This plaque, now on display at Bristol Temple Meads, was originally fixed to the east portal of Patchway Tunnel to commemorate the opening of the railway between Bristol and Portskewett on the Gloucester to South Wales line. The railway was 12 miles long and included two tunnels at Patchway and a ferry crossing at New Passage. This bottleneck was eventually superseded by the Severn Tunnel which opened in 1886.