A SHORT service was held in St Cadoc’s churchyard last week to remember the life of the the last Stationmaster at Raglan Railway Station who was also a newspaper reporter for the Monmouthshire Beacon!

It was thanks to the hard work of the Raglan history detectives, Freya Piper, Helen Young, Heather Watkins and Ben Tyler, who along with Cheryl Morgan had fun researching the parish records. Funeral directors Ernest Heal helped with the provision of a new gravestone with money raised from the detectives’ last project, Mr Danger.

Ewart Richard Badham Lane was born in Mountain Ash and spent all his working life employed by the railway.  He was chief clerk at Monmouth’s Troy Station before being appointed stationmaster at Raglan in 1940, a position he held until the line closed in the 1950s, after which he became chief clerk at Abergavenny Railway Station. 

On moving to Raglan, he and his wife Florence became regular worshippers at St Cadoc’s Church and Ewart read the lesson every Sunday; he was secretary of the parochial church council for 25 years,  and both he and Florence were stalwart members of the choir. Ewart had a fine baritone voice - when he lived in Monmouth he regularly took part in many of the Gilbert and Sullivan productions in the town, while in Raglan he sang in local concerts, usually at The Jeffreys Hall, and was a leading light in the local amateur dramatic society, the Castle Players, pictured right. 

He was a founder chairman of Raglan Village Produce Association and a former chairman of the county VPA. He was also a trustee and auditor for the Raglan Young Farmers Club and the scouts. 

Both Ewart and Florence were at the heart of village life, and were familiar figures at local events, which Ewart faithfully recorded in the local papers. As the village news correspondent, Ewart regularly attended Raglan Magistrates Court (now a private residence in the high street) and also meetings of Raglan Parish (now Community) Council.  

After leaving Station House, Ewart and Florence moved to a house in Caestory Avenue, which they called Ashford and it was there that Ewart died on October 5th, 1974, while working in his study. 

Hundreds of people attended his funeral at St Cadoc’s Church, which was conducted by the Vicar, Rev Arthur Blake. The Rev W J Price, a former vicar at Raglan, also attended as well as the vicar of Llanover (Rev W G Walker) and the vicar of Llanarth (Rev I J Richards).

Paying tribute to Ewart, Vicar Blake said: “He was a man of great integrity and honesty. He not only recorded faithfully and well all that took place in Raglan and the surrounds but he also identified with it and this, to me, is the mark of a great reporter; for though he reported factually and accurately, he was also able to convey a sympathy and understanding of the situation. I don’t suppose there is one organisation or society in this area that is not indebted to him. “

“So many of us have seen him on so many occasions in the bitter cold on the touchline or in the field or night after night at this or that meeting”.With thanks to Mary Hughes