WHEN the first train arrived in Hereford in 1853 townspeople were accused of having a luke-warm reaction to a red-hot occasion.

"There was scarcely a hurrah given, not a bell was rung, not a cannon fired," bemoaned a disappointed onlooker.

But there was good reason for this apparent apathy and a rip-roaring greeting for the coming of the railways was eventually forthcoming.

Maiden train

When the 'maiden train' puffed its way importantly into Hereford on October 28 it was a market day. Business was booming and had to be attended to.

And it was realised that an official opening was planned for a later date. Hereford would salute in style - when it was good and ready!

How they celebrated. December 6, 1853, was described as a day of festivity - a time for din, dining and dances.

The people of the city had been awakened at an early hour by merry peals on the church bells and they were soon enjoying the sun beaming down from a cloudless sky.

Vast crowds

Floral arches, with messages of welcome, adorned the main streets and citizens embarked on friendly rivalry with their displays of bunting.

On many arches were pictures of trains and one enterprising tradesman in Eign Street made a large, tin copy of the city arms surmounted by an engine. Its chimney was smoking by means of a pipe leading from a fire in the house below.

It is astonishing to think that no fewer than 60,000 people thronged the city streets that day. On the two bridges at Above-Eign and The Barton and lining each side of the railway in between there were 20,000 souls. Large crowds also lined the Wye Meadows on both banks and occupied points of vantage along the old tramway as far as the Gallows Tumps.

The train, drawn by three engines and occupied by a distinguished party of directors and others, left Newport at 9 am and, at every town en route, was welcomed by salvoes of cannon, the peeling of church bells and the cheers of well-wishers.

At precisely 1 pm the train came in sight of the Wye Meadows and as it steamed across the bridge a burst of cheering hit the air and increased in volume along the route until the train came to a standstill in Barton Station.

Here the party was officially welcomed by the Mayor and a grand procession was formed to escort them to the Shirehall.

The Band of the lst Royals marched through the streets and played one of Henry Russell's popular songs of the day, 'Cheer, Boys, Cheer.'

At the Shirehall, 600 of the leading lights sat down to a gargantuan feast. On the menu was a baron of beef weighing 230 lb, two peacocks, two boars' heads, 12 turkeys, 18 pigeon pies, 50 couple of fowls, pheasants, partridges, lobsters, crabs, prawns, sweets, fruits and wines.

Iron foundry feast

Most of the hotels and inns also provided ordinaries for that day and the navvies and workmen were entertained to a feast at the iron foundry in Friar Street.

In the evening there was a grand ball at the Shirehall which began with a dance by the Mayor and Lady Emily Foley.

Music was presented by Laurents' Quadrille Band and the programme consisted of waltzes, quadrilles, lancers and schottisches.

The polka had been introduced into this country just a few years earlier and was hugely popular so there was slight disappointment that only two such dances were included. Some believed the polka not dignified enough for so grand an occasion!

For people said to be 'a little lower in the social scale' there was a ball at the Town Hall and here the dancers had to be content with music from a townsman familiarly known as 'Noggy'.

It was indeed a day of corporate sharing. There were free performances at the theatre and 800 tons of coal were distributed among the poor. At Abergavenny and Leominster there were similar celebrations on a smaller scale and at the latter there were 400 tons of fuel handed out.

So came the railways to Herefordshire and with their arrival the inhabitants lost 11 minutes, never to regain them, for trains had to run to schedule and Greenwich time supplanted local time!