rogerfarnworth Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) My wife and I enjoy an annual holiday in the Forest of Dean. We have been there almost every year since the year 2000. During that time we have enjoyed exploring a number of the different railway routes in the forest and have begun to realise just how complex a network of tramways supported the standard vague railways which themselves had replaced much earlier tramways. I hope this thread will be of interest to some. This is the first of a series of blog posts about the forest and its railways and tramways and focusses on Lydney Harbour and its transport links, particularly rail and tramway/tramroad. ... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/lydney-harbour Edited February 26, 2018 by rogerfarnworth 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) Parkend in the Forest of Dean is currently the terminus of a preservation line, the Dean Forest Railway (http://www.deanforestrailway.co.uk). Historically it was a small through station on the Severn and Wye Joint Railway with a short branch to transhipment wharfs that allowed tramways to transfer good to the main line. Further back still t was the centre of some major forest industries which were heavily served by tramways. The first image on the blog below ius a map of the tramways at Parkend in its prime as an industrial centre in the Forest. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/29/parkend-forest-of-dean Edited February 26, 2018 by rogerfarnworth 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Prior to the introduction of standard gauge railways in the Forest of Dean there was an extensive network of tramways or tramroads. These tramways were of a variety of gauges from 3ft 6in to 4ft. One of these was the Severn and Wye Tramroad. This post details the various branch and feeder tramways associated with this line. The tramway was replaced by the Severn and Wye Joint Railway. ... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/28/the-branch-tramways-and-sidings-of-the-severn-and-wye-tramroad 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 26, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2018 Fascinating stuff Roger for which many thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 My favourite part of the UK, too. There's a Special Interest Section on RMweb for the railways of Gloucester & Forest of Dean, here:- http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/forum/188-the-railways-of-gloucestershire-and-the-forest-of-dean/ Probably the best place to post your Thread in, with an appreciative & receptive audience. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 26, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2018 There's a Special Interest Section on RMweb for the railways of Gloucester & Forest of Dean, here:- http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/forum/188-the-railways-of-gloucestershire-and-the-forest-of-dean/ Probably the best place to post your Thread in, with an appreciative & receptive audience. Perhaps Andy or one of the Mods could do that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Very happy to move to the thread mentioned. How should I do this? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 26, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2018 Very happy to move to the thread mentioned. How should I do this? Roger, just go to bottom right of the 'Forum Index' page and you can contact the Moderators there. I'm sure that they would be happy to move it for you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Well done, that sits much more comfortably. A couple of bits of additional information about the docks if I may. The timber works served by the overhead travelling crane on the harbour, top right in the aerial photo, was of strategic importance during WW2 being a plywood manufacturing facility supplying sheet for the construction of the Mosquito fighter bomber. The crane has long gone but many of the buildings survive in a largely dilapidated state. Recent activity at the harbour site includes the replacement of the metal swing bridge. It was missing for some months earlier this year whilst being refurbished by local bridge builders Fairfield Mabey. Mabey‘s closed down their riverside site in Chepstow a year or two back and their bridge building operations were moved to Lydney Industrial Estate, just beyond the former plywood works. The bridge was refitted a couple of months back. The outer lock gate has been left open for some months now whilst repairs to the lock walls have been underway. It has been interesting to visit the site at high and low tides to fully appreciate the tidal range of the Severn in the outer lock basin. Just to the north, right in the aerial photo, stands Naas House. In 1771 a daughter of the house was murdered close by as she returned home after dining at Lydney Vicarage. A local man was later convicted of murder and executed in 1772. The area is reputedly haunted. Even though recently refurbished, it’s a grim looking place from the rear. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Thank you, Arthur. We were in the Forest in October 2017. Saw the tidal range and work was starting on the project you mention. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Another post. This one is centred on Parkend, and covers two significant lengths of tramroads. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/oakwood-and-dikes-tramways Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) This may be old hat to readers of this site but here is a post on New Fancy Colliery in the Forest of Dean .... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/23/new-fancy-colliery-and-it-railways/ Edited February 26, 2018 by rogerfarnworth Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Moseley Green Tramways https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/27/moseley-green-tramways Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 All fascinating stuff!! The tramways are something I'm only vaguely aware of really, & mostly to do with where they interchanged with the railways, or became 'proper' railways themselves, such as the Sling branch. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 (edited) All fascinating stuff!! The tramways are something I'm only vaguely aware of really, & mostly to do with where they interchanged with the railways, or became 'proper' railways themselves, such as the Sling branch.Yes, it is quite revealing finding and following some of these routes. The best known and perhaps the best documented is the Bixlade tramroad which heads into the Forest from Cannop Ponds. The route forms part of one of the more popular Forest walks in Walks books: https://www.forestofdeanhistory.org.uk/heritage/trails/the-bixslade-tramroad-trail https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicslade_Tramroad Edited February 27, 2018 by rogerfarnworth Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 (edited) There is a company within the Forest that spends its time repairing and building locomotives. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/30/the-flour-mill-colliery Edited March 13, 2018 by rogerfarnworth Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 In the last few days I have been looking at the route of the Forest of Dean Tramway which was a major innovation in its day. Haie Hill Tunnel which was built for it in the very early 19th Century was for a short while the longest tunnel in the world. It was also one of the earliest tunnels built. The tramway linked significant industrial concerns in the Forest of Dean with the Severn Estuary at Bullo Pill. The owners of the tramway were also behind the first serious attempt to tunnel under the Estuary. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/bullo-pill-and-the-forest-of-dean-tramway Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 21, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 21, 2018 Roger, this is all excellent and fascinating stuff. Thank you very much for your highly informative posts. Sorry if this has been said before and/or is stating the obvious, but have you considered producing a book on the subject of the FoD tramways? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 Roger, this is all excellent and fascinating stuff. Thank you very much for your highly informative posts. Sorry if this has been said before and/or is stating the obvious, but have you considered producing a book on the subject of the FoD tramways? That is very kind of you to say so. I enjoy producing these blogs. I probably do not have the time at present to produce a book and get it published by someone. Perhaps a retirement project in a few years time? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted March 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2018 Just a thankyou Roger for this really interesting material. l would agree with CK above. Manna from Heaven for us F.O.D. nuts! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 That is very kind of you to say so. I enjoy producing these blogs. I probably do not have the time at present to produce a book and get it published by someone. Perhaps a retirement project in a few years time? Lightmoor Press, based in the Forest of Dean, would be the publisher of choice to go to. I believe some on RMweb have connections/know the proprietors. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Another excellent thread, Sir. It’s about twenty years since I’ve explored any of this, but before that I used to visit quite often for a tramp round. My interest started in the 1960s, when we went on a school residential week at Tintern, and our teacher took the longer-legged of us on a very long hike across to and through the forest. Quite how he’d managed it, I don’t know, but he’d arranged that we stop off at a ‘free’ mine, and the old boys running it took two of us at a time into the adit ...... looking back, we probably only went in ten yards, but it felt like the centre of the earth. It was a real ‘seven dwarves’ operation, basically a doorway into a wooded bank, with a tramway that ran across a small clearing to a tipping-dock. Between that and the tramway routes and old engine houses we saw, I was hooked on primitive industrial railways for life! Kevin 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium corneliuslundie Posted April 24, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 24, 2018 There is of course quite a bit about the tramways in Paar's history of the Severn & Wye Railway though it is long out of print. Jonathan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerfarnworth Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 A recent visit to the Forest of Dean promoted some reading and reflection on Cannop Colliery. This post is the result of those reflections: http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/31/cannop-colliery My wife and I were in the Forest of Dean on 30th August 2018 and visited a small garden centre that we have been to many times before - the Pigmy Pymetum. Later in the day I was reading an older copy of "The New Regard" - Number 23 from 2009. The first article in that edition of the magazine was about Cannop Colliery and was written by Ian Pope. The colliery was just north of the location of the garden centre. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Burnham Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Yes, it is quite revealing finding and following some of these routes. The best known and perhaps the best documented is the Bixlade tramroad which heads into the Forest from Cannop Ponds. The route forms part of one of the more popular Forest walks in Walks books: https://www.forestofdeanhistory.org.uk/heritage/trails/the-bixslade-tramroad-trail https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicslade_Tramroad I've recently followed the route of the Bicslade tramway using the excellent leaflet published by the FoD Local History Society. The stone blocks which supported the rails are still to be seen all along the route. It rises pretty steadily from its interchange with the Severn & Wye line at Cannop, quite steeply in places, and I'd have thought the horse would have had its work cut out, even with empty stone wagons. Am I right in thinking there was little use of inclines (either powered or self-acting) on Forest of Dean tramways?. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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