Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage and legacy

Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - Even More Moments Captured in Time - [vintage photo and postcard album] . . .

The Viaduct, Taff's Well - The Taff Vale Railway, the Glamorganshire Canal and the Walnut Tree viaduct of the Barry Railway Company. First the canal opened in 1798, the TVR 1840-41 and then the Barry Railway 1889 and the Walnut Tree tunnel and viaduct of 1901 spanned just over a century of the growth of transport of iron and coal from the valleys of South Wales to the coast and export. All that history in one postcard view! [000] [002]

Another view of the Walnut Tree Viaduct in 1960's attributed to Dr. Mary Gillham M.B.E. The viaduct was built upon brick towers and the steelwork lattice spans were 120 feet at their highest and the entire structure was 1,548 feet in length. It was designed by Sir James Szlumper (1834-1926) for the Barry Railway Company and was built in one year. [634]

In the mid-1950's, when I were a lad, father was a ticket collector based at Barry and me and brother Clive travelled on the footplate of a saddle tank engine across the viaduct and on through the Wenvoe Tunnel. I remember as a 5 or 6 year old being terrified but fascinated at the sounds, the steam, the bright fire, and that sheer drop on each side as we chugged over that viaduct pulling a passenger service towards Barry. [000] [002]