Vale of Rheidol Railway Newsletter - Issue 1 2023

48

R heidol R ev iew Newsletter

Photo by John R Jones

Is sue 1 - 2023 www.rheidolrailway.co.uk

Telephone us: 01970 625 819 - Park Avenue, Aberystwyth SY23 1PG

Photo courtesy Lucy Davies-Jones

Welcome

Where have the months gone...

The summer has gone and it is only now we find the time to update all our wonderful readers on what has been happening.

the magnificent crimson lake and cream livery not worn for many years on our fleet and we think they have done a fantastic job of it too.

So much has happened this year it is hard to fit it all on these few pages but we have given it our best try.

This edition contains all our usual updates and news with a fantastic discovery in Ioan’s regular mining feature along with a tribute from our volunteers to one of their team who sadly passed earlier this year. If you have an article you would to read in our magazine then please get in touch - we are always on the lookout for new ideas.

Our wonderful new Booking Office in Aberystwyth has been open for a while now and feels homely with its period touches and modern nods to the railway’s history.

Our display space gets ever closer to opening where we can finally put on display, for the first time, items from our collection from around the world for all to see.

Our workshop has been very busy too, with winter maintenance of our fleet, the completion of Baldwin No.46699, the arrival of Talyllyn Railway’s No.4 Edward Thomas and Typhoon from the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway for ten yearly overhauls as well as the ongoing work overhauling and modifying bogies for the Isle of Man Steam Railway amongst other tasks.

Our paintshop worked flat out all winter getting a rake of carriages repainted into

C O N T E N T S

A big part of our line is the beautiful scenery of the Rheidol Valley and the Cambrian Mountains, when you add the romance of steam to the mix it paints a warm picture.

If you have any photos of our line whether lineside or from on the trains you would like to share then please send them to the below email address. You may even see them on our social media or in these pages.

Feel free to get in touch by email via newsletter@ rheidolrailway. co.uk

Gareth D Jones Editor

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News

Page 24

Volunteer Update

Page 10

Workshop Updates

Page 26

Engines from our Collection

Page 16

Then & Now

Page 28

180-year-old underground

Page 18

Picture Gallery

Page 22

We Remember

waterwheels discovered Page 34

Welsh Potosi

Harm De Boer Page 3

Vale of Rheidol Railway News

Kerr Stuart Wren Overhauled and Repainted

Our Kerr Stuart ‘Wren’ class engine No.3114 has recently completed its ten yearly overhaul and has a fresh look too.

Our Wren has an interesting history, built in 1918 by Kerr Stuart and Company of Stoke-on-Trent “Wren” locomotive number 3114 was designed to be a small contractors’ locomotive, simple to maintain and easy to operate, they could be found all over the UK and overseas with over 160 similar locomotives built in total.

The engine had a varied career in industrial life. Initially it worked for the Ministry of Munitions in Yorkshire before seeing service in the Cardiff Corporation Water Department helping to construct the Wenallt Reservoir.

It was based in Derbyshire for many years working on civil engineering contracts including the Fernilee Reservoir in Buxton and a sewer contract in Markeaton Park, Derby.

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In 1944, the engine was sold for scrap, but thankfully was rescued was put to work as a stationery boiler on a working farm in Brockamin, Worcestershire.

In 1959, Max Sinclair discovered the locomotive still on the farm in Worcestershire and buried underneath a pile of timber and with a fractured cylinder. Max bought the loco for preservation and later sold it to Alan Maund, who restored the engine to steam in the early 1960s at Hindlip Hall, Worcestershire.

After a period of display at Gloddfa Ganol, North Wales, 3114 moved to the Bala Lake Railway in 1980 and was brought back to steam by 1982. During its time in Bala, it was affectionately named “Dryw Bach.”

(Little Wren) Unfortunately after a few years of service a crack was discovered in the firebox and the Wren returned to static display.

In 1998, No. 3114 was purchased by the Vale of Rheidol Railway and returned to

working order in 2002. It is too small to operate the heavy trains between Aberystwyth and Devil’s Bridge so in recent years it has been a roving ambassador, touring a number of railways around the country including Amerton Railway, Beamish Museum, Devon Railway Centre and the London Museum of Water and Steam.

VoR Wins Awards at the Menter Aberystwyth Aber First Awards recent months a new Booking Office has been constructed at our Aberystwyth station. This includes a shop that stocks many locally produced products.

The station lavatories even scooped a range of accolades in the “Loo of the Year” awards including best railway and visitor attraction toilets in Wales. Newly restored First Class carriages have greatly enhanced the visitor experience.

We were delighted to win two awards at the Menter Aberystwyth Aber First Awards.

The awards acknowledge the contributions of individuals, organisations, and businesses in the Aberystwyth area. The railway was nominated in the tourism category and also scooped the prize for the overall winner of the evening.

Providing a top quality visitor experience is at the heart of everything we do. In

We know our staff are some of our best assets. They are passionate about the railway and we strive to share a little bit of that enthusiasm with every visitor.

If you haven’t been down and visited us yet, please come and see the new developments.

Thanks to everyone in the local community and our passengers for your continued support and to our team of staff and local suppliers who help us keep the railway running.

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Vale of Rheidol Railway News Repainted Carriage Set

For the first time since 1956 our our Chocolate & Cream carriage set carriages have been painted into the representing the 1922 - 1928 Great BR Crimson & Cream Livery.

Western Railway ownership and the Our carriage fleet first wore these newly repainted set representing the colours in 1949 and they were only early British Railways ownership. carried for 7 years before being Below image: No.7 in GWR Livery nears Devil’s repainted back into Western Region Bridge with a short rake of Crimson & Cream carriages in tow in the early 1950s.

Chocolate & Cream colours.

The crimson & cream colours were also the first British Railways livery that our carriage fleet was painted into, making them historically significant colours.

Thanks to the hard work of our team in the paintshop we had two rakes of seven carriages ready for the summer season, with each carriage having taken around 3 weeks to complete.

This means that with our carriage fleet we can now represent two different time periods from our history with Page 6

Vale of Rheidol Railway News Baldwin No.44699 Restoration Complete

Photo courtesy Aled Richards

With the engine hauling trains on its now home railway, the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway (WHHR), for the first time since landing on UK soil it brings its long restoration to an end.

The work included the addition of a hidden air pump for compatability with the WHHR’s air braked rolling stock. A further addition to the engine is the extended cab roof and custom made wooden backsheet designed and fitted to complete the The engine’s restoration took place at look of the original 590 as it was in a steady pace over the few years the engine was with us with work being Welsh Highland Railway service. completed at a pace to match the We look forward to seeing it in steam fundraising being undertaken by the on its home railway. team from the WHHR. As part of its restoration it has had much work done with the majority of the work keeping true to the original Baldwin design features. The photo bottom right shows how the engine arrived.

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Vale of Rheidol Railway News Project Updates

Phase 4 of our project, the construction of our new booking office is now complete with just a few finishing touches to go.

Our new booking office was ready to move into in March of this year.

Small jobs have been ongoing since opening to add the finishing touches but we think it looks pretty smart and are proud of what has been achieved for our booking office for many years to come.

completion of the fittings was the addition of a model railway running on a ledge built into the top of shelving which our visitors can enjoy watching whilst in the shop.

It has lots of local products for unique gifts also, ideal for those visiting the area, looking for something different to take home and those who live nearby.

For more on our Wales to the World project see; https://www.rheidolrailway.

The final addition marking the co.uk/future-development/

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Vale of Rheidol Railway News Project Updates

Phase 3 of our project, the construction of our Multi Function Display Space is rapidly approaching completion.

It will also provide a unique backdrop for many events in its future with the display space available for hire for events from weddings to conferences, The interior is largely complete with exhibitions to craft fairs. just the glass atrium to be built around And of course not forgetting the the entranceway. This will protect the main purpose the building will ornate entrance from the weather. fulfill, providing space for the display We already have a booking for of engines from our international November for the building where collection of engines saved by our late it will play host to a Cambrian chairman, Mr Peter Rampton.

Mountains food festival, showcasing For more on our Wales to the World the best of what the local area offers. project see; https://www.rheidolrailway. co.uk/future-development/

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WORKSHOP Baldwin No.46699 Work on the restoration of the Baldwin has been completed and it has now returned to its home railway on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway.

There was a succesful test run on our line going as far as Aberffrwd at one point, a photo of which was in the news section of this edition.

The engine has had many original features restored and also has a couple of unseen new features too, like a custom designed spark arrestor and an air pump hidden in the coal bunker on the driver’s side.

Upon reaching ‘home metals’ the engine was taken for a test trip up the neighbouring and connected Welsh Highland Railway as far as Beddgelert and this further test was also completed successfully.

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UPDATE Isle of Man Bogies The team in the works have overhauled a rather unique set of bogies from carriage F39, known as the Foxdale Carriage, of the Isle of Man Steam Railway.

They have had a full overhaul whilst with us, with work completed including the complete stripping of the frames and conversion to roller bearings.

The conversion involved the design of new axleboxes which were 3D printed to produce a pattern and then cast. A complete set of new horn plates was manufactured and were machined to be identical in appearance to the originals.

The bogies also received new wheelsets and axles during the overhaul.

They have since returned to the Isle of Man for fitting under their carriage, and were seen in use during the IoM 150 celebrations.

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WORKSHOP VoR Carriage No.4 With the completion of the rebuild of our two first class carriages, the next job for our master carpenters is the overhaul of five of our closed carriages starting with No.4 with No.s 1, 2, 3, & 6 to follow.

The work includes a chassis and bodywork overhaul where the carriage body is lifted from the chassis. It is the first time since they were built in 1938 that such an extensive overhaul has been conducted.

So far the chassis has been sand blasted and inspected before reassembly and will receive new sole plates and new flooring among other work.

The body has had over 3,600 screws removed with each hole being filled with dowel rod.

Each of the six doors have also had the same treatment with a further 250 holes on each door to fill and over 700ft of wooden dowel used to complete this time consuming job.

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UPDATE Fowler Roller Towards the start of this year we had in our works a steam roller.

Part of the Geller Jones collection based in the National Trust site at Llanerchaeron the steam roller came to us for assessment for a ten yearly overhaul.

This assessment allows for a fundraising goal to be set for the steam roller to hopefully bring it into steam in the not too distant future.

Sierra Leone Railway No.85 After a period of storage following an assessment for overhaul No.85 from the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway was reassembled and returned to its home railway.

It will now aid the fundraising effort on display in Raven Square at the WLLR.

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WORKSHOP RHDR’s Typhoon Typhoon, from the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, has arrived in our workshop for a ten yearly overhaul.

So far the boiler has been removed from the frames and has been stripped, sand blasted and inspected before the application of a protective coat of paint.

The tender has also been stripped and sand blasted for inspection.

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UPDATE TR No.4 Edward Thomas Another arrival earlier this year was No.4 from the Talyllyn Railway, it is also with us for its ten yearly overhaul.

So far the engine has been dismantled with the boiler tubes removed before sand blasting, and then a full inspection prior to the application of a protective coat of paint.

The wheelsets have been turned on the lathe to reprofile them and work has begun on the chassis of the engine with the goal of returning it to a rolling chassis this year.

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Then & Now

Above an Inspectors Special is seen at Aberffrwd, while below an up train departs.

The above photo courtesy John Reeves Collection, taken in 1960.

The below photo courtesy John R Jones, taken in March 2023.

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Then & Now

Taken in a similar location these two images show the changes in the Valley Floor.

The above photo courtesy John Reeves Collection, taken in the late 1980s.

The below photo courtesy Andrew Simmonds, taken in June 2023.

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Photo courtesy John R Jones

Picture

Photo: Simon Reeves

Photo: Andy Pannett

Gallery

Photo: Gareth Jones

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Photo: Stephen Mullen

We Remember Harm De Boer It is with much sadness that we announce the passing of one of the Vale of Rheidol Railway’s volunteers and avid supporters, Harm de Boer, in Barbados on 16th July, 2023.

Harm began working on the Railway in the autumn of 2012, as part of a small team of dedicated volunteers. Initially focusing on the project to reinstate the intermediate stations he was key to the constructional, painting, and gardening efforts. After the project’s completion, Harm was actively involved in maintaining the infrastructure which had been established, as well as further developing the gardens. He continued in this role until 2020, when he returned to Barbados to live with his beloved daughter Tanya and granddaughter Olivia. After his departure, Harm continued to keep in touch with fellow volunteers Maurice Kyle and Mark Bouchier, via Skype.

A keen walker, Harm accompanied Maurice Kyle during his two years of reconnoitring and researching for most of the walks in the guidebook, sponsored by the Railway, called ‘Railway Walks in the Vale of Rheidol’. In testament to their close friendship Harm is featured in many of the photos in the book.

Harm de Boer was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, in 1946, but grew up Page 22

in Arnhem. After gaining practical experience working on a local farm, he completed a college diploma in agriculture, and then went to Africa as an agricultural volunteer. Upon finishing his term there, Harm moved to the UK and enrolled at the University of Reading, where he read Agricultural Economics. It was there he met his future wife, Yolande. They were later married in Yolande’s home country of Barbados.

Post graduation, the couple returned to Africa (Zambia), a continent for which Harm had developed a great affection.

There he worked for several years, during which time son Pieter was born. The family moved back to the Netherlands for the birth of their daughter Tanya, and then to Jamaica, where Harm had found a job as a research agronomist.

In 1981, the family moved to Barbados, where Harm continued to work as an research agronomist until his retirement in 2011. During his career, Harm wrote and presented many research papers, his speciality covering the cultivation of yam, pineapple, and sugar cane. Although quiet and self-effacing, Harm was internationally respected in his field, and widely cited in other scientists’ research.

Interestingly, he even discovered a new species of parasitic nematode which was named after him (‘Trophurus deboeri n.sp.’).

Harm never spoke of his life achievements to his VOR colleagues, and the accolades mentioned above only came to light after his death. The most telling of these was his being awarded ‘Honorary Silver Crown of Merit’ by the GovernorGeneral of Barbados for his work in the sugar industry; this is the country’s highest award for meritorious service or achievement worthy of national recognition, seldom awarded to nonBarbadians.

Harm was a good-natured, quiet, constantly cheerful yet humble man, working well with others, and a good listener, while holding to strong moral principles. He was especially committed to treating everyone with dignity, respect, and equality.

Harm will be sorely missed by everyone at the Vale of Rheidol, and by his many life-long friends around the world. We give our deepest condolences to his family, Tanya, Pieter, Andrijana, Olivia, and Yolande.

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Vale of Rheidol Volunteers

By Clive Higgs & Jenny Edwards, Railway Volunteers

Preparations for 2023’s volunteering work started with a surprise in November last year. One day the volunteers had dug out 25 red boxes of geraniums from the troughs at Nantyronen Halt and put them into the waiting room there, to wait over the winter. 25 red boxes containing tulip and daffodil bulbs were carried from summer storage up to the platform, put into the troughs and dug neatly in. The boxes held wet soil and we had a long day. At last we sat on a platform bench for lunch, three hours late. Jenny served out cheese rolls and mugs of coffee just as the Permanent Way Gang arrived in their Permaquip. It was an ambush. Batty jumped out, shouting ‘Stop!

Stop! You can’t sit there!’. We thought he was joking but no, the gang were collecting all the benches to put inside a carriage shed to dry out. We were left standing, holding roll and mug, grumbling that not even Jesse James’ gangs had taken railway benches. There was no space in the waiting room for sitting.

In January we started work on painting the 19 benches piled high in the corridor of the shed.

There were: •Eight 6-foot benches with 2 solid GWR castiron bases and 4 planks. Quite heavy; •Four 8-foot Cambrian Railway benches, each with 4 cast-iron legs looking like sticks and 2 planks. Quite light; •Six 10-foot benches, each with six I-section cast iron legs and 3 planks. These were heavy and unwieldy; •A single wooden 7-foot bench with 4 legs and 4 planks. This belonged to the (railway’s) ‘precambrian era’! It is in excellent condition having spent its time sheltered in the platform porch by Devil’s Bridge’s shop door.

We were keen to get going and carried benches along the corridor to the small working area to Page 24

fettle, sand and paint them in the appropriate colours. (We painted the same colours except for the two ‘stick-leg’ benches at Aberffrwd, painted to match the Cambrian Railway greens of the station and water tanks.) We had to wait until the weather warmed to at least 5oC for the painting and use floodlights when it was too wet or windy to have the doors open. Then we had to wait until the paint had dried and hardened before moving the benches away and re-stacking them.

After all the benches were painted the P-way gang put them back onto the platforms in time for the first passenger train on March 25th. John returned to repairing the wooden sack barrow at Aberffrwd Station. The other volunteers tidied and weeded the existing station gardens, troughs and half barrels.

When the display of daffodil and tulip flowers ended in May, we dug up their bulbs at Capel Bangor and wrapped these in wire mesh and hung that from the ceiling of the platelayers’ hut near Nantyronen. We hope that rats will not eat them! Last year’s red geraniums in the Capel Bangor troughs had died over the winter so they were replaced by new pink and red ones.

In the Nantyronen troughs the ‘spring’ red boxes holding the bulbs were replaced by the ’summer’ red boxes in the waiting room. But the winter had been so cold geraniums had died there as well. So new geraniums were bought or gratefully received from Jenny and planted instead.

Maureen looked after Aberffrwd gardens alone, planting antirrhinums, lobelias, cosmos, hydrangeas and some marigolds that were attacked by slugs.

At Devil’s Bridge Station, geraniums and

yellow bidens were planted in the long bed by the tables. Reddish bidens were planted in the boxes at the entrance as an experiment.

(Originally a Mexican plant, new biden varieties are developed each year and a red one was tried this year.) In May the entrance was spectacular with these bidens, the Chilean flame trees and the brilliant azaleas.

Since spring, the plants at all the stations and Nantyronen Halt were weeded, watered when dry and deadheaded when the flowers were dying.

At Aberystwyth the flower bed by the toilets was set up with pink geraniums, red geraniums, violas and dwarf hollies. Geraniums and wallflowers were planted in the half-barrels on the platform.

Philip organized the planting at the new Aberystwyth gardens that appeared as the Visit Wales project approached completion.

In front of the new shop and offices, the lefthand flower bed was planted with violas, yellow bidens, red bidens and Jenny’s geraniums. The right-hand bed has geraniums, violas, American Poppies, lupins and a Ginkgo Biloba tree. Behind the building is a new lawn and some Tuscan Cypresses.

Immediately around the shop there is another Ginkgo Biloba and some half-barrels, each holding polyanthus plants around a dramatic Hippeastrum.

Small whitebeam trees (Sorbus Aria Lutescens) were planted around the car park but only one has thrived. One died and others survived as base shoots just above ground level.

Investigations continue!

We planted the third Ginkgo Biloba (the

‘Maidenhair Tree’) beyond the railway lines, near the new museum. Hopefully, this will do better as the species is a survivor. It is classified as the only species left in its genus, family, order and subclass (Ginkgoidae). It is now ‘the only living connection between ferns and conifers’. It evolved long before the first dinosaurs appeared, 245 million years ago.

Fossils of Ginkgo leaves more than 200 million years old are almost identical to G. Biloba leaves today. Its (draft) genome is large at over 3 times the size of the human genome. The genome makes the trees durable. They are resistant to disease and insect attack and able to cope with disturbance by growing aerial roots. The oldest recorded tree is 3,500 years old and a recent study showed that trees up to 667 years old showed little effects of aging and continued to grow. In the past the Ginkgo genus diversified and spread until the early Cretaceous. As with ferns and some other early plants, the genus diversity then fell over time as the angiosperm flowering plants evolved better adaptations to disturbance. No Ginkgo fossils younger than 2.58 million years have been found except in the area in central China where the single species survived to the present time. So far the Ginkgos and most whitebeam angiosperms at Aberystwyth Station are surviving, just.

The new car park contains 3 new plant beds.

The one near the site entrance was planted with Cotinus ‘Royal Purple’, yellow potentillas, Ceanothus, Hebe and Lawson Cypresses. The bed at the far end, opposite the police station has Lawson Cypresses, potentillas and the remaining base shoot of a whitebeam. There is a long, narrow central bed holding a row of 36 potentillas and a central whitebeam base.

A very busy time for volunteers Philip, Edwina, Maureen, Jenny, John, Mark, Maurice, Janet, Mike, Katharine and Clive.

Our volunteers meet once a week, and through their efforts our stations always look at their best no matter what the weather. If you wish to join our amazing band of volunteers helping to maintain our stations then please get in touch via email: info@rheidolrailway.co.uk Page 25

Engines from our Collection Compiled by Gareth Jones

Dick Kerr Petrol Electric No.18 built 1918 The Dick Kerr petrol electric locomotives were born of a time of need. With World War One raging and supply lines becoming increasingly difficult to maintain with fields turning to quagmires the answer was the lightly laid narrow gauge railways of the War Department Light Railways (WDLR). The main issue was by using steam trains close to the front lines it gave away the position of the supply lines to the opposite forces.

This type of engine was one of the designs that provided a solution to this problem.

Ordered by the War Department in 1916 in two batches, one hundred were ordered from Dick Kerr Ltd and a further 100 from British Westinghouse. Built with 45hp engines and an 0-4-0 wheel arrangement, they had a secondary use too, as they could also be used as mobile generators to supply 500 volts for the mobile workshops or sawmills on the WDLR network.

Popular amongst their drivers they did have one flaw.To increase their haulage power they were fitted with very low gearing which made them quite slow and as such lacked the pace to get out of harm’s way when it came.

A noticeable design feature to protect the driver is that the cab is entered from the rear meaning the driver was more protected from the effects of shelling and the engines were often found to be working in pairs coupled back to back which further protected the drivers.

Very few of these engines survive with only two of the hundred built by Dick Kerr surviving, one at the Tacot De Lacs and the one in our collection.

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Engines from our Collection Compiled by Gareth Jones

Kerr Stuart PL Class 0-6-4T No.695 (4408/1928) The PL Class locos were built by Kerr Stuart as a batch of three locos to the gauge of 2ft 6. They were 20 ton 0-6-4T locomotives with small (27 inch diameter) coupled wheels and an axle load of only 4.75 tons.

The railway they were built to run on opened in 1900 as the Parlakimedi Light Railway, however the PLR was taken over by the Bengal-Nagpur Railway (BNR) in 1902. In1928 a batch of these engines was ordered and they were to become the standard class for the line with a total of 8 engines of the type working on the line up to dieselisation in April 1992.

Amzingly for such a small loco class six of the locomotives from this railway have been preserved; PL 691 has been plinthed outside Southern railway headquarters, Chennai, PL 692 has been plinthed outside BNR hotel, Puri, PL 693 has been plinthed on the Ramakrishna beach, Vishakhapatnam, PL 694 has been plinthed outside the Vishakhapatnam station, PL 697 has been plinthed outside DRM office,Vishakhapatnam, and finally our engine No.695 is stored as part of our collection until the day it goes on public display in our new museum.

Whilst a number of photos exist of these engines, during the research for this article I could not find a single image of our engine No.695, most photos feature No.696 as the one above.

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View of the 180-year-old Pumping Waterwheel, showing its largely wooden construction.

180-year-old underground waterwheels discovered in mid-Wales

by Ioan Lord

In March 2023, the remarkable and unique discovery of two, large and intact underground waterwheels was made at an old lead mine near Aberystwyth, mid-Wales. The waterwheels, which measure 16 feet in diameter, were found to be constructed almost entirely of wood and are at least 178 years old.

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Not only are these the second and third underground waterwheels known to have ever been found completely intact in a Welsh metal mine, but they are the only complete wooden ones yet found in Britain and are believed to be the oldest. Both are survivors from the mid-nineteenth century technological

revolution in British metal mining. The mine’s identity is being kept anonymous due to landownership sensitivity and the safety of the superb relics that have been found.

Four adit levels were driven east along the mineral lode during the second half of the eighteenth century. The richness of the orebody resulted in vast stopes soon connecting all four levels underground. In 1840, for the first time, the workings were sunk below the lowest (No. 1) adit. This meant that the water would have to be pumped up to that level in order to drain out to surface, and that the ore would also have to be hauled up to be carried out. Two winzes were sunk below No. 1 Adit, 120 feet apart and nearly a quarter of a mile inbye. The western winze was called the Cornish Sink, and the eastern was called the Welsh Sink, probably referring to the nationality of the miners who were employed in sinking them.

Both were sunk to depths of 10 fathoms, where a 10 Fathom Level was driven to connect them. The mine’s investors made provision for a rare technological installation for the time: a pair of underground wooden waterwheels which were erected at the head of each winze. The one at Cornish Sink was installed in No. 1 Adit to draw (wind) the kibbles of ore from the deeper levels. The one at Welsh Sink was erected in a stope above No. 2 Adit to operate a pumping system. The reason for the wheels being in different adits was so that the water from the highest (pumping wheel) could be reused and fed down the stopes to drive the lowest (drawing wheel). These waterwheels as well as their associated machinery were carried in by hand piece by piece, over 800 feet into the mountain through low and narrow passages, and installed 350 feet below surface by dim candlelight.

A long project to find and record the underground workings at this mine was undertaken by Ioan Lord and Tomasz Zalewski between February and March 2023. This involved accessing areas where

nobody had ventured since the departure of the last miners well over a century ago.

No. 1 Adit had been accessed as far as Cornish Sink by the North Cardiganshire Mining Club in 1978, but the exploration was aborted short of the waterwheels.

The 2023 Lord-Zalewski exploration first examined No. 1 Adit and found it in relatively good condition with a 1’6” gauge tramway still intact on the floor.

Cornish Sink, the drawing winze sunk below No. 1 Adit, was reached on 24 February and the first waterwheel was discovered shortly thereafter. The second waterwheel, situated 80 feet higher above No. 2 Adit, took several days of bolting and rigging to reach and is situated in a much more precarious and dangerous area amongst collapsing stulls and platforms. It was finally reached on the night of 17 March, and light was shone upon the remarkably intact construction for the first time in over 120 years.

The first wheel – Drawing Waterwheel The drawing waterwheel was the first to be discovered, and was totally buried in collapsed debris when first reached.

The site of the wheel was said to have been found during the 1978 North Cardiganshire Mining Club exploration, but since extensive rigging would be required to physically reach the wheelpit (which stands 20 feet above the No. 1 Adit floor) it was not examined and the club claimed that the wheel was merely a collapsed ‘pile of broken wood’. It also claimed that the wheel would have been a special type known as a kerrhad: a reversible waterwheel with buckets facing both directions so that kibbles could be raised and lowered without having to disengage the winding drum.

The 2023 Lord-Zalewski exploration has disproved both claims. The masonry wheelpit was climbed using SRT rigging, and the large debris pile on top was closely examined. Some debris was removed, which revealed that the waterwheel remained intact underneath.

Traces of orange paint even survived

on the wooden felloes. A portion of the structure was exposed in order to conduct a partial survey. It is a conventional type with buckets facing one way only (therefore not a kerrhad), measuring 3 feet breast and c.16 feet diameter. It is placed in a masonry wheelpit built on the bedrock floor of a stope 20 feet above No. 1 Adit. The buckets, felloes and arms are made entirely of wood, but each arm is connected to the felloes by an iron T-shaped shoe. The wooden sole plates on the exposed section have partially fallen away due to the debris which collapsed on top of it. The hub and axle have not been examined owing to the debris which still buries the bulk of the construction.

Two partially-overlapping 3-footdiameter iron sheave wheels are mounted in the stope 30 feet west of the waterwheel, which formerly guided drawing/ winding chains powered by a drum fixed to the wheel axle. This drum was known as a drawing machine. There was formerly a pair of smaller sheave wheels, measuring 9 inches in diameter, which the chains passed under immediately west of the end of the wheelpit, but since the 1978 exploration these have collapsed. The two drawing chains were coiled in opposite directions around the drawing machine, so as the waterwheel

revolved, one chain would raise and the other would lower. The chains (of which one survives) passed over the 3-foot sheaves and descended Cornish Sink (the drawing winze) to raise and lower kibbles (iron buckets) of rock. Cornish Sink is sunk on the steep underlie of the lode, and contains a wooden kibbleway along which the kibbles were designed to slide. This consists of 6-inch-diameter skinned larch pole runners for guiding the kibbles, with boards laid in between them. Immediately below the sheaves is a landing plat, reached by still-intact wooden ladders, where miners received the full kibbles and tipped their contents into a wooden hopper. A brake shoe mounted on the drawing machine would have allowed the operator to stop the kibble level with the landing plat, so that the lander could lock the chain using an unusual pair of blacksmith-made tongs which was chained to a nearby stemple.

The tongs would stop the chain holding the kibble from moving whilst the lander tipped its load into the adjacent hopper.

The contents of the hopper was then emptied into 1’6” gauge tram wagons in No. 1 Adit below, which were then trammed to surface.

No remains survive of the feeder launder which supplied the Drawing Waterwheel, but it is certain that the 1. Drawing Waterwheel 2. Sheave wheels 3. Locking tongs 4. Tail race launders from wheelpit 5. Kibbleway 6. Ladders and platforms for accessing Landing Plat 7. Tail race launders discharge water onto No. 1 Adit floor 8. Cornish Sink (sunk below No. 1 Adit) 9. Landing Plat (for unloading kibbles) 10. Ore hopper with protective planks covering launders

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water was directed from the tailrace of the Pumping Waterwheel in the level above.

Parts of the launder system remained in 1978, and were said to consist of square, 6” internal diameter box-launders coming down the side of the stope, each section connected to the next by conical male-female tapers. However, the launders which carried the tailrace away from the Drawing Waterwheel still survive largely intact. They take the form of large, square box-launders 1 foot in diameter, exiting the base of the wheelpit and running along the wall of the stope through Cornish Sink and the ore hopper. They are fixed to the wall of the stope by iron brackets. 20 feet west of the ore hopper, the launders change from running nearly horizontal to almost vertical. This would have discharged the water from the waterwheel onto the floor of No. 1 Adit, where it naturally drained to the surface. Heavy planks have been laid to protect the box-launders where they pass through the ore hopper, to avoid damage caused by falling rocks.

The second wheel – Pumping Waterwheel After the discovery of the Drawing Waterwheel under the debris on 10 March 2023, it was decided to push even deeper into the old mine workings and attempt to find the Pumping Waterwheel.

Nobody had ventured further than the Drawing Waterwheel since the closure of the mine over a century ago, and thus the condition or even the existence of the Pumping Waterwheel was totally unknown. It was reportedly situated 80 feet higher than the Drawing wheel, in a stope above No. 2 Adit. The next stage of the 2023 exploration required extensive SRT rigging to climb up through several stopes in between the two adits. The stopes were in poor condition and most of the false timber floors were nearing the end of their lives, but after bolting and rigging three more rope pitches, No. 2 Adit was attained. There are many collapses which now prevent direct

access to this point from the original adit portal, which was situated 600 feet to the west. The Pumping Waterwheel was found at 11:30pm on the night of 17 March. It is situated in a stope directly above the roof of No. 2 Adit, and survives completely intact and entirely visible.

Light shone upon it for the first time in a hundred years revealed its remarkable state of preservation. It measures 16 feet diameter and 3 feet breast, and has been constructed almost entirely of wood.

The axle is a single, square-cut timber 1’6” thick, and on each end a circular iron casting is fixed to iron stubs which sit in two axleboxes. The iron axleboxes are of conventional design and are fixed to heavy timber baulks which form the wheel-frame. On the east end, the frame is supported by timbers built into the walls of the stope, but on the west end the frame rests on a drystone wall. The northern side of the frame has collapsed, leaving the northern axlebox hanging in mid-air.

Unlike any of the other known underground waterwheels which survive in Britain, the waterwheel’s design does not consist of cartwheel-like arms fanning out from the axle. Instead, there are two sets of parallel arms which span the diameter of the wheel at every quarter turn. They are not bolted or fixed to the axle, but merely held to it by simple wooden chocks which have been hammered in on each face (see diagram).

Flat iron plates have been bolted across each spot where the arms cross, near the centre of the wheel, for strength. The felloes forming the circumference of the waterwheel consist of an inner and an outer ‘layer’, which is clearly visible in the photographs. Iron cross-ties run between the inner felloes at semi-regular intervals to support the structure.

All that remains of the feeder launder for the pumping waterwheel is a c.1foot-diameter box launder which drops vertically through the roof of the stope 16 feet above the wheel-frame. The next level above the waterwheel is No. 3 Adit, Page 31

whose portal is situated near a brook. It is very likely that the stream, augmented by a leat which passes by its headwaters, was directed into the adit in wooden launders before passing down through the stopes to the Pumping Waterwheel.

No remains survive of the tailrace launder which carried the water on down to the Drawing Waterwheel.

Connected to the iron stub at the south end of the Pumping wheel axle is a large iron crank, to the end of which is connected two, 1”-diameter iron rods.

The rod leading to the west connects to a large, completely intact balance-bob set in a rock alcove. The bob consists of a 5-foot-tall vertical kingpost, connected to the end of a 5-foot-long horizontal rocker arm. The ends of each post are connected by diagonal iron stays and a support beam. A partially-collapsed wooden box is fixed to the west end of the rocker beam, which, filled with rock, counterbalanced the weight of the associated pumping machinery. The rod connecting the bob to the waterwheel passes through a slot near the top of the kingpost and is joined to the stays. The bob is pivoted at the base of the kingpost, with a small iron axle passing through two axleboxes fixed to timber baulks on the floor of the alcove.

The rod leading east from the waterwheel crank is the sweep rod, and connects to a small, well-preserved angle-bob. The angle-bob is like a double-ended version of the balancebob, but exists solely to transfer the motion of the sweep rod from horizontal to vertical. The vertical pump rods which are connected to the end of the angle-bob only measure an inch in diameter, and descend clumsily through the partially collapsed stopes for 100 feet vertically to reach Welsh Sink (the pumping winze below No. 1 Adit). Being situated above No. 2 Adit, the waterwheel had only to pump the water as far as No. 1 where it could naturally drain to the surface. The pump rods running down through the stopes are guided by thick iron rollers mounted on timbers. Their condition at No. 1 Adit, at the head of the pump itself, is not known due to a collapse preventing access. It is probable that the rods entered the rising main here, where they powered a plunger pump within the pipe. A wooden cistern at the head of the rising main would have directed the water into No. 1 Adit to drain out to surface.

The design of the remarkably-preserved Pumping Waterwheel is unique amongst the three now known to survive 1. Balance-bob 2. Section of waterwheel with felloe removed to show buckets and sole-plates 3. Section of waterwheel showing detail of side, including inner and outer felloes, iron braces and sole-plates 4. Projection of feeder launder (no longer intact) 5. Feeder launder (still intact) 6. Pumping Waterwheel. Axle is connected to a crank which powers the pumping rods 7. Angle-bob 8. Pumping rods descending Welsh Sink

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underground in Wales. Its largely wooden construction, and particularly its two sets of parallel arms, bear striking similarity with the Medieval, German waterwheels depicted in Georgius Agricola’s De Re Metallica of 1556. No other nineteenthcentury mine waterwheels in mid-Wales are depicted with this arm design.

Significance of the discovery In conclusion, the discovery of these two, 180-year-old waterwheels in March 2023 has more than doubled the number of underground waterwheels known to survive totally intact in Wales. They

are also the only wooden underground waterwheels from their time that are known to still exist in Britain. It has enhanced our knowledge of early- to mid-nineteenth-century waterwheel design and installation, serving as the oldest complete underground shaftpumping and drawing arrangement still visible in the country. These two wheels, along with their machinery, had stood in total darkness for over a century until light was first shone upon them one cold, dark night in March after many days of underground exploration.

View looking up at the spectacular Pumping Waterwheel, seen for the first time in over a century on 17 March.

N.B. These mines are on Private property and entry is forbidden unless by prior arrangement. Mines in the Valley are very dangerous owing to the vertical shafts and the potential for them to be hidden within woodland. Exploration should only be undertaken by experienced persons!

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The Welsh Potosi

By Ioan Lord

The Plynlimon Mountains, situated in the heart of central Wales and the wider Cambrian Mountains, were once known by a different name, a name that was composed to reflect the riches of South America during the seventeenth century.

The mountainous region stretching north from Ponterwyd was christened the ‘Welsh Potosi’, after the Worldfamous Potosí silver mines in Bolivia.

Over fifty mines were opened to extract the ores of lead, zinc, copper and silver, and numerous plans were made to construct railways and other transportation links from the mountains to the coast. Villages and scattered communities were established high in the hills, as the Plynlimon Mountains became populated with miners and engineers living alongside farmers and shepherds. Dwellings and landmarks were given names such as the ‘California of Wales’, the ‘Welsh Broken Hill’ and ‘Spain’. The ‘Welsh Potosi’ grew to be so important that it led to a significant change in the future of British metal mining in 1693.

Today, the industrial significance of these hills between Aberystwyth and Llangurig is largely forgotten, and the name has long vanished from every map. It is hoped that this book will breathe new life and interest into the once-famous ‘Welsh Potosi’.

Priced £45.00

Published September 2023 Hardback, 320 pages Only available from our bookshop and webshop:

https://www.rheidolrailway.co.uk/shop Page 34

Vale of Rheidol Web Shop All the products you would expect to find in our store, online.

Can’t find a certain product? Email us shop@rheidolrailway.co.uk

www.rheidolrailway.co.uk/shop The Vale of Rheidol Railway in Detail Published March 2022, after five years in the making, this fantastic book brings the technical history of the Rheidol up to date.

It features drawings of all our rolling stock and buildings along with livery diagrams, an ideal resource for modellers and VoR fans alike.

Available for purchase from our website below or come and visit our shop & see what else we have on offer.

Photo by John R Jones

www.rheidolrailway.co.uk Telephone us: 01970 625 819 - Park Avenue, Aberystwyth SY23 1PG