{"id":19254,"date":"2019-12-10T10:00:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T10:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/?p=19254"},"modified":"2019-12-10T00:00:07","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T00:00:07","slug":"cefn-onn-halt-cardiff-nine-historic-photos-by-rob-masterman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/cefn-onn-halt-cardiff-nine-historic-photos-by-rob-masterman\/","title":{"rendered":"Cefn Onn Halt, Cardiff – nine historic photos by Rob Masterman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

I’ve always been fascinated by Cefn Onn Halt, a tiny former station located at the southern end of the mile-long Caerphilly tunnel.<\/p>\n

Accessible only by foot – and some considerable distance from the nearest settlement – I found it rather a romantic and mysterious location, and I’m chuffed that photographer Rob Masterman has allowed me to reproduce some of his excellent archive photos of the station.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

I wrote at length about my relationship with the station<\/a> in an earlier photo feature:<\/p>\n

I regularly used the halt to commute to work in the late 70s and, latterly, found the station a convenient starting point for long, solitary walks up Cefn Onn Ridge and Caerphilly Mountain.<\/p>\n

Waiting for the train was always a pleasant experience, as the secluded cutting was almost silent apart from the sound of a nearby brook, the wind in the trees and singing birds.<\/p>\n

The imminent arrival of a train was always an exciting moment – you’d hear the distant rumble of the train entering the northern portal of the tunnel, with a deep ‘whooshing’ sound getting louder and louder before the train burst into the daylight, just 20m from the platform.<\/p>\n

At this point you had to manically wave your arms around to get the driver to stop (a mission I was not always successful at).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wikipedia reports that the station closed on 27 September 1986, adding:<\/p>\n

This was due to its close vicinity to the tunnel entrance, which resulted in many trains overshooting the platform and having to reverse.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

Roger Newbury also shared his memories of the halt in his personal blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Cefn Onn Halt was opened by the Great Western Railway to serve the 160-acre wooded area known as Cefn-Onn Country Park (curiously, the halt was known as \u2018Cefn On Halt\u2019 until British Rail returned the missing letter \u2018n\u2019 back in the 1960s).<\/p>\n

The down station platform was connected to the opposite platform (and Cefn Onn Parc) by a high wooden footbridge.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

\"Cefn<\/p>\n

(c) All photos by robmasterman@hotmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

More about Cefn Onn Halt<\/h2>\n