115-651: The Severn Tunnel ( Welsh : Twnnel Hafren ) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn . It was constructed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) between 1873 and 1886 for the purpose of dramatically shortening the journey times of their trains, passenger and goods alike, between South Wales and Western England. It has often been regarded as
230-399: A Watt engine, steam is admitted throughout the piston's power stroke. At the end of the stroke, the steam is exhausted, and any remaining energy is wasted in the condenser, where the steam is cooled back to water. In a Cornish engine, by contrast, the intake valve is shut off midway through the power stroke, allowing the steam already in that part of the cylinder to expand through the rest of
345-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
460-586: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
575-647: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
690-403: A duty of nearly 50 million, but its efficiency then fell back. A test was carried out between a Trevithick type single-cylinder engine and a Woolf compound engine at Wheal Alfred in 1825, when both achieved a duty of slightly more than 40 million. The next improvement was achieved in the late 1820s by Samuel Grose , who decreased the heat loss by insulating the pipes, cylinders, and boilers of
805-563: A few vehicles were transported through the tunnel on an informal basis. On 7 April 1909 the Great Western Railway started a formal service for the conveyance of motor cars through the tunnel. The vehicles were drained of petrol before being loaded, and refuelled at the destination. In the first year more than 300 cars were carried. The service was suspended for a time during the First World War but restarted in 1921. The charge in 1921
920-539: A group of latter-built GWR 5101 Class 2-6-2T locomotives, the bulk of which now form the core preserved stock of that class today. A number of fixed Cornish engines , powered by Lancashire boilers , were used to permanently pump out the Great Spring and other sources of water from the tunnel. These were still in regular use until the 1960s, at which point they were replaced by electrically powered pumps. These pumps and their control systems have since been replaced during
1035-456: A key element of the main trunk railway line between southern England and South Wales. Amongst other services, the GWR operated a car shuttle train service through the tunnel for many decades. However, the tunnel has also presented especially difficult conditions, both operationally and in terms of infrastructure and structural maintenance. On average, around 50 million litres of water per day infiltrates
1150-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
1265-534: A single pump. The engine was restored to working order between 1985 and 2000, although it is now operated by an oil-filled hydraulic system, since restoration to steam operation was not viable. The Cornish Engines Preservation Committee , an early industrial archaeology organisation, was formed in 1935 to preserve the Levant winding engine . The committee was later renamed for Richard Trevithick . They acquired another winding engine and two pumping engines. They publish
SECTION 10
#17328451095731380-515: A sub-atmospheric pressure engine. In a parallel development Arthur Woolf developed the compound steam engine , in which the steam expanded in two cylinders successively, each of which were at pressures above atmospheric. When Trevithick left for South America in 1816 he passed his patent right of his latest invention to William Sims , who built or adapted a number of engines, including one at Wheal Chance operating at 40 pounds per square inch (280 kPa) above atmospheric pressure , which achieved
1495-995: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave
1610-586: Is a type of steam engine developed in Cornwall , England, mainly for pumping water from a mine. It is a form of beam engine that uses steam at a higher pressure than the earlier engines designed by James Watt . The engines were also used for powering man engines to assist the underground miners' journeys to and from their working levels, for winching materials into and out of the mine, and for powering on-site ore stamping machinery . Cornwall has long had tin , copper and other metal ore mines, but if mining
1725-553: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Cornish engine A Cornish engine
1840-667: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to
1955-505: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
2070-577: Is the last Cornish engine to have worked commercially in Cornwall. It was moved to Poldark in 1972. The Cruquius pumping station in the Netherlands contains a Cornish engine with the largest diameter cylinder ever built for a Cornish engine, at 3.5 metres (140 inches) diameter. The engine, which was built by Harvey & Co in Hayle , Cornwall, has eight beams connected to the one cylinder , each beam driving
2185-400: Is to take place at greater depths, a means to dewater the mine must be found. Lifting the weight of water up from the depths requires great amounts of work input. This energy may be weakly supplied by horse power or a waterwheel to operate pumps, but horses have limited power and waterwheels need a suitable stream of water. Accordingly, the innovation of coal-fired steam power to work pumps
2300-704: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows
2415-494: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
SECTION 20
#17328451095732530-461: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
2645-551: The Cornish Mines and Engines museum on the site of East Pool mine near the town of Pool, Cornwall . Another example is at Poldark Mine at Trenear, Cornwall – a Harvey of Hayle Cornish Beam Engine from about 1840–1850, originally employed at Bunny Tin Mine and later at Greensplat China Clay Pit, both near St Austell. It no longer works as a steam engine but is instead moved by a hydraulic mechanism. In use at Greensplat until 1959, it
2760-525: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
2875-401: The Great Western Railway (GWR) Company soon realised that the rail journey time between the two locations could be significantly shortened by construction of a tunnel directly underneath the River Severn . As such, during the early 1870s, GWR's chief engineer, Sir John Hawkshaw , developed his design for this tunnel. On 27 June 1872, the company obtained an Act of Parliament which authorised
2990-534: The Pennant Measures . The rate of early work on the tunnel was slow and gradual, but without major incident. By August 1877, only the shaft and a 0.93 miles (1.5 km) heading had been completed; accordingly, that same year, new contracts were issued for the digging of additional shafts at both sides of the Severn as well as new headings along the tunnel's intended route. As the civil engineer Thomas A. Walker , who
3105-727: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and
3220-463: The Severn Tunnel rail accident occurred, involving an InterCity 125 that was struck from behind by a Class 155 . The subsequent accident investigation, while unable to reach a firm conclusion on the cause, indicated that the axle counters used for detecting train movements in the tunnel may have been accidentally reset. The Second Severn Crossing , which was built during the 1990s, crosses over
3335-618: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
3450-573: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
3565-589: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
Severn Tunnel - Misplaced Pages Continue
3680-516: The 1990s by privately owned railway infrastructure company Railtrack . During the 1930s, the availability of the reliable fresh water supply from the Great Spring was a significant contributing factor in favour of the selection of an adjacent site to be established as the Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent . Water was also supplied for paper manufacture to a mill at Sudbrook; this facility has since been closed. On 7 December 1991,
3795-522: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
3910-481: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
4025-539: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
4140-567: The Severn Tunnel was completed from a structural standing. To mark this accomplishment, on 5 September 1885, a special passenger train carrying numerous company officials and VIPs , including Sir Daniel Gooch , the then-chairman of the GWR Company, travelled through the tunnel. The first goods train passed through it on 9 January 1886. However, regular services would have to wait until the permanent pumping systems were complete. On 17 November 1886,
4255-489: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
4370-673: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
4485-584: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of
4600-515: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
4715-481: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
Severn Tunnel - Misplaced Pages Continue
4830-606: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
4945-425: The associated locomotive shed at Severn Tunnel Junction (86E), had a large number of pilot and banking locomotives to assist heavy trains through the tunnel. Under typical operations, pilot locomotives usually worked eastwards and were detached at Pilning, and would then work westwards piloting a second train back to the marshalling yard. During the latter days of steam under British Rail , these locomotives were mainly
5060-486: The atmosphere. This differed from the Watt steam engine, which moved the condensing steam from the cylinder to a condenser separate from the cylinder; hence Watt's engine depended on the creation of a vacuum when the steam was condensed. Trevithick's later engines (in the 1810s) combined the two principles, starting with high-pressure steam which was then passed to the other side of the piston, where it condensed and there it acted as
5175-416: The boiler pressure would have made an engine more powerful without increasing its efficiency. The key advance was allowing the steam to expand in the cylinder. While James Watt had conceived of the idea of allowing expansive working of steam—and included it in his 1782 patent, he realized that the low steam pressure of his application made the improvement in efficiency negligible, and so did not pursue it. In
5290-456: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
5405-399: The completion of this work, which involved the installation of 8.7 miles (14 km) of copper contact wires using 1,700 vertical drop tubes and 857 anchoring points at a rough cost of £10 million to perform, the tunnel was reopened to regular traffic on 22 October 2016. However, less than two years later, another three-week closure of the tunnel was enacted after it was discovered that some of
5520-406: The construction of the envisioned railway tunnel as a replacement for the ferry between Portskewett , Monmouthshire and New Passage , Gloucestershire. On 18 March 1873, construction activity commenced using labourers employed directly by the GWR; this initial work was focused on the sinking of a shaft, possessing a diameter of 15 feet (4.6 m) at Sudbrook and a smaller drainage heading near
5635-402: The continuous brickwork lining of the tunnel would withstand the groundwater pressure, thus the drainage sluice valve on the side heading was closed and all but one of the pumps were taken from the site. However, on 20 December 1885, the pressure rose so high (up to 395 kN per sq m) that a number of bricks were discovered to have been pushed out of the lining. To address this, the sluice valve
5750-472: The corrosive atmosphere of the tunnel, produced from a combination of moisture and diesel fumes from passing trains, results in so much corrosion that the steel rails need to be replaced every six years. Prior to the building of the tunnel, the railway journey between the Bristol area and South Wales involved a ferry journey between New Passage and Portskewett or a long detour via Gloucester . Officials within
5865-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
SECTION 50
#17328451095735980-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of
6095-577: The crowning achievement of GWR's chief engineer Sir John Hawkshaw . Prior to the tunnel's construction, lengthy detours were necessary for all traffic between South Wales and Western England, which either used ship or a lengthy diversion upriver via Gloucester . Recognising the value of such a tunnel, the GWR sought its development, tasking Hawkshaw with its design and later contracting the civil engineer Thomas A. Walker to undertake its construction, which commenced in March 1873. Work proceeded smoothly until October 1879, at which point significant flooding of
6210-422: The cycle, completely pausing at one point while having rapid motion on the down stroke, making it unsuitable for rotary motion and most industrial applications. This also requires some unusual valve gear , see Cornish engine valve gear . The Cornish cycle operates as follows. Starting from a condition during operation with the piston at the top of the cylinder, the cylinder below the piston full of steam from
6325-470: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
6440-425: The double tracks throughout the tunnel. On 18 April 1885, the final brick was placed in the tunnel's lining. It possessed a horseshoe-shaped cross-section, complete with a concave floor, having a height of 6.1 meters above the rails along with a maximum width of 26 feet (7.9 m). An enclosed drainage channel, in the form of an upturned semi-circular tunnel, is built onto the tunnel invert, 4.6 feet (1.4 m) below
6555-441: The engines, improving the duty to more than 60 million at Wheal Hope and later to almost 80 million at Wheal Towan . Nevertheless, the best duty was usually a short-lived achievement due to general deterioration of machinery, leaks from boilers, and the deterioration of boiler plates (meaning that pressure had to be reduced). Minor improvements increased the duty somewhat, but the engine seems to have reached its practical limits by
6670-438: The event of derailment of a tank wagon means special arrangements have to be made to prevent occupation of the tunnel by passenger trains while hazardous liquid loads are being worked through. Evacuation arrangements are in place to enable the escape of passengers and staff in the event of serious accident in the tunnel. There is restricted personnel access to the tunnel at Sudbrook Pumping Station, where an iron ladder descends in
6785-420: The fissure through which the Great Spring flowed. By diverting the water into the new heading, the walled-in section of the tunnel could be more easily drained and finished. There were additional mishaps which afflicted the construction site; at one point, there was an unintentional breakthrough of the bed of a pool, known as the "Salmon Pool", on the English side of the tunnel. It had been originally assumed that
6900-485: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
7015-463: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
SECTION 60
#17328451095737130-469: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
7245-451: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period
7360-459: The improvement of the steam engine came from Cornwall due to the high price of coal there, but both capital and maintenance costs were higher than a Watt steam engine. This long delayed the installation of Cornish engines outside Cornwall. A secondhand Cornish engine was installed at East London Waterworks in 1838, and compared to a Watt engine with favourable results, because the price of coal in London
7475-429: The installation of greatly-increased pumping facilities, while a diver also had to be sent down a shaft and 330 yards (300 m) along the tunnel heading to close a watertight door in the workings, sealing off the waters. During November 1880, this troublesome task was finally achieved by the lead diver, Alexander Lambert, who was equipped with Henry Fleuss ' newly developed self-contained rebreather apparatus, avoiding
7590-587: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for
7705-496: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
7820-546: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )
7935-521: The largest collection of Cornish engines in the world. At Crofton Pumping Station , in Wiltshire are two Cornish engines, one of which (the 1812 Boulton and Watt ) is the "oldest working beam engine in the world still in its original engine house and capable of actually doing the job for which it was installed", that of pumping water to the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal . Two examples also survive at
8050-410: The mid-1840s. With pressures of up to 50 pounds per square inch (340 kPa), the forces are likely to have caused machinery breakages. The same improvements in duty occurred in engines operating Cornish stamps and whims , but generally came slightly later. In both cases the best duty was lower than for pumping engines, particularly so for whim engines, whose work was discontinuous. The impetus for
8165-498: The mine owners a royalty based on a share of the fuel saving. The fuel efficiency of an engine was measured by its "duty", expressed in the work (in foot-pounds ) generated by a bushel (94 pounds (43 kg)) of coal. Early Watt engines had a duty of 20 million, and later ones over 30 million. The principal advantage of the Cornish engine was its increased efficiency, accomplished by making more economical use of higher-pressure steam. At
8280-610: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
8395-445: The need for the trailing hose of standard diving dress . However, work in the area of the Great Spring was unable to continue until January 1881, at which point the Great Spring was temporarily sealed off. On 26 September 1881, the two headings met, marking a key milestone in the tunnel's construction, efforts transferred to addressing the tunnel's final structure along with the long deep cuttings at either end. During October 1883, work
8510-581: The newly built Severn Tunnel Junction station, the GWR built a major marshalling yard , which: distributed east and north, sending coal from the South Wales Valleys towards London and the Midlands; created mainline and localised mixed-traffic freight from goods shipped in from the Midlands, the Southwest and along the Thames Valley, both westwards into Wales and vice versa. Due to the access gradients, throughout
8625-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,
8740-434: The overhead electrification equipment, a six-week closure of the Severn Tunnel was necessary, which commenced on 12 September 2016. During that time, alternative means of travel were either a longer train journey via Gloucester, or a bus service between Severn Tunnel Junction and Bristol Parkway stations. Also during that time, and until late 2017, there were direct flights between Cardiff and London City Airport . Following
8855-464: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
8970-534: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,
9085-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase
9200-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
9315-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
9430-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
9545-401: The previous stroke, the boiler at normal working pressure, and the condenser at normal working vacuum, The next stroke may occur immediately, or it may be delayed by a timing device such as a cataract , if it was not necessary for the engine to work at its maximum rate, reducing the rate of operation saved fuel. The engine is single-acting , and the steam piston is pulled up by the weight of
9660-417: The pump piston and rodding. Steam may be supplied at a pressure of up to 50 pounds per square inch (340 kPa). Real photos showing the components of the schematic design ( East Pool mine Tailer's shaft Harvey's Engine): The Cornish engine depended on the use of steam pressure above atmospheric pressure, as devised by Richard Trevithick in the 19th century. His early puffer engines discharged steam into
9775-424: The rails and having a height of 21.0 inches (533 mm). According to Railway Industry publication Rail Engineer, it is believed that around 76.4 million bricks were used in the tunnel's construction. The brickwork is between 27.0 inches (686 mm) and 36.0 inches (914 mm) thick. Around the deepest part of the tunnel, the roof is only a maximum of 50 feet (15.2 m) beneath the river bed. During mid-1885,
9890-575: The recently installed overhead electrification equipment had already started to rust . To combat corrosion, aluminium wire was used, the first of its type in the United Kingdom. Electric trains began operating through the tunnel in June 2020. 51°34′30″N 2°41′20″W / 51.575°N 2.6889°W / 51.575; -2.6889 ( Severn Tunnel - nominal location ) Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )
10005-409: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
10120-522: The river. It was the longest underwater tunnel in the world until 1987 — when Japan’s Seikan Tunnel linking the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido took the title — and, for more than 100 years, it was the longest mainline railway tunnel within the UK. It was finally exceeded in this capacity during 2007 with the opening of the two major tunnels of High Speed 1 , forming a part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link . In 2016, overhead line equipment (OHLE)
10235-464: The shaft of the water pumping main; the ventilation air is pumped in at this point also. The GWR original ventilation arrangement was to extract air at Sudbrook, but the exhaust gases from steam train operation led to premature corrosion of the fan mechanism. When the Cornish pumping engines were replaced in the 1960s, the draughting was reversed so that atmospheric air is pumped into the tunnel exhausting at
10350-627: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in
10465-413: The shorter Gloucestershire heading, the workings were inundated. The incoming water was fresh, not from the Severn but from the Welsh side, and the source became known as "The Great Spring". Walker was entrusted by Hawkshaw to proceed with efforts to rescue and then complete the tunnel following the 1879 flooding. To achieve this required holding the Great Spring in check, which in turn was accomplished via
10580-436: The steam era, assistance was required for the passage of all heavy trains through the Severn Tunnel, which entailed (eastwards, from Severn Tunnel Junction ): 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (5.6 km) of 1-in-90 down to the middle of the tunnel; a further 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (5.6 km) at 1-in-100 up to Pilning ; a short level then 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (5.6 km) more at 1-in-100 to Patchway . This meant that
10695-518: The stroke to a lower pressure. This results in the capture of a greater proportion of its energy, and less heat being lost to the condenser, than in a Watt engine. Other characteristics include insulation of steam lines and the cylinder, and steam jacketing the cylinder, both of which had previously been used by Watt. Few Cornish engines remain in their original locations, the majority having been scrapped when their related industrial firm closed. The Cornish engine developed irregular power throughout
10810-411: The time, improvements in efficiency were important in Cornwall because of the high cost of coal; there are no coal fields in Cornwall and all the coal used had to be brought in from outside the county. Increasing the boiler pressure above the very low, virtually atmospheric pressure steam used by James Watt was an essential element of the improvement in efficiency of the Cornish engine. Simply increasing
10925-436: The tunnel mouths. On average, it has been determined that around 11,000,000 imperial gallons (50,000,000 L) per day of fresh (spring) water are typically being pumped from the tunnel; this is normally released directly into the adjacent River Severn. Attempts have also been made to try to determine the sources of the water which feeds the "Great Spring". The especially difficult conditions for infrastructure maintenance in
11040-415: The tunnel occurred from what is now known as “The Great Spring”. Through strenuous and innovative efforts, the flooding was contained and work was able to continue, albeit with a great emphasis on drainage. Structurally completed during 1885, the first passenger train was run through the tunnel on 1 December 1886, nearly 14 years after the commencement of work. Following its opening, the tunnel quickly formed
11155-562: The tunnel via a "ground level bridge" on the English side, near the Salmon Pool. This bridge is supported in such a way that no load is imposed on the tunnel. During that bridge's construction, the opportunity was taken to renew the concrete cap above the tunnel in the Salmon Pool. In 2002, two Class 121s were overhauled by LNWR , Crewe for use as a Network Rail emergency train that was stabled near Severn Tunnel Junction station. They were removed in 2008 having never been used. Before 1909
11270-462: The tunnel works were inspected by Colonel F. H. Rich , the Government Inspector, a necessary step in advance of its opening to any passenger traffic. Colonel Rich approved the works; thus, the tunnel was opened to regular goods trains during September 1886; the first passenger train followed on 1 December 1886, by which point nearly 14 years had passed since work on the tunnel had started. At
11385-492: The tunnel, as well as the physical condition of the tunnel structure, require a higher than normal degree of maintenance attention. Access and personal safety difficulties mean that significant work tasks can only be performed during temporary line closure, during which trains are normally diverted via Gloucester . It is claimed that the tunnel would be full of water within 26 minutes if the pumps were switched off and backup measures failed, while Network Rail has also observed that
11500-433: The tunnel, necessitating the permanent operation of several large pumping engines. Originally, during much of the steam era, a large number of pilot and banking locomotives were required to assist heavy trains traverse the challenging gradients of the tunnel, which were deployed from nearby marshalling yards . The tunnel is 7,008 m (4.355 mi) long, although only 3,621 m (2.250 mi) of its length are under
11615-407: The tunnel. The whole length of the tunnel is controlled as a single signal section, which has the consequence of limiting the headway of successive trains. There is a continuous drainage culvert between the tracks to lead ground water away to the lowest point of the tunnel, under Sudbrook Pumping Station, where it is pumped to the surface. The hazard of ignited petroleum running into the culvert in
11730-518: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
11845-411: Was again disrupted by further flooding originating from the Great Spring, which was further compounded by the appearance of a spring tide only a week later; again, Lambert and other divers managed to save the day and seal the works. It was recognised that water ingress problems were to continue, thus a heading was driven at a gradient of 1 in 500 from the original Sudbrook shaft, continuing until it reached
11960-433: Was also a detracting factor in the form of the continuous seepage of water through the tunnel roof in some areas, which provided a key engineering challenge. The options of using either conventional tunnel electrification equipment or a covered solid beam technology were considered; supported by studies, it was decided to use the solid beam approach. Accordingly, along the length of the tunnel's roof, an aluminium conductor rail
12075-522: Was appointed as the contractor for the tunnel's construction, notes in his book, the GWR had expected the critical part of the work to be the tunnelling under the deep-water channel of the Shoots. However, the most substantial difficulties of the venture were encountered during October 1879, when, with only 130 yards (119 m) separating the main tunnel heading being driven from the Monmouthshire side and
12190-608: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to
12305-521: Was continued after the end of World War II , but was ultimately made redundant by the opening of the Severn Bridge in 1966, leading to its discontinuation shortly thereafter. As part of the 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line , the tunnel was prepared for electrification. While the structure provided good clearances and was therefore relatively easy to electrify, there
12420-472: Was even higher than in Cornwall. In the main textile manufacturing areas, such as Manchester and Leeds , the coal price was too low to make replacement economic. Only in the late 1830s did textile manufacturers begin moving to high-pressure engines, usually by adding a high-pressure cylinder, forming a compound engine, rather than following the usual Cornish practice. Several Cornish engines are preserved in England. The London Museum of Water & Steam has
12535-496: Was installed in the tunnel to allow the passage of electric traction; this work was undertaken as one element of the wider 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western main line . The Severn Tunnel forms a critical part of the trunk railway line between southern England and South Wales, and carries an intensive passenger train service as well as significant levels of goods traffic. As of 2012, an average of 200 trains per day use
12650-456: Was installed to hold an un-tensioned copper contact cable; this rail is held in place using roughly 7000 high-grade stainless steel fixtures, which should be resistant to the hostile tunnel environment. Reportedly, the rigid rail is more robust, requires less maintenance, and is more compact than traditional overhead wires, and has been used in several other tunnels along the GWML. In order to install
12765-527: Was more versatile and effective to the mining industry than primitive means. The mine Wheal Vor had one of the earliest Newcomen engines (in-cylinder condensing engines, utilising sub-atmospheric pressure) before 1714, but Cornwall has no coalfield and coal imported from south Wales was expensive. The cost of fuel for pumping was thus a significant part of mining costs. Later, many of the more efficient early Watt engines (using an external condenser) were erected by Boulton and Watt in Cornwall. They charged
12880-475: Was opened gradually, allowing the pressure to subside but necessitating the long-term operation of additional pumping engines. In the intervening period, the Severn Railway Bridge , a competing means for railway traffic to traverse the Severn, spanning between Sharpness and Lydney , was also being built, eventually being opened to traffic during 1879. On 22 October 1884, work commenced on the laying of
12995-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
13110-505: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern
13225-528: Was £1 8 s (equivalent to £78 in 2023) on an open truck, or £2 8 s (equivalent to £134 in 2023) in a closed truck. The car shuttle train service would transport cars on rail trucks through the tunnel between Pilning and Severn Tunnel Junction . The service functioned as a rail-based alternative to the Aust Ferry , which was operated under an erratic timetable determined by the tides , or lengthy road journeys via Gloucester. The rail shuttle service
#572427