Six Bells Halt railway station

Six Bells Halt railway station was a station which served the Six Bells Colliery near Abertillery in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.[1]

Six Bells Halt
Location	Six Bells, Blaenau Gwent Wales
Coordinates	51.7212°N 3.1288°W
Grid reference	SO221030
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
27 September 1937	Opened
30 April 1962	Closed

History

The halt was opened by the Great Western Railway on 27 September 1937 on its line from 6-mile (9.7-kilometre) branch from Aberbeeg to Nantyglo.[2][3][4] The route had first opened as a tramroad in 1824 by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company before being converted to a railway in 1855.[5] It became part of the Great Western Railway in 1880[6] and remained there at the Grouping of 1923.[7]

The station was situated to the north-east of Six Bells Colliery which was served by a network of sidings which remained in use until 30 November 1980.[8] The line was four-tracked to the south of Six Bells Halt narrowing to two lines going through the station beyond which was a loop serving two small collieries.[9] The 35-lever Cwmnantygroes signal box, which lay to the north, was in use until 11 October 1964.[9] The station was provided with an island platform reached via a footbridge.[10] A private siding for J. Lancaster & Co. Ltd trailed off to the west; this was in use from 1891 to 1980.[10] In 1947, two special trains for National Coal Board staff were running daily between Ebbw Vale and Six Bells.[11] This attracted criticism in the House of Commons on the basis of the costs involved.[11] Passenger services were withdrawn from the station on 30 April 1962.[12][4][3] The line through the station was singled on 3 May 1971.[13] The route was progressively shortened as collieries were closed, with the last section being taken out of use in 1989 after the closure of Six Bells Colliery.[14][15]

To the south of Six Bells Halt, there had been a previous station which served the colliery between July 1897 and July 1902.[16] This was an untimetabled halt for the use of miners.[16]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Abertillery Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company		Aberbeeg Line and station closed

Proposed re-opening

In 2010 Sewta proposed to reopen the line through Six Bells Halt as part of a scheme which would see a new station at Abertillery with an hourly service to Cardiff.[17] The estimated cost of extending the line to Abertillery was estimated at £16.7m according to Sewta. Part of the trackbed, which is owned by Blaenau Gwent Council, is used as a cycleway and there was thought to be sufficient space for a single track.[18] However, after the scheme was omitted from the Welsh Government's National Transport Plan for funding priorities until 2015, Welsh Transport Minister Carl Sargeant AM confirmed that the new station would not be a priority until after 2015.[19]

References

Notes

1. Conolly (2004), p. 43, section B2.
2. Page (1988), p. 141.
3. Quick (2009), p. 354.
4. Butt (1995), p. 213.
5. Page (1988), pp. 141-142.
6. Awdry (1990), p. 36.
7. Awdry (1990), p. 13.
8. Mitchell & Smith (2006), fig. XX.
9. Mitchell & Smith (2006), fig. 66.
10. Mitchell & Smith (2006), fig. 67.
11. "Coal Board Staff, South Wales". House of Commons Debates. Hansard. 31 March 1947. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
12. Clinker (1988), p. 124.
13. Mitchell & Smith (2006), plate 73.
14. Page (1988), p. 142.
15. Hall (2009), p. 52.
16. Croughton, Kidner & Young (1982), p. 126.
17. "Valleys railway station plans backed". South Wales Argus. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
18. Deans, David (30 September 2012). "Abertillery rail link could cost £16.7m, says South East Wales Transport Alliance". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
19. Deans, David (25 September 2012). "Assembly drops Abertillery rail station plan". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 16 June 2013.

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• Clinker, C.R. (1988) [1978]. Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nd ed.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 978-0-905466-91-0. OCLC 655703233.

• Conolly, W. Philip (2004) [1958]. British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0320-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner, R.W.; Young, Alan (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations: Halts and Stopping Places. Trowbridge: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-281-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hall, Mike (2009). Lost Railways of South Wales. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-172-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (August 2006). Abertillery and Ebbw Vale Lines. Welsh Valleys. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-9044-7484-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Page, James (1988) [1979]. South Wales. Forgotten Railways. 8. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-946537-44-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.