The Railways of Herefordshire and the Southern Marches

This is the second book written by Heather Hurley which focuses on railway history. The first concentrated or the early tramways/tramroads of the Wye valley. A short review of that earlier book can be found here:

In this latest publication, Heather Hurley provides a social history of the lines which served the area between Ludlow in the North and Chepstow in the South – the area shown in the map below.

Given the essentially rural nature of the Southern Marches, it is sometimes easy to forget the industries which existed in the area and the manifest need, in the 19th century, for the railway connections which developed over time.

This book is an obvious successor to Hurley’s earlier study of the Tramways in the Wye valley. It is “written by a local historian, not a railway enthusiast, who has delved through the archives of 18 railway companies: two were abandoned from the start, four remained open, with another partly restored as a heritage line. Apart from the documentary research, a great deal of fieldwork was undertaken [by Hurley] in the counties of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Brecknockshire and Radnorshire, in order to provide important visual information.”

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/07/29/the-railways-of-herefordshire-and-the-southern-marches/