THIS is Newport’s railway station.

In the photo it was owned by the Great Western Railway. In front of you is Station Approach, next to the horse and cart was a taxi rank.

To the right of the photo was the Savoy Buildings with Lovell’s Savoy cafe and next to that was the General Post Office, of which only the frontage now remains.

The station in the picture was only single storey, the other floors being added later turning the building into a restaurant and hotel. On the left hand corner was Lloyds Bank and Henry Cordy the gents outfitters.

Further around to the left was the entrance to the GWR goods yard where there was a constant flow of horse drawn carts and later the famous Scammell Mechanical Horse three wheel trucks.

A little further around was Edwards sports shop. In the 1950s and 60s there were two Edwards shops next to each other, the one sold sports goods but the other was a schoolboys delight as they were the dealers in model aeroplane kits and Hornby Dublo model railways – all at pocket money prices.

In its heyday, in the 1930s, Newport station saw up to 330 passenger trains a day. I remember the semi-circular booking office with a dozen iron grilled windows which were always manned.

Dave Woolven, Newport

The picture shows Newport High Street railway station in the background, a cinema on the left hand side and a hotel on the right, the road was called Station Approach.

The first passenger train called at Newport, June 18, 1850 on its journey from Chepstow to Swansea. At that time the railway was broad gauge, gauge being the distance between the rails, today’s railway is standard gauge, which is 4ft 8.5 ins.

The line was intended to open earlier but the original bridge or viaduct over the River Usk was constructed from timber which was soaked in creosote to preserve it and was held together by rivets which were inserted red hot, one of which set fire to the bridge and destroyed it.

A new bridge was constructed of steel spans on stone piers. This bridge carried two lines of rails but was later widened to carry four lanes which is what eventually became the present day bridge.

The now picture shows the more recent station building now being used as council offices and the very latest station buildings on the centre left. On the left of the picture is Yates public house, now closed.

Brian J J Jelf, Newport