Colwyn Bay Heritage Society, Pennant 644

Colwyn Bay Heritage Society

The Coming of the Railway to Colwyn Bay

When the Rev’d Venables Williams was appointed Vicar of the parish Llandrillo yn Rhos in 1869 there was no such place as Colwyn Bay. The population of his parish, which stretched from Eirias to Dinerth,was just 900 people. Apart from a few farms and cottages the land consisted of fields and woods, much of which was part of Lord and Lady Erskine’s Pwllycrochan Estate.

By 1871 a new township was beginning to emerge around the Pwllycrochan railway ‘Halt’, the forerunner of Colwyn Bay Railway Station. Being aware of the possibility of easy railway access from the urban areas of North West England the Chester to Bangor railway line was opened in 1848. It ran over the Pwllycrochan Estate on land sold for this purpose by Lord and Lady Erskine. A railway station was built in Old Colwyn, which already had an established population, but Lady Erskine made it a requirement of the sale that ‘Pwllycrochan Halt’ be established near where the present railway station now stands. The Halt would enable family members and friends to alight for Pwllycrochan Hall, the Erskine family home.

Following the transfer of the Erskine’s to their Scottish estate, the subsequent sale of the Hall for use as a hotel and the estate for housing and businesses, the population grew rapidly and a decision was made to close the Old Colwyn Station and open a new one in its present position.

An underground tunnel was constructed to give easy access from the platforms to the newly constructed promenade and beach. Liveried pages from the hotels and large houses would meet passengers and transport them to to their destinations in horse drawn carriages.

By 1901, just 32 years after Williams had been appointed, the town had developed into a stylish and flourishing holiday resort due largely to the coming of the railway. Its population had grown to 8,689.

Cymdeithas Treftadaeth Bae Colwyn

Dyfodiad y Rheilffordd i Fae Colwyn

Pan benodwyd y Parchedig Venables Williams yn Ficer plwyf Llandrillo yn Rhos ym 1869 nid oedd lle o’r fath â Bae Colwyn. Nid oedd poblogaeth ei blwyf, oedd yn ymestyn o Eirias i Ddinerth, ond 900 o bobl. Ar wahân i ychydig o ffermydd a bythynnod roedd y tir yn cynnwys caeau a choedwigoedd, llawer ohonynt yn rhan o Stad Pwllycrochan yr Arglwydd a’r Fonesig Erskine.

Erbyn 1871 roedd tref newydd yn dechrau dod i’r amlwg o amgylch rheilffordd Pwllycrochan ‘Halt’, rhagflaenydd Gorsaf Reilffordd Bae Colwyn. Gan fod yn ymwybodol o'r posibilrwydd o fynediad hawdd at y rheilffordd o ardaloedd trefol Gogledd Orllewin Lloegr agorwyd y rheilffordd o Gaer i Fangor ym 1848. Roedd yn rhedeg ar draws tir Stad Pwllycrochan, tir a werthwyd i'r pwrpas hwn gan yr Arglwydd a'r Fonesig Erskine. Adeiladwyd gorsaf reilffordd yn Hen Golwyn, a oedd eisoes â phoblogaeth sefydledig, ond fe fynnodd y Fonesig Erskine bod ‘Pwllycrochan Halt’ yn cael ei leoli yn agos at y fan lle saif yr orsaf reilffordd bresennol. Byddai'r ‘Halt’ yn galluogi aelodau o'r teulu a ffrindiau i adael y trên am fynd i Neuadd Pwllycrochan, cartref y teulu Erskine.

Yn dilyn symud teulu Erskine i’w stad yn yr Alban, a gwerthiant y Neuadd wedyn i’w defnyddio fel gwesty a’r ystâd ar gyfer tai a busnesau, tyfodd y boblogaeth yn gyflym a phenderfynwyd cau Gorsaf Hen Golwyn ac agor un newydd yn ei sefyllfa bresennol. Adeiladwyd twnnel tanddaearol i roi mynediad hawdd o'r platfformau i'r promenâd newydd ei hadeiladu a'r traeth. Byddai gweision bach mewn lifrau o'r gwestai a'r tai mawr yn cwrdd â theithwyr ac yn eu cludo i'w cyrchfannau mewn cerbydau ceffyl.

Erbyn 1901, dim ond 32 mlynedd ar ôl penodi Williams, roedd y dref wedi datblygu i fod yn gyrchfan wyliau chwaethus a llewyrchus yn bennaf oherwydd dyfodiad y rheilffordd. Roedd y boblogaeth wedi cynyddu i 8,689.