s such a scene been witnessed on such an occasion! In vain did some of
the influential company present attempt to smooth things over. Mr.
Whalley was not to be easily downed, and amidst a chorus of "hisses,
whistles and pipes" he was heard declaring that he was a gentleman, a
member of Parliament and a magistrate, and "it was not his place to argue
with men like the contractors."

[Picture: Lieut.-Col. David Davies, M.P. Chairman 1911-1922]

But that was long ago, and by 1904 had been almost forgotten. What was
more present in the public mind was the advantage to owners and traders
and travellers alike of the formation of the through route (passing near
to the gigantic Birmingham Waterworks at Rhayader, and attaining the
highest point on the Cambrian system, at Pantydwr, 947 feet above
sea-level), along which, every year, in growing numbers, the Cambrian
trains have carried hosts of excursionists from the teeming valleys of
South Wales to refresh themselves--and spend money--in the health resorts
of Cardigan Bay.

In the same year, too, the Tanat Valley Railway, from Oswestry to
Llangynog, to which reference has already been made in a previous
chapter, {131} the first sod having been cut at Porthywaen by the
Countess of Powis on September 12th, 1899, was opened for traffic. Six
years later, in 1910, the Mawddwy Railway, running from Cemmes Road to
Dinas Mawddwy, which had formerly belonged to an independent Company and
later closed, was re-opened under the Light Railways Act, and worked by
the Cambrian, while in 1913, power was obtained to carry out yet another
amalgamation, which, small in itself, considerably adds to the amenities
of tourist traffic in the neighbourhood of Aberystwyth.

This was the absorption of the little Vale of Rheidol Light Railway,
which, authorised by Act of August 6th, 1897, had been constructed on a
two feet gauge, with power to enlarge up to 4ft. 8.5 inches, from that
resort up the valley for just over a dozen miles to the beauteous gorge
spanned by the far-famed Devil's Bridge. Though an independent company,
its directors were later entirely drawn from the Cambrian Board, with Mr.
Alfred Herbert, of Burway, South Croydon, as chairman. The line was
opened for goods traffic in August 1902 and for passengers the following
December, and since then many thousands of visitors to Aberystwyth have
made the delightful journey which its winding course along the hillside
affords to lov