Cob
| Cob | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Long shot from above the works | |
| Previous Station | Harbour Station |
| Status | Location |
| Next Location | Pen Cob Halt |
| Next Location | Boston Lodge |
| Next Station | Boston Lodge Halt |
The Cob is a big embankment[route 1], designed to hold back the sea so that a large area of land could be reclaimed from the Glaslyn estuary. It was built by William Alexander Madocks between 1808 & 1811. He was the Member of Parliament for Boston in Lincolnshire, and that is why the FR works is called Boston Lodge. This project bankrupted him and when the embankment was breached in 1814, others had to help to repair it. In addition to land reclamation, the Cob was intended as a safe route across Traeth Mawr which would have been part of a route from England to Porth Dinllaen, an unsuccessful rival to Holyhead for traffic to and from Ireland.
1811 Constructed original upper cob as roadway
1836 lower roadway constructed as part of mitigating works for construction of FR
1865 wall between upper and lower cob erected to prevent locos frightening horse traffic
1936-40 repairs and strengthening to seaward side following damge in the 1920's also low parapet built on seaward side
At some point prior to 2000 the following approximate dimensions were stated as 21 feet above sea level, 18 ft wide at the top, 90 ft wide at the base, and from Boston Lodge curve to Britannia Bridge is approximately 1660 yds, or just over 1.5 km
In 2002 the road was widened and a cycleway / footpath installed on the landward side, this forming an important part of the national cycle route, Lôn Las Cymru.
For much of its existence a toll was levied on traffic crossing the Cob. This was ended in March 2003.[1]
In 2012, work commenced to widen 260 metres of the Cob on the seaward side at the Porthmadog end to allow construction of a new island platform allowing FR and WHR trains to occuply the station simultaneously and provide a run-round loop for WHR trains, removing the need for a pilot locomotive. The re-worked station layout is expected to be complete in time for the 2013 main operating season.
- The Cob
Linda setting out across the Cob, before the Foundry was demolished and the Flats built on the Wharf 1965
The Earl of Merioneth and Mountaineer II on the Cob with Boston Lodge behind
Lilla on the Cob from Boston Lodge, 2002
Prince crosses the cob with the 1930s set at the Winter warmer weekend, 2004
[edit] References
