The advent of the railway. The first train ran through Ely on the 18th June 1850 (Waterloo Day) but the new Ely Station didnt open until early September. On the 5th July 1850 the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian reported the end of the mail stage coaches, the mail henceforth would be conveyed by rail. The mail stage coaches from Newport to Cowbridge took 3 hrs and 45 mins, while the train completed the same distance in about a third of the time. The railway enhanced employment opportunities for the local population with the ensuing activities that railway yards bring and the first major brewery opening in 1853/5, Ely Racecourse through the Cardiff Race Club started their first racing calendar in 1855. The Ely Paper Works opened in 1865, plus you had the construction of these industries buildings, along with the building of the Ely Industrial School in 1862 and Station Terrace (1850s) etc. At a later date many more companies set up around the railway which had become the focal point for industry in the village of Ely, like Chivers, Lougher, the Ely Market and more breweries. Around 1880 the Bridge Inn was enlarged to a two storey building and the old White Lion Inn was demolished and the new White Lion built and opened by 1894. You could say that after the coming of the railway in 1850 Ely village was booming for the next 50 years and the next phase would be the building of the Ely housing estates in the 1920s.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 08:07:52 +0000
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