areas, creating new agricultural land. Brogdens' decision to sell this valuable railway, with good growth prospects, suggests that they were short of cash. Solway Junction Railway Alexander Brogden was chairman of the Solway Junction Railway so they clearly had a substantial stake in that railway but their precise involvement is not clear. For this railway the Act of Parliament was passed in 1864 and the railway was opened in 1869 (goods only) and 1870 (goods and passengers). James Brunlees, previously noted, was the engineer. It was a failure in the long run because the cast iron viaduct could not withstand the ice-floes which were a regular feature of the winters here. Work in south Wales Another area of expansion was in Mid-Glamorgan in south Wales. The bulk of iron ore mined in Furness had been sent there and the Brogdens became aware that Sir Robert Price, the owner of the Glamorgan Iron and Coal Works at Tondu, was in difficulties. In December 1853 they purchased for £10,000 the leases of the land and mines that he held. In the following January they purchased the works itself for £35,000. In July they acquired the leases of other farms and mines previously held by Sir Robert. These purchases took place only a short time before the Bessemer process (announced 1856) began to undercut the old iron-making processes. That was bad luck but possibly they should have observed the Bessemer process more carefully before expanding the factory especially as Galloways, who supplied the bridges for the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway, were key players in the development of the Bessemer process. Llynvi Valley / Cwm Llynfi These purchases were put under the control of James Brogden who was then at 22 the junior partner. He made good progress. In 1859 he married Helen Dunbar Milne. This marriage was unhappy and was dissolved in 1865. When the horse-drawn Dyffryn Llynvi and Porthcawl Railway was replaced by the steam-hauled broad gauge Llynvi Valley Railway in 1861, the prospects of the Tondu and Maesteg areas improved and in 1863 Brogdens obtained a new lease of the Tywith lands in the Llynfi valley, from which they raised coal and iron in large quantities. Tywith is very close to Coegnant and later there was a court case in which Brogdens were alleged to have extended their mine into Coegnant's territory (see below). In 1864 they leased the Garth land,