Celtic
Connections. The photographs on this page were taken by Bob
Prigg in north Wales and Cornwall; member Ralph Rawlinson describes
them as some of the best that Bob has taken. This page is slightly
longer than others in this gallery, since we wanted to present them
as a coherent set; apologies, therefore, if it takes a little longer
than usual to load. Both locations are well served by public rights
of way and access land, but exercise great caution around Cornwall's
old mines: few are open to the public, and hidden dangers may still
exist. The safest approach is to view them from nearby footpaths
or bridleways.
The first pictures
are of the Croesor Tramway, which was built in 1864 to transport
slate from Croesor Quarry, Rhosydd Quarry and various others to
Portmadog on the coast at Tremadog Bay. The section of line from
Croesor Junction to Porthmadog is being restored as part of the
Welsh Highland Railway, the re-opening of which will make this remote
area more accessible for those who wish to explore it; but north
east of Croesor Junction, the tramway's course will remain disused.
There were at least five major inclines on the tramway network,
that near Rhosydd exceeding a gradient of 1 in 1 in places, which
made it extremely dangerous to work. The scenery here speaks for
itself.
Moving south
to Cornwall, the Liskeard & Caradon Railway was actually a tramway
which carried copper, granite and tin from Caradon Hill (on the
south east side of Bodmin Moor) to the port of Looe via Moorswater,
near Liskeard. This is an extraordinary place, where the old industrial
buildings – all of finely cut stone – put one in mind
of the middle ages rather than 19th century industrial enterprise.
These pictures really give the lie to the notion that old railways
(and tramways in particular) are dull, or not worth exploring. |
|
Above: The
Croesor Tramway starts innocently enough as a green trail alongside
the Afon Croesor; but see what happens in the next pictures! March
2007. (Bob Prigg) |
|
|
Above:
Despite
the gentle start, the tramway has soon reached scenery like this.
This is the view down one of the inclines. The junction where this
branch curves in to meet the 'main line' can be seen clearly in the
upper middle of the photograph. March 2007. (Bob Prigg) |
|
|
Above: This
is the view down the 1 in 1 incline that served Rhosydd Quarry. Surprisingly,
this image does not convey the insane steepness of the structure quite
so well as the photograph below, which has been taken from Wikipedia.
There may be times when we rue the mollycoddling effect of modern
health and safety regulations, but nowadays who would wish to be employed
on a railway with a gradient like this?! March 2007. (Bob Prigg) |
|
|
Above: Yep,
that's an insane gradient. We rest our case. This picture makes one
wonder whether Bob Prigg's walk in this area was an example of railway
rambling or mountaineering! Note that this photograph has been used
under the terms of the Wikipedia Commons licence, which can be viewed
here.
February 2007. ('Gwernol') |
|
|
Above:
The remains of South Caradon Engine House in Cornwall. The chimney
stack on the left, and the spoil heaps behind the building, give away
the site's industrial origins. The beam engines in these structures
were used most commonly for pumping water out of underground workings,
although a few were used to haul wagons up steep inclines. This example
at South Caradon worked Sumps Shaft, which is 250 fathoms deep, i.e.
1,500 ft. or 450 metres. March 2007. (Bob Prigg) |
|
|
Above: Viewed
without the context seen in the picture above, the industrial remains
on Caradon Hill really do take on a mediaeval quality. Notice the
size of the corner stones, and consider the effort required to cut
these to shape without modern industrial machines. March 2005.
(Bob Prigg) |
|
|
Above: Only
one bridge survives on Caradon Hill from the Liskeard & Caradon
Railway, and here it is at grid reference SX 254697. Trains ran over
the arch, the track in the foreground being an unmade road from the
tiny community of Crow's Nest which is situated about a quarter of
a mile to the south. March 2005. (Bob Prigg) |
|
|
Above: The idea that tramways do not feature
engineering works is mistaken, as can be seen from this view of an
embankment on the trackbed of the former L&CR near Minions. As
tramways go, this was a very substantial embankment – no doubt
financed by profits from the local mines. March 2007. (Bob Prigg) |
|
|
Above:
Tramways also had cuttings, as this example near Smallacoombe Downs
illustrates. Given that the L&CR opened in 1846, this will have
been excavated by pick and shovel. Think of the man-hours involved
in that! March 2005. (Bob Prigg) |
|
 |
Left:
Just
like any main line or standard gauge railway, tramways also
had mileposts, as this example near Cheesewring Quarry illustrates.
This clearly denotes 1 mile, presumably measured from the quarry,
which is situated just under a mile north of the village of
Minions. Mileposts were needed most in the event of an emergency,
since they enabled railway staff to work out and report with
reasonable accuracy where they and their trains were. March
2007. (Bob Prigg) |
|
|
|
Above:
A
final look at the Cheesewring branch, this time featuring the L&CR's
distinctive sleepers. This type of sleeper was commonplace on horse-drawn
tramways and took the form of separate stone blocks (granite in this
case) either side of a central 'gangway' where the horses pulled their
load. The sleepers could not traverse the entire gap between the rails
in order to avoid tripping up the horses. The stone block at the bottom
right of this photograph clearly shows the two holes where large metal
pins would have secured the rail to the sleeper. The area around Caradon
Hill features many miles of trackbed like this. March 2007. (Bob Prigg) |