150 years ago this month, the Pembroke and Tenby Railway was completed when it was extended to Whitland and five new

stations were opened. The new line’s grand opening was marked with a celebratory banquet on September 4, 1866.

The railway was to change the face of Tenby forever, bringing families to the resort in huge numbers. Over 100 years before the construction of the Cleddau Bridge, the route to Tenby by rail involved travelling to Neyland, then called New Milford, and taking the ferry to Pembroke Dock.

Contemporary articles in the Tenby and Pembroke Dock Observer tell the final part in the story of the

railway’s

construction.

Engineer’s Report

Tenby, August 22, 1866

GENTLEMEN,—In the absence of Mr. Mathias, I have to report that the permanent way and works between Tenby and Pembroke-Dock continue to be maintained in an efficient manner, and the rolling stock kept in fair condition.

The works on the extension are near completion. A considerable delay has taken place, which has arisen chiefly in the tunnel, through circumstances which could not have been forseen or prevented. However, all difficulties there have been surmounted, and it is now arched where necessary.

The permanent way is ballasted and completed. Five passenger stations are erected, and ready for use, viz.—Tenby, Saundersfoot, Kilgetty, Narberth, and Whitland; at the Saundersfoot station there is a branch line into the Moreton collieries.

There are six over bridges to be built; but as they are all in deep cuttings, their construction will not in any way impede the traffic.

Additional rolling stock has been brought on the line, in anticipation of the increased passenger and mineral traffic.

I am, Gentlemen, your

obedient Servant,

John Pennie,

Assistant Engineer.

“It will interest our readers to learn that the Pembroke and Tenby Railway from Whitland through Narberth to Tenby is now finished, and the Government Inspector is expected to go over it in the course of a few days. This will open up direct communication with Narberth, Tenby, Pembroke, Pembroke-Dock, and the southern shores of Milford Haven. Passengers will have no longer any

occasion to endure the long and tiresome route through New Milford, with its inconvenient and objectionable ferry, to get to Tenby, which is one of the most picturesque and charming watering places in the country, but hitherto almost inaccessible. The day for opening has not yet been fixed. It is impossible to do so until the Government Inspector has seen the line, which is now ready for him. The inhabitants of Tenby have determined to celebrate the opening with great eclat. There will be a grand banquet, to which Messrs. Davies and Roberts, the enterprising contractors, are invited. Accommodation will be limited to three hundred, and those who wish to join in the festivities should make early application for tickets. The event could not be allowed to pass in any ordinary way. The opening of this line, to use a common phrase, will be “the making of Tenby,” and the inhabitants have very properly resolved to show that they understand its value.—Welshman.