Mark & Christina Cleary welcome you to their web site

The History of The Old Railway Line Nursery

The Old Railway Line Nursery and Garden Centre is a small family run business which was established in 1990 by Mark and Christina Cleary.
 
The Garden Centre got its name simply because it stands on the Old Hereford to Brecon Railway line which provided Passenger and Freight Haulage to and from Three Cocks Station.
 

This photo shows the whole nursery when it was first established back in 1990. You can see the vast expansion that has taken place in the past 13 years if you compare this picture to the aerial photograph on  
the home page.

Local markets were to provide the building blocks for the success of the business. We used to have stalls at Brecon, Builth Wells and Monmouthshire markets slowly becoming well known for quality plants throughout the local area.

In 1992 building commenced on the growing tunnels. This photo shows the erection of tunnel number 1 (as we call it today). In the background of this picture you can just see tunnel number 2 which had already been built that year. Tunnel number 3 followed in 1994 and tunnel number 4 was built in 1996.

In 1993 it was decided to purchase a plot of land on which we would be able to build a small shop and have a small outdoor plant area. This is the plot of land bought which at present forms part of the car park. 

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In 1994 the first shop tunnel was built.In 1995 the grassed area on the picture above was converted into a small outdoor plant area and small car park to hold four or five cars.

 
In 1997 it was decided to expand the retail area, so three more retail tunnels were built, the shrub area moved from where it is in the photo above to the other side of the new tunnels and then this space was turned into a bigger car park!
 

In 1998 Mark and Christina were fed up with living in a static caravan with three children, two dogs and two cats so it was decided to build a house. It was a bit of a rush with every available member of staff with a paintbrush at the ready but we moved in before Christmas.

In 1999 not much happened really!! We purchased a plot of land which would enable us to expand the car park to cope with the increasing number of customers visiting the nursery, this plot of land would also mean we could move the outdoor shrub area into a more suitable position.

The Millennium Year 2000 saw one of the most major expansions the Old Railway line Nursery had ever experienced. The building of the new outdoor shrub area, 50 space Car Park and the trellis area.
 

This picture shows the building of the 2 new covered plant area tunnels. A picture of theses tunnels can be seen in the top right corner of this page.
 

This picture shows the building of the permanent plant benching and the pergola which runs the complete length of the shrub area.
 

This picture shows the completed benching after it has been covered with the appropriate membranes to aid water retention. In the background you can see the dumper truck parked in the newly tarmaced car park.
 

2001 saw another major addition to the garden centre. A Coffee Shop. The plans were drawn and building commenced.
 

This photo is taken from the front of the coffee shop, showing the fully glazed outlook onto the displays outside. The coffee shop was opened in January 2002 by our local MP.

This photo is taken from inside the coffee shop, showing the warm and friendly atmosphere inside. Please see our Coffee shop page for opening times and a full menu.