Early Tramroads in the Telford Area (East Shropshire)

[rogerfarnworth]

Having moved to Telford relatively recently, I have started to look in detail at the railway heritage of the area. This starts with a waggonway being in existence by at least 1605 (but maybe earlier). Over four centuries of various forms of railway!

My first offering on the Railways of Telford was a review of a book by David Clarke with the same title, see this link ....

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2021/12/26/t ... ook-review

This second offering begins a series looking at the waggonways/plateways/tramways/tramroads which preceded the coming of the more modern railways. There is probably a debate to be had over the correct names to use for these lines. I have not decided but I have used the word 'tramroad' in the title of the series. Perhaps 'plateways' would be better as most of these lines were in the end made up of a series of short L-shaped rails sitting on stone blocks and were used by trams/wagons which had wheels without flanges. Others may have firm opinions about this!?

OS Maps seem invariably to use the word 'Tramway' for these old lines.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/04/25/an ... -tramroads

The area around what is now central Telford, and particularly the Severn Gorge and Coalbrookdale are known as the cradle of the industrial revolution. They are significant because of the major steps forward made in the production of cast and wrought iron.

[rogerfarnworth]

The second post in this series has been completed. It covers the Coalbrookdale Company Tramroads which appear on the 6" OS Maps from 1882/83 and later map series, particularly the 25" series from the turn of the 20th century.

I have walked a major part of the network as it existed in around 1882 and have provided present day photographs of the routes where ever possible.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/04/26/an ... er-surveys

[rogerfarnworth]

A recent local walk took in possible and probable Tramroad routes and a remaining length of the Ketley Canal. .....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/06/04/ke ... nal-part-1

[rogerfarnworth]

Just a short distance from our home, no more than 200 metres, is the site of what was Little Eyton Colliery. The colliery was served by a tramway/tramroad which was used to carry coal/ironstone to the Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal and later to the LNWR's Coalport Branch which followed the route of the erstwhile canal.

The linked article below follows the route of the tramway down into what is now Telford Town Park.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/06/15/an ... lee-part-1

The featured image shows typical trams and pit head gear at Blists Hill Victorian Museum.

[rogerfarnworth]

A third installment of the review of old tramways in the area in and around what is now Telford Town Park. The linked article covers the tramroads in the immediate area with the exception of those in the vicinity of the old Coalport Branch (LNWR) and the Stirchley Branch (GWR). ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/06/26/an ... ee-part-3/

The map below traced by Savage & Smith in The Waggon-ways and Plateways of East Shropshire, shows how extensive the network of tramroads in the area was. [1: p164] Even so, the plan is not exhaustive. We have already encountered the tramroad which served Little Eyton Colliery. This appeared in the first part of this series centred on Malinslee for which the link is provided above.

It ran along the lane shown to the North of Langleyfield Colliery on the plan below. The slag heap from Little Eyton Colliery is shown on the sketch plan.

It is important to understand that the tramroads shown on the plan below did not necessarily all exist at the same time. Savage & Smith illustrated their routes with different symbols ......

[rogerfarnworth]

I have recently undertaken a detailed review of a book by R.F. Savage and L.D.W. Smith entitled, The Waggon-ways and Plate-ways of East Shropshire. [1] This was a research paper produced in 1965. The original document is held in the Archive Office of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. It was a timely document. Large parts of the area surveyed by the authors were changed almost beyond recognition as the Development Corporation got to work on creating what became the new town of Telford, where (in 2023) I now live. Their work included a detailed series of drawing produced by hand, tracing as best they could the lines of tramroads from smaller scaled plans onto 6″ to the mile and 1″ to the mile drawings. The linked article is quite long. ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/01/22/an ... d-network/

[rogerfarnworth]

Part 8 – Malinslee Part 4 – the East side of Malinslee in the vicinity of the later Coalport (LNWR) and Stirchley (GWR) Branches. ...

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/02/01/an ... -branches/

[rogerfarnworth]

One very early Tramroad was set up to transport products of the Lilleshall Company from their heart lands around Oakengates and further North down to Sutton Wharf on the River Severn.

The tramroad was active by 1799 and closed by 1815. Closure resulted from an agreement with the Shropshire Canal to transport Lilleshall goods to the River Severn at a reduced rate.

The main run of this Tramroad is covered in the article below. ...

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/02/25/ea ... arly-inte/