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Thursday, 02-Sep-2010 18:32:18 BST
Architectural Town Walk
Railway
Aberystwyth Railway Station was opened on 1 August 1864, the terminus for a line across mid-Wales constructed by several small concerns that in 1864-5 amalgamated to form the Cambrian Railways Company. On 12 August 1867 a branch from Carmarthen (actually Pencader) was opened by the Manchester and Milford Railway. By 1872 the station consisted of two main platforms for the Cambrian line and a separate two-platformed bay for Carmarthen trains. Substantial alterations were made in 1893-4, but the major development came after the Cambrian was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1922 (the Carmarthen line had been operated by the G. W. R. since 1906). In 1924-5 a new station frontage designed by Harris and Sheppard was erected and the platforms and covering canopies considerably extended. The present station facilities occupy some of the 1872 buildings, backed by the platform and canopy of 1894. Other remains of the 1872 station are still extant, while the 1924-5 building has been converted to a pub.
The present ticket office etc. were originally two railway houses, one for the Signalman and the other for the Stationmaster and date from about 1872. The present platform and canopy date from 1893-4. The disused platform and canopy opposite are from 1872. The former Carmarthen line platforms are now occupied by the Vale of Rheidol Narrow Gauge Railway, a steam-operated tourist line that runs for 12 miles along the Rheidol Valley to Devil’s Bridge. The line was opened in 1902 and, although now in private hands, had the distinction of being the last line operated by British Railways using steam engines. The original terminus of this line was by the Arriva bus garage. In 1924 the line was extended back to a terminus where the present canopy to Sommerfield is now. In 1968 it was moved to its present position.
Board School, of 1872-4, by Szlumper & Aldwinkle
Opposite is the former Board School, of 1872-4, by Szlumper & Aldwinkle. A Gothic design, with long rear additions of 1910, a stepped array of gables to Park Road, and flat-capped and onion-domed roof ventilators, the school has been repaired lately and subdivided into offices and a nursery school.
The school was built at the behest of nonconformists who were unhappy that their children had to attend the Anglican-sponsored National School. It was built as a result of Forster's Education Act of 1870 and is thought to be one of the earliest results of that Act.
Towards Sommerfield, past the mini-roundabout and through the schoolyard to Park Avenue
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