LLANGURIG

'Llangurig' is a village in Powys, traditional county of Montgomeryshire, mid Wales, lying on the River Wye.
Llangurig is reputed to be the highest village in Wales at an altitude of 1000 feet. The A470 trunk road passes through the village as does Route 8 of the National Cycle Network.
The 15th century parish church located in the village is dedicated to Saint Curig, its reputed founder. There are also two small chapels.
The village has been home for many decades to a craft shop as well as two public houses, a number of bed and breakfasts and a small village shop and Post Office. The manor house, Clochfaen Hall, was designed by architect, William Arthur Smith Benson a designer of the Arts and Crafts movement. He also designed the drinking fountain between the road and the village green, the erection of which commemorates the completion of the village's piped water supply, a scheme begun by Colonel Lloyd-Verney to whom the fountain is also a memorial.^[1]
Llangurig has a small primary school. In January 2003 the school had only 19 pupils^[2] but fought a successful campaign against closure by the local council.^[3]
The village holds an annual agricultural show and sheepdog trials in August.

Contents

'The Railway that never was'

References

'The Railway that never was'

During the Victorian period, Llangurig nearly had a railway service. Wales' rail network was built piecemeal by many small companies, and parliament mistakenly granted acts for two lines through the same piece of terrain, linking Llanidloes to Aberystwyth - one for the 'Milford' (Haven) 'and Manchester Railway Co', the other for the 'Mid Wales Railway Co'. The M&M intended to connect the two settlements with a route across Wales, to enable industry to access the deepwater port. This resulted in the construction of much of the Carmarthen Aberystwyth Line, which had reached Tregaron at the time. The Mid Wales had running rights from Newtown to Builth, Brecon, and Cardiff.

In view of the lack of local population to sustain two routes, the railway companies concerned agreed a compromise. The M&M agreed to build a line from Llanidloes to Llangurig, where the proposed routes had terrain in common. The Mid Wales would build the route from Llangurig to Strata Florida - the M&M's railhead beyond the Pumlumon range. And the M&M would divert its engineers and build the remaining route from Strata Florida to Aberystwyth. A sharp 100 degree turn in the line existed at this point. At Llanidloes, the station was expanded by the 'Llanidloes and Newtown Railway Co' to accommodate the joint working and expected through traffic. They also built a double track section to Penbontbren Junction where the route diverged.
The new route was constructed as far as Llangurig station. However, the Mid Wales' section, to be built westward through very severe terrain, requiring 1.5 miles of tunnels and a large viaduct before reaching the next station at Cwmystwyth, was barely started before financial difficulties forced a halt to work. Some tunnel headings were dug in the mountains, and some earthworks survive west of Llangurig. However the "Llangurig branch line" was fully built, and a single goods train ran along its length, at which point the L&N invoiced the M&M for the cost of the joint station at Llanidloes. The branch service was immediately terminated, being wholly unprofitable without through traffic, and was lifted soon after. The M&M continued to pay for the cost of the joint station they could never reach, and instead became a cross country route from Carmarthen to Aberystwyth. Penbontbren Junction signal box existed and was manned until the Mid Wales line closed.

★ The Llangurig branch is noted in trivia as being the shortest lived working branch line in the UK - receiving precisely 1 train.

References

1. Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project Accessed August 14 2006
2. ESTYN Llangurig School Inspection Report January 2003 Accessed August 14 2005
3. BBC NEWS | Wales | Mid Wales | Schools vow to fight closures Accessed August 14 2006