The Whitland & Cardigan Railway

By M R C Price FIRST published in 1976, this is now the third edition of the book telling the story of a rural line in West Wales, complete with a new chapter incorporating additional material which has emerged. Know locally as the ‘Cardi Bach’, this locally promoted line opened for freight in March 1873 from a junction with the Great Western Railway at Whitland northwards to Glogue, providing a rail outlet for the slate quarries along with lead and silver mines in the area. Passenger services followed in July that year, slightly in advance of official inspection! Having reached Crymmych Arms, a little beyond Glogue, the aim was to extend to Cardigan at the mouth of Afon (River) Teifi. This stretched the company financially and was only finally achieved with the benefit of Great Western money. Opening through to Cardigan in 1886 must have been bittersweet for the directors, the objective had been achieved but at the cost of the railway effectively being absorbed into the GWR. The last passenger train over the line ran in September 1962, the final freight in May 1963 and track lifting was completed by July 1964. While little remains physically of this inevitably somewhat idiosyncratic line, its memory is still held dear in the locality and for its story to continue to be available in print is to be welcomed. CST Published by The Oakwood Press, www. stenlake.co.uk, 136 pages, softback. £15.95