The Bicslade Tramroad was a

wagonway Wagonways (also spelt Waggonways), also known as horse-drawn railways and horse-drawn railroad consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded Steam locomotive, steam-powered rail transport, railways. The t ...

built by the

Severn and Wye Railway The Severn and Wye Railway began as an early tramroad network established in the Forest of Dean to facilitate the carriage of minerals to watercourses for onward conveyance. It was based on Lydney, where a small harbour was constructed, and open ...

(S&WR) in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

, Gloucestershire, England. The first section of the line was opened in 1812 as a branch of the S&WR

plateway A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later. Plateways consisted of "L"-shaped rails, where the flange o ...

from

Lydney Lydney is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been bypassed by the A48 road since 1995 ...

Lydbrook Lydbrook is a civil parish in the Forest of Dean, a local government district in the English county of Gloucestershire and is located in the Wye Valley. It is on the north west edge of the Forest of Dean's present legal boundary proper. It compri ...

, which had opened in 1810.Ron Huxley, ''The rise and fall of the Severn Bridge Railway'', 1984, It was expanded over time to serve the

collieries Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

and

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

in the Bixslade valley (although the S&WR referred to the line as the ''Bicslade'' Tramroad); the last stretch, to Bixhead Quarry, opened in 1855. Stone traffic ceased in 1944 and coal followed in 1946.

History

Opened in 1812, the line ran between Bixhead Quarry and Bicslade Wharf. It served the Forest of Dean Stone Firm, Union Pit (also known as the Bixshead Slade Pit), Mine Train Quarry, Bixslade Low Level (Bixslade Deep Level), Hopewell Mapleford Colliery, Bixslade High Level (Bixslade Land Level),

Spion Kop Quarry Spion Kop Quarry () is a nature reserve in Gloucestershire in the Forest of Dean. Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al., 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Glouce ...

, Bixhead Quarry and Phoenix Colliery, in addition to several other minor quarries. Extensions and sidings were constructed continually between 1812 and 1855 to serve the different industries of the area. In 1855 the tramroad reached its largest extent, with two passing loops. From 1874, when the

was converted into locomotive power, cargo carried by the line was transferred at Bicslade Wharf onto trains to be shipped to their destinations. In 1899 stone from Mine Train Quarry was being sent via the branch to the

Marquis of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart was the member of a family that ...

for work on the renovation of

Cardiff Castle Cardiff Castle ( cy, Castell Caerdydd) is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top ...

. The line gradually declined during the beginning of the 20th century; on 25 July 1944 the last stones were transported via the line and coal traffic stopped in 1946. The tramway continued to be operated by

horse-power Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

until traffic finally ceased in the 1950s, by which time it was the last working horse-powered tramroad operating in the Forest of Dean.

Today

Almost the entirety of the Tramroad's route has been converted into public footpaths. Nearby,

Cannop Ponds Cannop Ponds () are two large ponds, just north of Parkend in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. The ponds, and surrounding area, are a popular tourist destination. An area of reeds above the top pond, known as 'Cannop Bridge Marsh ...

(a reservoir which used the tramroad as a dam) is now a popular visitor attraction and picnic site, owned by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

. A guide along the path of the tramroad has been published by the local history society and is available in many nearby shops. One freemine, Monument Mine, and three quarries continue to operate in the Bixslade valley, largely hidden by woodland. Two of the trams on the line have been preserved and are now on public display at the

Dean Heritage Centre The Dean Heritage Centre is located in the valley of Soudley, Gloucestershire, England in the Forest of Dean and exists to record and preserve the social and industrial history of the area and its people. The centre comprises the museum itself, ...

and at the

Narrow Gauge Railway Museum The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (Welsh: ''Amgueddfa Rheilffyrdd Bach Cul'') is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow-gauge railways situated at the station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales. The museum has a collection of mo ...

Tywyn Tywyn (Welsh: ; in English often ), formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the loc ...

References

* The Forest of Dean Local History Society, ''The Bicslade Tramroad Trail'' pamphlet

External links

The Forest of Dean Local History Society's Website
{{Transport in Gloucestershire Rail transport in Gloucestershire Railway lines opened in 1812 Horse-drawn railways

History

Today

See also

References

External links