Manchester and Milford Railway; Aberystwyth to Pencader, Penpontbren to Llangurig

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NPRN91660
Map ReferenceSN43NW
Grid ReferenceSN4460036740
Unitary (Local) AuthorityCarmarthenshire
Old CountyCarmarthenshire
CommunityLlanfihangel-ar-arth
Type Of SiteRAILWAY
PeriodPost Medieval, 19th Century
Description
The southern section of the Manchester and Milford Railway opened throughout on 12 August 1867 from Pencader Junction (SN 4460 3674) to a terminus (SN 5855 8152) in Aberystwyth station (nprn 34676). It closed between Aberystwyth and Strata Florida station (nprn 41349) due to flooding at Llanilar on 14 December 1964; closed officially between Aberystwyth and Pont Llanio (nprn 41351) on 22 February 1965; closed between Pont Llanio and Aberaeron Junction 30 September 1970; closed between Aberaeron Junction and Carmarthen 1973.
The northern section of the railway (see nprn 410211) was built between Penpontbren Junction (nprn 301485) and a point about 1km to the west of Llangurig Station (nprn 404402) at SN 8994 8017. It was not opened for regular traffic; the track was lifted and the route abandoned in the late nineteenth century. A tunnel, 2km long, was planned to carry the railway from the Wye valley, west of Pant Mawr, to the Myherin valley and on towards Devil's Bridge; evidence of the approach cuttings is believed to be visible at SN 8167 8160 (northeast end) (nprn 406893) and SN 7996 8031 (southwest end) (nprn 406894); however, at both these locations the likely earthworks shown on the first edition OS 6in map are marked as 'Old Quarry'.
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 04 February 2010.