During

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1606-533: The Interregnum and Commonwealth three acts of the Rump Parliament in 1650 and 1651 are notable in the historical development of England's commercial and colonial programs. These include the first Commission of Trade to be established by an Act of Parliament on 1 August 1650. The instructions to the named commissioners, headed by Henry Vane the Younger , included consideration of both domestic and foreign trade,

1679-647: The Mines Eight Hours Bill , which legally prohibited miners from working more than an eight-hour day . Sydney Buxton served as president between 1910 and 1914. His main role was passage of numerous specific trade and commerce laws. From 1973, international trade policy of the United Kingdom was a competence of the European Economic Community , and later of the European Union . The board

1752-509: The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was established. Between 1768 and 1782 while with the Secretary of State for the Colonies , whose secretaryship was held jointly with the presidency of the Board of Trade, the latter position remained largely vacant; this led to a diminished status of the board and it became an adjunct to the new department and ministry concerns. Following the loss of

1825-659: The Board of Trade was transferred to the Secretary of State for International Trade . The board was reconstituted in October 2017. In 1622, at the end of the Dutch Twelve Years' Truce , King James I directed the Privy Council of England to establish a temporary committee to investigate the causes of various economic and supply problems, the decline in trade and consequent financial difficulties; detailed instructions and questions were given, with answers to be given "as fast as

1898-451: The GWR station. Authorised capital was to be £60,000. A tender for construction of the line in the amount of £41,964 was accepted from Scott and Edwards, at the first board meeting on 9 August 1876. The first sod was cut on 31 August 1876. Commercial interests in Hay were dismayed that Dorstone was to be the terminus of the line; Hay, they argued, had always been the market centre for Dorstone. At

1971-414: The Golden Valley's own indebtedness. In fact the money was not paid, and the GWR had to wait until 1888 for it. Green-Price now concentrated on raising money for the extension to Hay. This was done by a series of artful prospectuses and other devices intended to mislead the unwary; in addition the directors continued to fund the company by, for example, purchasing shares at a discount and giving them back to

2044-535: The Great Western Board on 6 August 1885; by that time the company owed the GWR £1,318. He promised that he and Robinson would liquidate the portion of the debt guaranteed by them within three months if the Great Western allowed the Golden Valley trains to continue to run into Pontrilas. Evidently the GWR had threatened refusal of that facility; moreover it was the personal guarantees that would be liquidated, not

2117-562: The Liberal Party slowly fell away. According to Martin Roberts, Lloyd George headed a department of 750 experts that was responsible for supervising British industry, commerce and transportation. Using their pool of expertise, he initiated a series of reforms that were quickly endorsed by the Liberal Parliament. One of the first actions was the Census of Production Act 1906 , which generated

2190-565: The Oldbury Carriage Company. By November 1882 the Oldbury company was suing for payment, which evidently the Golden Valley had not made. In 1885 the issue must have been dragging on, for the company offered to sell the carriages back to the Oldbury company, and to give debentures, that is, promises only, for the sums owing. The Golden Valley never owned goods rolling stock, except a brake van. The Great Western Railway had not been receiving

2263-537: The UK and its empire . During the second half of the 19th century it also dealt with legislation for patents, designs and trademarks, company regulation, labour and factories, merchant shipping, agriculture, transport, power etc. Colonial matters passed to the Colonial Office and other functions were devolved to newly created departments, a process that continued for much of the 20th century. The original commission comprised

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2336-478: The capital would be £189,000. An ambitious train service was attempted from the outset but this was soon reduced, and four round trips by mixed trains took place with two short workings. In 1890 the company's income was inadequate to pay the wages of the staff on a number of occasions. The company was taking £2 6s per mile in 1888 and the prospectus for the Monmouth extension was ambitious in disregard of that reality:

2409-593: The charges due to it for engine power, and on 20 October 1883 it withdrew its engine. For some weeks no trains ran on the line, but a group of shareholders purchased a second hand engine from the London and North Western Railway for £700 and hired it to the company for £52 10s a half year; the company now provided its own driver and fireman. Clearly the line was not paying; for the first full half year (January to June 1882) receipts were £667 11s 7d and operational expenses including engine hire were £857 12s 3d. Obviously no surplus

2482-540: The company to re-issue. The contractor Chambers took a considerable proportion of his fees in shares and debentures, in effect financing the work himself. Arrangements were agreed with the Midland Railway to use their Hay station and to form a connecting junction there, and Dorstone station had to be made suitable for crossing trains there. Colonel Rich of the Board of Trade inspected the extension on 9 December 1888 for passenger operation, but declined to authorise it as

2555-403: The company would have to pay a rental of £12,600 annually to the extension: the accounts for the extension and the existing component of the company were to be kept separate. Many investors subscribed for shares in the Monmouth extension, apparently in ignorance of the real financial situation. The extraordinary effrontery of the share offer suffered an unexpected reverse when a Miss Brown brought

2628-527: The first definitive expression of England's commercial policy. They represent the first attempt to establish a legitimate control of commercial and colonial affairs, and the instructions indicate the beginnings of a policy which had the prosperity and wealth of England exclusively at heart. It was the Lords of Trade who, in 1675, originated the idea of transforming all of the colonies in America into Royal Colonies for

2701-461: The first section were at Abbeydore , Vowchurch , Peterchurch and Dorstone , and trains stopped at the level crossing at Bacton Road. When the line was extended to Hay, stations were at Westbrook, Green's Siding and Clifford, ending at the Midland station at Hay. Dorstone was the only crossing place on the single line, although after some time it became unusual to cross trains there and the whole line

2774-458: The idea of an unemployment insurance scheme, which would be part-funded by the state. Secondly he introduced the Trade Boards Bill , creating trade boards which investigated the sweated trades and enabled the prosecution of exploitative employers. Passing with a large majority, it established the principle of a minimum wage and the right of workers to have meal breaks. Churchill introduced

2847-403: The line as well as a short working; the GWR scrapped the locomotives and rolling stock of the Golden Valley and installed their own equipment. The line continued uneventfully under the GWR, and accounts appear to indicate that the operation was profitable. After World War I improved road services competed effectively against the railway and during World War II the decision was taken to close

2920-498: The line to the GWR for £30,000; in the following year an offer of £20,000 was refused. In 1897 this was again reduced, to £10,000. In the 1898 session of Parliament, a bill was entered to approve the sale, but due to technical objections it failed. On 20 April 1898 the line was closed. A purchase by the GWR was agreed in December 1898 for the sum of £9,000 as well as £2,000 to the contractor Chambers in settlement of money owed to him. This

2993-403: The line was worked by the company itself with an engine hired from the Great Western Railway. £67,083 had been expended so far, and directors gave personal guarantees to the GWR regarding payment of the locomotive hire charges. There were three round trips daily, with an extra trip for a time on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Discussions with the GWR about working the line had taken place; it

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3066-443: The line, taking all the receipts and liabilities for a period, and then taking 90% of receipts. As the company was certainly heavily indebted and loss-making, this was not unreasonable, but Green-Price, as a dominant shareholder, urged rejection of the deal, promising that completion to Hay and reconditioning of the existing track would enable the line to "form part of the shortest route between Bristol and Mid Wales and North Wales; such

3139-422: The line. The Golden Valley was being somewhat aggressive in its approach while trying to coerce the GWR to take on a commercially challenging task. By 1884 the GWR agreed to work the line, taking the whole of the meagre income if the Golden Valley would bring the permanent way into fair condition. This would incur expenditure of moneys that the Golden Valley did not have. The GWR advanced further and undertook to work

3212-471: The long term, his most important innovation was creating the Port of London Authority in 1908. It merged numerous inefficient and overlapping private companies and gave unified supervision to Britain's most important port. That enabled London to compete more effectively with Hamburg and Rotterdam. Lloyd George also turned his attention to strikes and industrial disputes in shipyards. He was instrumental in settling

3285-611: The name of a terrace of houses in the modern day village. The name Pontrilas originally only belonged to the manor house Pontrilas Court , once one of the homes of the Baskerville family, which sits beside the bridge over the River Dore, near where it meets the Dulas brook and another smaller stream. From 1750 the hamlet was also marked as Pontrilas on maps. The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway line came to Pontrilas in 1854. The line

3358-401: The new Liberal Cabinet of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as President of the Board of Trade . The first priority on taking office was the repeal of the 1902 Education Act. Lloyd George took the lead along with Augustine Birrell , President of the Board of Education. Lloyd George was the dominant figure on the committee drawing up the bill in its later stages and insisted that the bill create

3431-412: The passenger service; this was done on 15 December 1941. A Ministry of Supply depot was opened at Elm Park, between Pontrilas and Abbeydore, about the same time. The Hay extension beyond Dorstone was closed completely on 1 January 1950; this was followed by total closure between Abbeydore and Dorstone, which closed on 2 February 1953. The Pontrilas to Abbeydore section closed on 3 June 1957. Apart from

3504-464: The president, vice president and board members. By 1793, the board still remained in its old structure, with 20 members including the Archbishop of Canterbury . After 1820 the board ceased to meet regularly and the business was carried out entirely by the secretariat. The short name of "Board of Trade" was formalised in 1861. In the 19th century the board had an advisory function on economic activity in

3577-423: The purpose of re-sleepering the track, though a goods train was worked four days a week. The line was re-opened on 19 August. C. L. Mowat is sceptical about the real purpose of the line closure: "The real reason seems to have been the wish to substitute a train belonging to the Company for that hired from the Great Western, but it is not clear what coaches were used when the line was reopened." Green-Price attended

3650-791: The purpose of securing English trade against the French. They brought New Hampshire under the Crown, modified Penn's charter, refused a charter to the Plymouth colony, and taking advantage of the concessions of the charters of Massachusetts and New York, created the Dominion of New England in 1685, thereby transforming all the territory from the Kennebec to the Delaware into a single crown colony. In 1696, King William III appointed eight paid commissioners to promote trade in

3723-476: The serious threat of a national railway strike in 1907. While almost all the rail companies refused to recognise the unions, he persuaded them to recognise elected representatives of the workers who sat with the company representatives on conciliation boards—one for each company. If those boards failed to agree then an arbitrator would be called upon. H. H. Asquith succeeded the terminally ill prime minister on 8 April 1908 and, four days later, Winston Churchill

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3796-442: The seven (later eight) Great Officers of State , who were not required to attend meetings, and the eight paid members, who were required to attend. The board, so constituted, had little real power, and matters related to trade and the colonies were usually within the jurisdiction of the secretaries of state and the Privy Council, with the board confining itself mainly to colonial administration. In 1905, David Lloyd George entered

3869-478: The several points shall be duly considered by you." This would be followed by a number of temporary committees and councils to regulate the colonies and their commerce. The board's formal title remains "The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations". In 1634, Charles I appointed a new commission for regulating plantations. It

3942-582: The trackbed was not well consolidated and the recent heavy rains had affected it badly. Rich made a second visit three months later and found the line not much improved, and the sought-for approval was still withheld. In order to generate some revenue, the company opened the line to goods traffic (which did not require Board of Trade approval) on 21 April 1889, and Rich approved the line on his third visit on 15 May. The Hay extension line opened for passenger business on 27 May 1889. The capital expended in building 18 miles of railway had been £336,000. The stations on

4015-458: The trading companies, manufactures, free ports, customs, excise, statistics, coinage and exchange, and fisheries, as well as the plantations and the best means of promoting their welfare and rendering them useful to England. The act's statesmanlike and comprehensive instructions, along with an October act prohibiting trade with pro-royalist colonies and the Navigation Act of October 1651, formed

4088-431: The west of the village. The neighbouring villages include; Ewyas Harold , Llangua , Dulas , Wormbridge , Kilpeck , Bagwyllydiart , Abbey Dore and Howton . There has been a settlement in the area since at least 1086 when the hamlet was called Elwistone, possibly originating from the Welsh names Elwin or Helys. Over the centuries there have been several variations of name e.g. Ailstone and Heliston. The latter being

4161-548: The work. The Board had been confident of being able to open the Dorstone section on 1 August 1880, but this was quickly seen to be impossible as the construction work was inadequate. Some directors made personal payments to enable continuation of the construction work. At length on 4 August 1881 Colonel Rich of the Board of Trade inspected the line for passenger operation and approved it. The line opened as far as Dorstone on 1 September 1881;

4234-515: Was a commonplace arrangement for a larger company to work small local lines, but the Golden Valley Company had refused to accept the terms the GWR offered. The Golden Valley trains used a bay platform at Pontrilas, but a through running junction was installed, and general improvements to Pontrilas station costing £4,054 were made, a proportion of that cost falling to the Golden Valley company. The company had acquired two passenger coaches from

4307-516: Was appointed President of the Board of Trade, succeeding Lloyd George who became Chancellor of the Exchequer . He continued the reform impulse Lloyd George had launched. One of Churchill's first tasks was to arbitrate in an industrial dispute among ship-workers and employers on the River Tyne . He afterwards established a Standing Court of Arbitration to deal with future industrial disputes, establishing

4380-599: Was authorised. It agreed a purchase of the Hay Railway in order to convert it to an edge railway with locomotive traction. The proposal was ratified by the Hay Railway Act 1860 ( 23 & 24 Vict. c. clxxix) of 6 August 1860. The HH&BR opened its line to Hay in 1864. The HH&BR was later taken over by the Midland Railway . In 1875 a body of opinion locally held that a railway to Hay from Pontrilas, or thereabouts,

4453-401: Was available for interest on debentures. In 1884 a new bill was submitted proposing the extension to Hay. This time a different route was planned, which would join the Midland Railway there and use its station. The act of Parliament was passed and it gave authority for an additional £45,000 of share capital. At the same time a running skirmish was being pursued with the GWR over the working of

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4526-582: Was connected to the canal network in 1816 when the Hay Railway opened. It was a 3 ft 6 in gauge plateway , reliant on horse traction. It ran to Watton, where there was a wharf on the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal . Although this considerably improved communications to and from Hay, the advance of railway technology eventually left the Hay Railway behind, and in 1859 the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway (HH&BR)

4599-402: Was feasible. Richard Dansey Green-Price was prominent in furthering the scheme, and although there were some who were sceptical, he managed to get significant local support. At public meetings optimistic assertions about traffic receipts were made, and the line would, it was claimed, be extended to Monmouth and become the focus of local commerce. Construction of the line was evidently viable, and

4672-696: Was headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury with its primary goals to increase royal authority and the influence of the Church of England in the colonies, particularly with the great influx of Puritans to the New World. Soon after, the English Civil Wars erupted and initiated a long period of political instability in England and the resultant loss of productivity for these committees. The war would spread to varying degrees to

4745-458: Was made obvious that the company could not simply carry on regardless: the Monmouth extension had to be abandoned forthwith. However the crisis was averted so far as the existing line was concerned, when in 1891 a financial reconstruction was implemented and ratified by act of Parliament, which declared that all the debentures were validly issued. But early in 1891 several directors had resigned, including Green-Price, although he nevertheless came to

4818-518: Was merged with the Ministry of Technology in 1970, to form the Department of Trade and Industry . The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (from 2009 Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills ) was also President of the Board of Trade. The full board has met only once since the mid-20th century, during commemorations of the bicentenary of the board in 1986. In 2016, the role of President of

4891-573: Was only officially adopted by an act of 1861. The new board's first functions were consultative like earlier iterations, and its concern with plantations, in matters such as the approval of colonial laws, more successfully accomplished. As the Industrial Revolution expanded, the board's work became increasingly executive and domestic. From the 1840s, a succession of acts of parliament gave it regulatory duties, notably concerning railways, merchant shipping and joint-stock companies. This department

4964-437: Was possible to draw such a route on a map, and ignore the difficulty of the tortuous curves and steep gradients on the single line of the Golden Valley, and the superior alignments of competing lines. A bill for the Monmouth extension failed in the 1888 session of Parliament, but in 1889 a further attempt was made, and on 26 August 1889 the act of Parliament was passed. A railway from Pontrilas to Monmouth, May Hill, could be built;

5037-434: Was ratified by an act of Parliament of 1899, and was effective from 1 July 1899. The issued capital of the company was £334,786. On revenue account £57,906 was owed as arrears of debenture interest and £18,581 was owed to other creditors. On taking over, the Great Western Railway spent £15,000 in relaying the track and reconditioning the line in other ways, and reopened the railway on 1 May 1901. There were three round trips on

5110-551: Was reconstituted in October 2017, after the UK had voted to leave the European Union in June 2016. In its most recent iteration in 2017, only privy counsellors can be actual members of the board, while others are appointed as advisers. There is only one standing member in the Board, who is its President. The Board is held accountable to Parliament through ministers attached to the Board, who are not necessarily members. Advisers to

5183-615: Was sponsored by the London North Western Railway and merger with other lines took place in 1860 with the West Midland Railway which itself was taken over to eventually result in the Great Western Railway (GWR) running the line from 1863. A local company constructed the Golden Valley Railway line in 1881 and the hamlet grew in importance. However the line was not a financial success and it closed in 1898. It

5256-594: Was subsequently purchased and reopened in 1901 by the GWR. The village had a cattle market and a pub, The Pontrilas Inn built by the Scudamore family, who still own much land in the area. The pub was burned down in the 1970s. There was also a chemical factory owned by Wrekin Chemical Company beside the main railway line to the north of the village. Since the closing of the station in 1958 the village has declined in importance, though it does still boast an auction room and

5329-462: Was worked as a single section. Four engines were in use from 1889, all of them obtained second hand by Chambers, the contractor. During the building of the Hay extension, Green-Price was already planning a further extension to Monmouth. He and other directors were convinced that this would be the salvation of the company by becoming part of a through route from Bristol to the North West of England. It

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