Making fresh tracks to Tintern Abbey
By Robin Jones

After two years of behind-the-scenes negotiations with Railtrack and local councils, revivalists seeking to restore services on the mothballed remains of the Wye Valley line from Chepstow to Tintern have broken cover- and are setting up a new company to oversee the venture, backed by the Southall-based GWR Preservation Group. Robin Jones highlights their ambitions and asks if a second standard gauge line in the Forest of Dean can succeed. Two centuries ago, in the heyday of Regency Bath and Beau Brummell, the `Wye Tour involving a starkly-short hop by boat across to the other side of the River Severn, was all the rage among Britain's eminent writers, painters and fashionable well-to-do. A journey by rowing boat along this spectacularly-beautiful river from Hereford to Chepstow would take three days and would allow the passengers sufficient time to sample its many historical treasures and scenic delights. It was a pilgrimage in search of the picturesque, and among the voyagers was William Wordsworth, whose Romantic poetry, including ‘Lines Written Above Tintern Abbey’, changed the course of English literature. It is, however, with fines leading to the abbey that a new rail revival scheme is concerned.

The steep-sided meandering valley bad been from earliest times a major transport artery, and as the river silted up, rail transport took over the Wye Valley Railway which hugged its banks from Chepstow to Monmouth opening 124 years ago. Not all the valley was in Victorian times a land of untamed wilderness, the lofty crags and wooded slopes that we know and love today. For its rich mineral deposits had made the Wye's tidal reaches one of the most industrialised areas of the country, its landscape far more akin to the Black Country than to Wordsworth's Lake District. The 20th century saw the Wye Valley's nines and furnaces in rapid decline and after they closed down, nature reclaimed its own, as also happened in the mining landscapes of Cornwall and Anglesey and which is also now taking place in the South Wales coalfield. There, masses of lush greenery now envelope the slag heaps and pithead sites that bustled with activity until a decade ago.

As scenic splendour and tranquillity repossessed the Wye Valley, the boats and trains were replaced by the motor car. Tintern Abbey, built for Cistercian monks in 1131, greatly enlarged in the centuries that followed and ignominiously suppressed by Henry VIII in 1535 after he split from the Roman church, may have lain in ruins ever since but has grown in stature as the valley's major tourist attraction. However, even its presence could not make the cross-country railway line which passed alongside pay, and the last passenger train, a Stephenson Locomotive Society Special, ran on January 4 1959, four years before Dr. Richard Beeching and his infamous report came to public attention. BR had already taken cost-cutting measures by introducing diesel railcars, but the remaining annual £20,000 losses were still considered unacceptable. Double heading that final train were two pannier tanks, Nos. 6439 and 6412, a much-travelled preservation stalwart whose home is now the West Somerset Railway. A stub of the singletrack branch below Tintern soldiered on serving freight traffic until the early 1990s when the goods trains also ceased. By this time, the era of ripping redundant tracks up as soon as services ceased had been consigned to history, and BR left it mothballed in the event that one day, the stone traffic might resume.

There it lies today, two miles and 32 chains heading north from Wye Valley Junction on the Newport-Gloucester main line. The first few hundred yards are merely overgrown. Then the saplings appear and by the time the disused Tintern Quarry is passed, the railway has disappeared beneath a jungle of undergrowth. The sleepers and rails, however, are still intact, and are believed to be in more than reasonable and eminently restorable condition. And a new company is now being set up with a view to resurrecting the line as a heritage railway, with the ultimate aim of running trains from Chepstow over the main line and up a restored branch to Tintern Abbey. If funds permit it will also pass over the Wye once more into Tintern station, which has itself been preserved as a visitor centre with static exhibits. The potential, on paper at least, seems enormous. There is the prospect of steam trains bringing visitors to the abbey in from Chepstow and vice versa, enhancing the appeal to tourists while taking cars off the A466 which today provides the only transport artery up the valley. Secondly, Tintern Abbey has the potential to emerge as a main line charter train destination, either by bringing rail tours up the branch or linking heritage shuttle services in with them at Chepstow. Few are the heritage lines than could not only boast such grandiose scenery and an attraction of the magnitude of Tintern Abbey at the end it has all the hallmarks, in preservation and tourist economy terms, of being a real winner.

The revival scheme has been two years in the ‘under consideration' and ‘discussion' stage. It started out at a time when the GWR Preservation Group found itself looking for a new home after the lease on its Southall depot was awarded to Flying Scotsman Railways, and a multitude of options were considered. At one stage a `merger' with the Swindon & Cricklade Railway was briefly mooted, but the uncertainty of the group's fixture home led to a decline in membership from its core London area. The former LSWR depot at Strawberry Hill was eventually identified and selected as the prime option because of the need to keep a base within reach of the majority of volunteer members. And in any case, surely Britain's capital city deserves a live heritage railway presence in its midst for the benefit of both residents and international visitors. Discussions about the group moving into Strawberry Hill have been protracted and at the time of going to press had still not reached a conclusion. The bulk of its rolling stock is still in sidings at Southall.

However, in the meantime, Monmouthshire based member Derek Bounds suggested that the group to gave consideration to what remained on the Tintern branch. Group chairman Bob Gorringe ran the rule over the mothballed line and agreed that while it does appear to have great potential, Chepstow was too far for the bulk of members to travel and would not be a practical option as a new headquarters. Nevertheless, the group has continued with talks with local councillors and Railtrack over the possibility of reviving the line, providing a second standard gauge heritage operation in the Forest of Dean. Officers have decided that while it would not be in the group's own interest to reopen the line, it will give practical guidance and help to any revival scheme launched by individual members or otherwise.

Subsequent discussions led to Derek teaming up with local resident Mike Nott who among others is firmly convinced that a restored railway would bring multiple benefits to the valley. Mike became involved in the revival talks after hearing about them through the proprietor of the excellent GWR relics museum which has been established in the former station building at Coleford on what was the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway. Mike and Derek have begun drawing up plans for a staged revival, and are on the verge of setting up a new Wye Valley Railway company for the purpose. Heritage Railway has known about the plans for a year but by request has remained silent while early talks were at a delicate stage. However, on Saturday October 28, a public meeting was held in Tintern village hall to `test the water'. Around 40 people turned up- and it appeared that everyone present was in favour of a rail revival and the sounds of the Wye gorge once again echoing to the sounds of a GWR pannier tank. That is certainly a realistic prospect, for March 25 saw the 50th anniversary of volunteer-led railway preservation in Britain marked by the launch into traffic of the 100th locomotive rescued from Barry scrapyard to be restored to steam. It was the group's 1949built WR 0-6-OPT No. 9682, which also had the exceeding rare honour, in the railway heritage world at least, of pulling a Royal train, when HM the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh travelled on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway on June 8.

No. 9682 is typical of the traction that operated not only on the line but throughout the network of the GWR branches which criss-crossed the forest when it was still a nursing area. During the early 1960s it was based at Aberbeeg shed in South Wales and handled local passenger services between nearby Newport and Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr. And if No. 6412 can make regular summer forays to the North Norfolk Railway well away from GWR territory, surely it could be hired to run the first train on the revived branch, perhaps double heading with No. 9682 in a `remake' of the last? Awaiting restoration in the group's hands are GWR 2-6-2T No. 4110, GWR 2-8-0 No. 2885 and LNERJ94 No. 68078, all of which could see service on a revived Tintern line. However, the idea of resurrecting the Wye Valley fine is not new. John White, commercial director of the Dean Forest Railway, recalled that he held discussions with local councils in the mid-1980s about reopening the surviving length to passengers. Far from the DFR being paranoid about another preserved railway on its doorstep, it offered to loan engines and coaches to facilitate the relaunch of the Tintern line, but nothing came of the idea. At the same time businessman Eric Rawlins was drawing up detailed plans not only to resurrect the Chepstow to Tintern section but the whole of the route from Chepstow to Hereford via Monmouth. His options included a 3ft gauge line and an electric light railway with overhead wires, and at one stage he obtained a £12,000 Department of the Environment grant for a feasibility study.

However, his aspirations received a lukewarm reception, notably from Gwent County Council whose members were not convinced about the merits of rail revival. And the estimated £12m cost of implementing the first stage of his project is still colossal nearly 15 years on. Eric set up a Wye Valley Railway Company to progress the scheme, but the plan died a slow death with the passage of time. Now in his 70s, he has long given up any hopes of implementing it and his company was formally wound up at Companies House on June 20 this year. Little did he dream that the name, first sanctioned by Parliament in 1866, would be resurrected again so quickly. The `second generation' revivalists not only have the advantage of a more modest `starter' scheme but also ready access to an operational pool of locomotives, which also includes 1947-built ex-Acton Lane power station Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn 0-4-OST Birkenhead, which is also owned by the group, was returned to steam at the same time as No. 9682, and is now running on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.

However, they do not underestimate the colossal amount of work which needs to be done before the first length can be cleared. Their plan involves a three-stage restoration. Firstly, the track in situ between the main line and Tintem Quarry needs to be brought up to operational standards. Secondly, vacant trackbed needs to be relaid from the quarry to the southern portal of Tintern Tunnel, which lies opposite the abbey and where a temporary terminus could be built. Thirdly, if the operation proved successful and grant aid could be obtained, a new bridge to replace the long demolished original one which carried the line across the Wye to Tintem village would be built. The infill between the platforms and restored signal box at the old station would be cleared out and trains would run between them again. However, this modest 4½ mile route is believed to be in the hands of at least three separate landowners, including Railtrack and Bristol-based national cyclepath developer Sustrans, whose acquisition of hundreds of miles of redundant railway routes and subsequent attitude towards some heritage railway schemes involving stretches of them has, in the preservation world at least, been controversial.

Unlike other Sustrans-owned lines like the mothballed Frome-Radstock branch, which the North Somerset Railway is campaigning vigorously to reopen, on the Wye Valley line there is insufficient room to accommodate both a cyclepath and railway line, even though the route was built to broad gauge standard. And if Sustrans insists on keeping the trackbed for a cyclepath, that surely is the end of the story. Mike Nott, however, believes that any cyclepath plans will face problems when encountered with the 1,188-yard Tidenham Tunnel, which was the 21st longest on the GWR. Will it be deemed safe for cyclists to ride through it with only a speck of light at the end to guide them, and if illuminated by a string of electric lights which burn continuously, who will pay the maintenance costs?

The revivalists have conducted their own discussions with the local cycling lobby and have offered to carry bikes free of charge on heritage trains, offering a convenient connection between different lengths of the national cycleway network and removing the tunnel problem in the process. Chepstow is seen as essential, in the medium term at least, as a starting point for heritage trains. Not only will permission needed to be obtained for regular running over the main line but locomotives will have to be brought up to MT276 standard. After the branch proper leaves the Gloucester Cardiff main line at Wye Valley Junction, we climb a 1-in-66 gradient to cross the A48 before entering the site of the first station, Tidenham, which is in private ownership.

This was the first station to close on the line, being closed as early as January 1917, only to be reopened on February 1 the following year. Used latterly only as a halt, the station buildings were bulldozed soon after closure in 1959 as quarry contractors took over the site and turned it into a loading bay for ballast stone. It had the luxury of a new run-round loop for ballast trains added in 1968. Just before Tidenham Tunnel stands Netherhope Halt, the last to be built on the line. Opened in July 1932, it was demolished after the line closed to passengers and no trace of it remains. The line north of Tintern Quarry passes through Forestry Commission plantations, and will be the most difficult stretch to reopen. Near the abbey, a bridge crossing the Wye which survives from the Tintern Railway or Wireworks Branch which closed in 1941 allows pedestrian access to the village half a mile away, and is tailor-made for convenient access to a heritage line.

Tintern, which had rightly been identified by the Victorian railway developers as a tourist magnet, boasted the largest complex of sidings on the branch and had an island platform and double running lines as well as a cattle dock. The station is today a popular picnic spot complete with miniature 5 inch and 7 ¼ inch steam lines and the main building houses an exhibition detailing the WVR's history. There is every reason why one day it will be able to do much, much more again. The revivalists will consider reinstating all the intermediate halts, which surely would become invaluable for today's multitude of ramblers and walkers who descend on the valley in fine weather: the long-distance Offa's Dyke Path passes close to the northern portal of Tidenham Tunnel, for instance.

Yet the new company will definitely not be seeking to reintroduce stone trains from the quarries and will fight plans to reopen them. Contrary to other lines like the Mid-Norfolk Railway which have excelled in running `real' freight trains, the revivalists are conscious of the sensitivities of local residents who do not want to see quarrying back. Mike Nott went so far as to say that the revived line might be rebuilt to light railway standards only so it would be incapable of carrying limestone traffic. "If the landowners are happy with our plans, then the project can start," said Mike. "Without their agreement, it is dead in the water. "I'm not a railway buff- I just think reopening this line is a great idea and I'm quite happy to develop it as far as I can. If we can just clear the part of the line which is in Railtrack ownership and get it running again, it will be a good start."

Bob Gorringe said that the GWR Preservation Group would help set up a separate association and company to progress the project and would have the running rights over the new heritage line. But he stressed that it was considered too far from London for the group to operate by itself. John White reiterated his previous view that the DFR had nothing to fear from another GW branch revival a short distance `down the road.' However, he remained sceptical about the costs involved and whether the money could be raised. This year, he said, passenger numbers on the DER had fallen by 12%, in line with other Forest ofDean attractions and largely due to the weather. "There is only one three-star hotel in the forest and 93% of our visitors are daytrippers," he said. "If it rains, they stay at home and we lose out. Many people say that there are too many preserved railways and there have been predictions that many will close down, but it has not happened. Extra preserved railways will not harm visitor numbers. It is the lack of extra volunteers to run them, which provides the real threat, and we have always struggled for manpower. Reopening the line to Tintern Abbey is a brilliant concept, but unless you can finance it by Jolly Jack's Bahamas bankroll, I do not think it will work." He said that in his opinion, rebuilding the Tintern line as a 3ft gauge heritage railway starting at Chepstow would be a better bet.

In the past year, campaigns to reopen mothballed or freight-only lines to serve tourist areas and alleviate road congestion have made rapid progress. The Wensleydale Railway Association is taking possession of the 22-mile Redmire branch from Railtrack, the Dartmoor Railway is running public shuttles from Okehampton to Meldon Quarry and rail charters now run up the Grassington branch in the Yorkshire Dales. Once such schemes establish a track record, the blueprint will be there for other local authorities to follow. Maybe the third-time-round Wye Valley Railway Company will not in itself raise the finance to reopen the line. But if their business plan is seen to hold water, and local councils wake up to the potential that lies buried beneath decades of natural vegetation, the wherewithal should be forthcoming. A personal view is that the wealth of industrial archaeology in the Forest of Dean has never been given the recognition it deserves, least of all by the local tourist boards. Once a hive of heavy industry, it now conjures up images only of mighty oaks and a silver stream lazily wending its way beneath Symonds Yat.

Yet a guided tour by someone ‘in the know' will show the keen eye much more - old blast furnaces, limekilns, mine workings, routes of horse-drawn waggonways... And for those whose interest focuses primarily on railways, there is already much more than the DFR and the hitherto-mentioned Coleford station museum. One rare delight here has next to nothing to do with the forest's industrial past, for it has been developed in recent years on a greenfield site. Michael Croft's Perrygrove Railway at Perrygrove Farm near Coleford comprises a 1,200yard 15in gauge S-shaped circuit through landscaped grounds. Opened in 1996, trains are hauled by Exmoor Steam Railway-built 0-6-OT Spirit of Adventure or J. Waterfield Heywood replica 0-6-OT Ursula. turntables, signalling, sidings, workshops - the infrastructure which is taking shape year by year has to be seen to be believed. Among the magnificent possibilities thrown up by having two standard gauge heritage lines at either side on the forest would surely be a vintage bus service linking Tintern station to Parkend, taking in appropriate attractions like the Perrygrove Railway on the way. Maybe it could also include a guided tour of Bill Parker's Swindon Railway Workshop which has been set up at the former Flour Mill Colliery at Bream (Heritage Railway issue 2) and which carries out heritage locomotive overhauls from clients ranging from private owners to the National Railway Museum itself. Starting and finishing their journey behind heritage steam, passengers could then return to the starting point at Chepstow or Lydney Junction by Railtrack.

In the enlarged 1998 edition of the Oakwood Press volume, The Wye Valley Railway and the Coleford Branch by B. M Handley and R. Dingwall, the authors write: “if the railway is not to be used again to meet the demand for limestone, surely with the tremendous increase in tourism witnessed today, somebody somewhere must see the potential of reopening the line again for part of the way." As with similar heritage traction based public transport schemes, all that is needed is for imagination to succeed and a dream to be shared. If only in this respect alone the Romantic poets would surely have approved, even if they would vehemently have spoken out against the industrialisation of the Wye Valley and the coming of the railway to a rustic paradise!

WYE VALLEY RAILWAY:
A BRIEF HISTORY
1865: First proposals drawn up. August 101866: Parliament sanctions building of Wye Valley Railway. May 1874: Building work starts. October 281876: Special train carries officials over line from Chepstow to Monmouth Troy (144 miles). November 1 1876_ Railway opened to public, with intermediate stations at Redbrook, Bigsweir, Tintem and Tidenham. July 1 1905: Wye Valley Railway amalgamated with GWR. February 1941: Closure ofTintem's Wireworks branch, opened in 1874. January 41959: Last passenger train to use Wye Valley line. January 61964: Monmouth TroyTidernham Quarry closed. August 241964: Remaining section offine to Tintem Quarry worked as private siding. December 1981: Last train through Tidenham Tunnel to Tintem Quarry. September 1992: Last train to Dayhouse Quarry. November 2000: Plans to reopen line as heritage railway announced.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Wye Valley Railway Company: contact Mike Nott at rnichaelnott@hotmail.com or via Heritage Railway magazine at our Stamford address. Locomotion Papers No. 9: The Wye Valley Railway and the Coleford Branch by B.M. Handley and R. Dingwall (softback, Oakwood Press, 160pp, £10.95, ISBN 0 85361 530 6). Dean Forest Railway: Information line 01594 843423; daytime enquiries-01452 840625. Perrygrove Railway: 01594 834991.

Article reprinted with the permission of ‘Heritage Railway’ magazine.