PARTNERS PARTNERS THE Trail ANDAND BID Lost Stories & Heritage Gazers TRAILSTRAILS PROJECT

Glasgow Caledonian 10 Partners University Ulster 8 Trails University 200 Km Trails connect 8 Community Trail Plans Trails create life Donegal ROUTE County Inch Levels Years Council 3 7 Work packages Sligo ROUTE County Knocknarea/ 8 Project Advisory Council Killaspugbrone Loop Groups stakeholders 100+ THE Trail ROUTE County PROJECT Borough FROM APRIL 2019 BID Council DURATION TO MARCH 2022 Gazers PROJECT million PROJECT TrailgazersBUDGET is a European2,58 partnership project established € with a common set Dirección General ROUTE de Protección of economic, social & environmental Key de la Naturaleza La Caldera FOR FURTHER The Atlantic Area offers Gobierno de de Taburiente Performance Indicators; it will develop Canarias INFORMATION a huge range of spaces Ville de ROUTE innovative technologieshttp://www.trailgazers.eu & systems to along the Atlantic coast. Louvigné Chemin TAFF TRAIL du Désert capture trails activity and develop plans to de Mémoires TrailGazers Bid TrailGazers wants to explore sustainably manage trails. TrailGazers Bid how trails & associated Municipio ROUTE de Viana assets can become Sacred Trailgazers will measureTrail.Gazers socio-economic do Castelo Mountain MERTHYRcatalysts to stimulate ruralTYDFIL Trail impacts from investing & promoting trails development. in areas of rich natural heritage. The Partners: Its legacy will be a tried and project aims to create a trails dashboard, utilise tools to digitally target visitors and tested ‘toolkit’ for the future boost Tourist numbers. trail development in the Universidad ROUTE Navarra ROUTE do Algarve Atlantic Area. Seven de Suelo Vía Verde Hanging y Vivienda, del Plazaola Valleys S.A.U.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION http://www.trailgazers.eu TrailGazers Bid Partners: TrailGazers Bid

Trail.Gazers

TRAILGAZERS

TRAIL BID

GAZERS Pathways to Rural Development

European Regional Development Fund Development Regional European

Trail Gazers Bid is co-financed by the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme through the the through Programme Area Atlantic Interreg the by co-financed is Bid Gazers Trail

© Copyright : Taff Trail Map Trail Taff : Copyright ©

scenery - Merthyr has it all! it has Merthyr - scenery free. traffic designated being

take a moment to savour the breath-taking breath-taking the savour to moment a take sections large with offer to has Merthyr

about our history, shop, eat, sleep or just just or sleep eat, shop, history, our about that all enjoy can you towpaths and canals

of our amazing adventure attractions, learn learn attractions, adventure amazing our of railways, tramways, former the Using

So if you want to take time to stop at one one at stop to time take to want you if So

running right through the County Borough. Borough. County the through right running world. the of capital iron the once

The Taff Trail is just one of a series of trails trails of series a of one just is Trail Taff The Tydfil, Merthyr through right runs route The

Reservoir and onwards to . Brecon. to onwards and Reservoir north. the in Brecon of town

Viaduct as you climb gently to Pontsticill to gently climb you as Viaduct market pretty the to south, the in City)

reserves crossing the historic Pontsarn Pontsarn historic the crossing reserves Capital (’s between runs It

You’ll pass through woodlands and nature nature and woodlands through pass You’ll

and horse riders. riders. horse and

listed Cefn Coed Viaduct. Viaduct. Coed Cefn listed cyclists walkers, runners, for route purpose

takes you across the spectacular Grade II II Grade spectacular the across you takes multi- a is 46) & 8 Route Network Cycle

T T ravelling north through Merthyr Town Town Merthyr through north ravelling (National Trail Taff (88km) 55-mile he “An Endless 1 10 9 PONTSARN STATION & Trail of Possibilities VIADUCT ” This once busy station was LIMESTONE QUARRYING CEFN COED VIADUCT QUARRY built in 1866 as part of the Brecon This Grade 11 listed viaduct is & Merthyr Railway. It had its own For every one ton of iron-ore added 220 m long, the third largest Stationmaster, Porter and up to 21 to the blast furnace you would add viaduct in Wales! services a day. two tons of limestone!

The spectacular viaduct The railway brought many Vaynor Quarry was opened In 1957 the quarry produced Built in 1866 to carry the It’s now fully refurbished and is 455 ft. long, 92 ft. high, visitors, escaping the harsh by the Crawshay family in 1000 tonnes of limestone per Brecon and Merthyr railway part of the stunning Taff Trail and is supported by seven working conditions in the 1847 to provide limestone day, now used in the building across the , this Route 8 National Cycleway. majestic stone arches iron and coal industries of for the Ironworks. industry. By 2010 production majestic viaduct has 15 arches - It’s said that the viaduct was which connect the two the Valleys. This beautiful Limestone was used to help was wound down and the each one is 39ft 6ins wide. The constructed on a curve so sides of the gorge over the location became ‘the purify the iron-ore and was quarry is now dormant. last passenger train passed over that the railway line avoided river Taf Fechan. rendezvous of thousands used right through to the the viaduct in 1964 after which of tourists and pleasure 20th century. This photo of it fell into disrepair. property owned by the ‘Iron seekers from all parts of the quarry workers was taken at King’ ironmaster Robert principality...’ Vaynor in the 1890’s. Thompson Crawshay

Now an historic listed structure situated in an There are many Limestone quarries in the area and Visit Cyfarthfa Castle to learn more about the Crawshay area of (SSSI) natural beauty set within ancient their remains are visible along our trails and hillsides, dynasty and the history of Merthyr Tydfil. broadleaved woodlands. including the Taff Trail at Trefechan 8 2 CYFARTHFA IRON WORKS PONT-Y-CAFNAU BRIDGE & AQUADUCT Once the largest Ironworks in the world which helped to kick-start The world’s oldest cast-iron the Industrial Revolution tramroad bridge! It’s a Scheduled Ancient Monument & Grade II 9 listed structure. 10 Founded by Anthony Bacon in The magnitude and scale Constructed in 1793 by By 1796 an Aqueduct was 1766, but it was under the ‘Iron King’ of the works throughout Cyfarthfa Ironworks engineer, added carrying two water Richard Crawshay’s ownership that its history is difficult to Watkin George, the Pont-y- troughs which fed the water 1 the works became an important comprehend, with 50,000 Cafnau cast-iron tramroad bridge wheel, built by George, which 3 iron producer. Britain’s involvement tons of rails leaving just one in various naval battles during the ironworks in 1844, for the was built to carry water and drove cold air into the blast 2 time, saw demand for cannon greatly railways across Russia to supplies of limestone over the furnaces. This great wheel was river Taff to Cyfarthfa Ironworks. increase. It was critical to the success Siberia. What remains are six known as ‘Aeolus’ after the 6 of the British Navy was it that the massive blast furnaces and a Greek god of the wind. famous Admiral Lord Nelson visited huge brick arch. in 1802. Pont-y-Cafnau (Bridge of Troughs) stands just off the 5 7 ‘The largest and most complete range Taff Trail and is used by pedestrians today. surviving anywhere on earth.’ Association of Industrial Archaeology. 3 4 YNYSFACH IRONWORKS 7 THE Using two blast furnaces of 53ft height, Ynysfach were the first to have a steam Once one of the biggest waterways powered blast giving them much in Europe – they were the higher outputs. motorways of the time!

There was a working forge John Lewis, 10 yrs, labourer in at this site from 1769, but smithy: “I fill the barrows with 8 Constructed 1790 - 1794 the Barges were horse-drawn and the Ironworks didn’t take iron and run them into the forges; canal was designed by Thomas could take up to 20 tonnes, far shape until the lease was works every day and have done Dadford for Merthyr’s Crawshay more than the 1 tonne that Ironmasters, to transport passed to ‘Iron King’ Richard so for six months…been burned could be taken by road. It’s said iron from Merthyr to Cardiff Crawshay in 1801. It was in the face and feet but never that the hardworking bargemen common for children to as quickly and as cheaply as could go from Merthyr to off work for many days. Was at possible. It covered over 25 work in the ironworks and Cardiff and back three times in in 1842 government officials the free Welsh school...Does not miles with 51 locks having to 5 two weeks. recorded their working know a letter.” be made to allow for the 543ft conditions. TREVITHICK’S TUNNEL FROM drop. TO The blast furnaces at Ynysfach continued to produce Today the old canal route is part of the Taff Trail and is used iron until the strike of 1874. The start of the steam by walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders. age on rails!

4 BRUNEL BRIDGE, CANAL & PATH. 6 (SKEW BRIDGE) PONTYGWAITH BRIDGE - On the 21st Feb 1804 It’s not known if the 500 TAFF AND TREVITHICK TRAIL Isambard Kingdom Brunel, born the world’s first steam guinea wager that kick 1806, is best known for creating locomotive to run on rails started his high-pressured The bridge at Pont y Gwaith is a the Great Western Railway and hauled a 10 tonne load of engine locomotive Grade II listed hump back bridge iron in 5 wagons along the a number of Britain’s greatest invention was ever paid over the River Taff dating as far bridges. nine miles of new tramroad out. that linked the Merthyr back as the 1540’s. Tydfil ironworks to the Glamorganshire Canal at erthyr’s impressive Brunel he canal was built to move M T Abercynon. The stone bridge that Anthony Morley a Sussex designed ‘skew’ bridge, as large volumes of iron and currently stands was built Ironmaster set up a small it’s locally known, is a three coal from Merthyr Tydfil to in 1811 but it was predated ironworks at Pontygwaith, in arch bridge which carried the This historic route is now a cycling/walking trail Cardiff docks. The Taff Trail named after the locomotive engineer and inventor by a much earlier wooden 1583. It is believed to have Vale of Neath railway over has replaced the canal but bridge. The bridge was Richard Trevithick. been destroyed by a group of the Glamorganshire Canal in the grade II listed skew bridge originally built to take 1853. Construction on the roundhead soldiers during the is a rare example of one traffic from the village and canal itself began at Merthyr ironworks over the River Civil War of the 17th Century. in 1790 and it opened in 1794. of the early bridges on the Glamorganshire Canal. Taff to join the old road to Cardiff.

The ironwork for many of Brunel’s bridges came Pontygwaith means “The Bridge of Works”, from Merthyr Tydfil and he continued to use the referring to the iron works from 1583. same iron for the Great Western Railway.