In collaboration with The Friends of St Mary’s Church Ross on Wye, local historian Heather Hurley will discuss her new book this evening (Wednesday, December 7).

Entitled “Horse-Drawn Tramways of the Wye Valley”, it’s a richly illustrated book which offers captivating insights into early nineteenth-century transport history, trade routes and the beginnings of the steam railway on the Welsh border.

The early tramways in the Wye Valley—variously termed as railways, waggon-ways or tram roads—were a transport system of horse-drawn waggons on rails.

This book explores all known tramways—the routes taken, the companies that built and ran them, and the people who used them—in and around the Wye Valley, to provide a fascinating history of this short-lived form of transportation from the late eighteenth century to the introduction of steam locomotives in the 1850s.

Drawing on extensive research of Tramway Company archives, acts and ledgers, maps and plans, newspapers and journals, archaeological reports, books and illustrations, Heather has also carried out fieldwork in Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Powys.

The talk takes place this evening, Wednesday December 7, at 7pm; it’s taking place at St Mary’s Church, Ross-on-Wye, and tickets cost £8.