A barrow gauge rarity
It’s not often you see items associated with the opening of railways on the open market, as they tend to be tucked away in museums or prestigious private collections. However, there was an exception when a very special wheelbarrow appeared at a Halls of shrewsbury country house auction on september 28. the oak silver mounted wheelbarrow and spade was presented to Mrs dugdale of llwyn, llanfyllin by contractor thomas savin to mark her cutting the first sod of the llanfyllin railway on friday september 20 1861. It sold for a hammer price of £4,100. the llanfyllin railway opened from llanymynech via llansantffraid, llanfechain and Bryngwyn in 1863 to allow access to limestone quarries and the main line from oswestry to newtown. savin was a controversial Victorian entrepreneur and former mayor of oswestry, who went bankrupt after developing much of the Mid-wales railway system. “railway items with this level of provenance always attract great interest from collectors and we were delighted with the price it achieved at auction,” said Jeremy lamond, Halls’ fine art director.