Following the success of our Brunel 200 Exhibition we have re-staged the display to include some recent acquisitions. It includes photographs of the route throughout its life and many local artefacts from the Parish of St Agnes.

In 1895 the London & South West Railway reached Wadebridge from Launceston creating fears within the GWR that it might reach Truro by constructing a route via Newquay. GWR was anxious to safeguard its mid-Cornwall position and reached a compromise with the LSWR. Hence in 1903 the GWR opened its line from Chacewater to Newquay as a single track branch. As often happened in Cornwall due to the topography, the stations were somewhat remote from the villages that they served. The smaller villages were served by Halts with Pagoda-style buildings, as shown in the photograph, and only St Agnes and Perranporth had what might be called “proper” stations with goods facilities.

Our display includes photographs of the Halts and Station buildings, and also shows various stages of the construction.

The line was closed in 1963 and unfortunately demolition started almost immediately as shown in other photographs. One is tempted to think that, had demolition been delayed, perhaps the line could have been retained as tourist attraction with steam trains plying the route.

Two interesting stories are associated with St Agnes Station. On one occasion an engine was derailed when the driver saw the green flag but not the signal which was linked to the points. The other occasion was on 31 October 1958, as shown in the photograph, when Mr Bradley moved his entire farm stock from St Agnes to Raglan in Monmouthshire. This included all his machinery and 90 head of Ayrshire cattle. They were milked before they left and again when they reached their new home.

 

Other exhibitions in 2009

Moving Cattle by railway
Photo: Ken Young

Pagoda at Mithian Halt

Click images to enlarge