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Belan, Powys

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Belan Bottom Lock geograph.org.uk 588623
Belan Bottom Lock geograph.org.uk 588623

Belan is a hamlet, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. It belongs to the community of Welshpool. The Belan Locks, built around 1800 as part of the Montgomery Canal, are nearby.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Belan, Powys (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Belan, Powys
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N 52.628249 ° E -3.179415 °
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Top of Belan

Top of Belan
SY21 8SQ , Welshpool
Wales, United Kingdom
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Belan Bottom Lock geograph.org.uk 588623
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Powis Castle
Powis Castle

Powis Castle (Welsh: Castell Powys) is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former having been described as "the most important", and the latter "the most magnificent", in the country. The castle and gardens are under the care of the National Trust. Powis Castle is a Grade I listed building, while its gardens have their own Grade I listing on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The present castle was built in the 13th century. Unusually for a castle on the Marches, it was constructed by a Welsh prince, Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, rather than by a Norman baron. Gruffydd was prince of the ancient Kingdom of Powys and maintained an alliance with the English king Edward I during the struggles of the later 13th century. He was able to secure the position of his son, Owain, although the kingdom itself was abolished by the Parliament of Shrewsbury in 1283. After his father's death, Owain was raised to the peerage as Owen de la Pole, 1st Lord of Powis. Following his own death c. 1293, and the death of his only son, he was succeeded by his daughter, Hawys Gadarn, "the Lady of Powis". Hawys married Sir John Charlton in 1309. In the late 16th century the castle was purchased by Edward Herbert, a younger son of the earl of Pembroke, beginning a connection between the family and the castle that continues today. The Herberts remained Roman Catholic until the 18th century and, although rising in the peerage to earls, marquesses and Jacobite dukes of Powis, suffered periods of imprisonment and exile. Despite these setbacks, they were able in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to transform Powis from a border fortress into an aristocratic country house, and surround it with one of the very few extant examples of a British Baroque garden. In 1784 Henrietta Herbert married Edward Clive, eldest son of Clive of India, a match which replenished the much-depleted Herbert family fortune. In the early 20th century, George Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis redeveloped the castle with the assistance of the architect George Frederick Bodley. Herbert’s wife, Violet, undertook work of equal importance in the garden, seeking to turn it into "one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, in England and Wales". On the 4th earl's death in 1952, his wife and his sons having predeceased him, the castle passed into the care of the National Trust.

Forden railway station
Forden railway station

Forden railway station was a station in Forden, Powys, Wales. The station was opened on 10 June 1861 by the Oswestry and Newtown Railway on the section of line between Welshpool and Newtown. The station originally had a single platform on the western side of line (along with a goods shed and associated siding), but in 1897 a passing loop was installed here along with signal box and second platform. After the 1923 Grouping, the Great Western Railway took over operation of the line and two year later they doubled the section eastwards to Welshpool to add additional capacity on what had become a busy main line. Service levels were modest throughout this period, with the 1922 timetable having five eastbound and four westbound trains calling Mon-Sat and no Sunday service.The station passed into the hands of British Railways upon nationalisation in January 1948; by 1955 a modest improvement in the timetable saw seven eastbound trains calling and five westbound, but by the early 1960s the service had reverted to pre-grouping levels once more (albeit with a nominal Sunday service of one train in the eastbound direction only). The Beeching Report of 1963 listed the Cambrian main line for retention but proposed the elimination of all wayside stations (only Welshpool, Newtown and Machynlleth were to be kept, though Caersws was subsequently reprieved). Goods facilities were withdrawn from 4 May 1964, with formal consent to closure granted at the end of that year; final closure took effect from 14 June 1965.The signal box continued in use until 1969, when the line to Welshpool was singled. The main buildings and platforms were subsequently demolished, but both the signal box and station house were retained and sold by BR. These still stand (as of spring 2016), having been adapted for use as private residential accommodation.