The Lambourn Valley Railway in Berkshire - an economic case

It was not just horses that drew the LVR to Lambourn. If the upper downs were ideal for horses, the lower lush pastures were ideal for cattle. Those cattle produced two important products for the farmers. The first were prime young steers that could be slaughtered for meat, leather and other products. Throughout the 19th century these young animals were driven by road down to Newbury on Thursdays, market day, to be sold and then shipped out by rail. The journey by road was lengthy and tiring for cattle and farmer alike. Both would benefit if they were taken out by rail.

The second major product of cattle at Lambourn was milk. If the road trip to Newbury was an inconvenience for animals going to slaughter, it was potentially disastrous for milk. For centuries fresh milk was consumed within a few hours of being taken from the cow. Were the fresh milk left any longer it would go off. The vast majority of milk was converted into butter or cheese as these would keep much longer. Dairy farmers, such as those in the Lambourn Valley, turned all their milk into butter or cheese, and fed the leftover whey to pigs.

Louis Pasteur had invented the pasteurisation process for preserving fresh milk in 1862 and it had reached England within a very few years. Pasteurised milk would last a day or two before turning sour. For the first time milk could be transported from rural farm to town with a fair chance of it arriving in a fit state to drink. Even so, speed of transportation was key and the farmers of the Lambourn Valley were left out. They had to rely on a slow, jolting horse cart to get their milk to Newbury, and the journey - especially in summer - was impracticable. A train journey, however, was much faster and smoother. The LVR knew that they could guarantee that milk taken from cows in the early morning in Lambourn could be taken by train to Newbury to be pasteurised and then moved on to London in order to be in shops in time for the morning shoppers. The farmers would gain a new and more lucrative market for their milk, and the LVR would have another profitable freight.

Once again the actual profits would outstrip expectations. Once farmers knew that they could reliably get their fresh milk to market they began to produce more of it. Milk production in the valley is thought to have tripled in the first twenty years of the LVR. Other agricultural produce from the valley - watercress, straw and vegetables - enjoyed a similarly impressive boost from the coming of the railway.