Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Mawddwy Railway Company, £1 ordinary share, 1910, green on white. * Green print on white with handwritten details completed in black ink. Embossed blue company seal at bottom. £1 share number '2797'. Certificate number '39'. Dated 2nd December 1910. Issued to Mr Rees Thomas of Dinas Mawddwy. Signed by David Davies and ? (Directors) and William John Evans (Secretary).

Following the financial failure in 1908 of the original Mawddwy Railway Company of 1865, this seven mile line was reopened as a light railway in 1911. Most unusually, this reopening was sponsored by a consortium of local authorities: the Light Railway order of 1909 empowered Montgomershire and Merionethshire County Councils, Machynlleth and Mallwyd Urban District Councils, and Dolgelley and Machynlleth Rural District Councils to make loans to, or subscribe to shares in the new company. This reflected the importance of the line to the local economy - it served both slate quarries and agriculture, as well as providing a passenger service. The company was absorbed by the Great Western Railway in 1922, which closed the line as uneconomic in 1937.