New tourist site to be accessible to all

by Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

In a bid to make a tourist attraction in Welshpool accessible to all, a planning application to build a ramped pathway at the Llanfair Railway Cattle Docks (pictured) has been lodged.

The work would be part of a £40,000 scheme to restore the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway Docks on Smithfield road behind Tesco.

The design and access statement with the application says: “The disability Discrimination Act 1995 seeks to avoid discrimination against people with disabilities and impairments, and for instance ensures that work premises do not disadvantage someone with a disability.

“The proposed ramp will allow wheelchair access to the site.”

The £40,000 Cattle Docks restoration is the first project to be steered by the newly formed Welshpool Civic Pride Group.

The money for the project comes from the Landfill Communities Fund and is the first of two phases of restoring this part of historic Welshpool.

Work on the nearby Motte and Bailey Castle which pre-dates Powis Castle and Victoria Bowling Club is supposed to follow soon after.

Welshpool Town Clerk, Robert Robinson, said: “The town council has a long lease on all the land within the project. The scheme is set to restore the platform and cattle docks.

“We aim to install paths to access the site including for disabled people, interpretation boards that will explain the significance of the docks as well as restoring of the old railway hut to provide an educational base for people to study the railway and other heritage.”

The docks are of historical significance as they a rare surviving interchange facility between narrow and broad gauge railways.

Built in 1903, the docks provided a connection between the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway narrow gauge and the Cambrian Railways standard gauge tracks. It remained in use until 1956.

Three parallel rails in the transfer dock allowed access for both standard and narrow gauge rolling stock to the same platforms.