Pontypool to Blaenavon Railway Path

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Wales Pontypool to Blaenavon Railway Path The Route Distance: 9 miles/14.5 km Llwyd. You’ll see plenty of wildlife preserved examples of 18th-century Terrain: mixed terrain with a gentle ascent along the way; look out for tiny ironworks in Western Europe. Built in 1788, Maps: NN4B Celtic Trail East map ponies and flocks of sheep huddled the ironworks reached their zenith in the up to the fences. With a gentle 1820s. and RB61 Celtic Trail Official Guide climb of over 650 feet (200 metres) - both £6.99 from Sustrans to Blaenavon it’s obvious that the Journey back the way you came, but this OS maps: Landranger 161/171, trip back down to Pontypool will be time, downhill! Explorer OL13/152 an easier ride! Family-friendly ride Find out more about this and many other If you catch a glimpse of steam in traffic-free routes throughout Wales: Discover the industrial the distance, you’re nearing www.routes2ride.org.uk/wales Blaenavon’s heritage railway. The line was heritage of south Wales with closed to passengers in 1941, though the this stunning traffic-free cycle section from Blaenavon to Pontypool was route from Pontypool through used for transporting coal from Big Pit and Or why not buy the Sustrans map of the area at: www.sustransshop.co.uk Abersychan to Blaenavon. other local mines until 1980. Take a break, lock up your bike and travel back in time on one of their original steam locomotives. If you’re coming from Pontypool train station turn right onto a quiet road, before turning left The route ends brilliantly at Big Pit National onto the main road for about 500 metres. Coal Museum. This magnificent mining Take a left turn onto National Route 49 museum is well worth the trip. Original alongside the canal, looking out for the left features, like the Pithead Baths, bring life at turn off onto National Route 492. the coalface vividly into focus. Go 300 feet underground with a real miner and see what Whilst on the canal path, you can make a life was like for the thousands of men (and pit lovely lunch stop at the barge café at ponies) who worked there. Pontymoile Basin, or enjoy a picnic on the grass with views of Junction toll house, a low From here you can also detour into stone bridge and moored canal boats. Both Blaenavon, now a World Heritage Site, which make perfect pit stops to build up your played a significant part in the Industrial energy for the ride ahead. Revolution. The town became the home of mine owners and workers at the ironworks The path starts to ascend as it heads north and colliery when first established. Many of from Pontypool through Abersychan to the schools, shops and chapels built in those Blaenavon, soon entering a long stretch of early days are still standing today. The town lovely broadleaf woodland, with dramatic contains 17 listed buildings, including views to the east across the valley of Afon Blaenavon ironworks, one of the best 6 www. sustrans .org.uk.

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The Blaenavon Ironmasters
THE BLAENAVON IRONMASTERS The industrial revolution would never have occurred if it were not for the risks and innovation of entrepreneurs. In south Wales, during the late eighteenth century, ironmasters set up a string of new ironworks, making the region the most important iron-producing region in the world. The labouring classes undeniably played a hugely significant role in the industrialisation process but it was the capital and experience of businessmen that made the industrial revolution a success. This article examines the history of the Blaenavon ironmasters and how they used their experience and their influence to create the town of Blaenavon. The Experience of the Blaenavon Ironmasters The leases for the area of Blaenavon, known as ‘Lord Abergavenny’s Hills’, were not renewed during the 1780s. The West Midlands industrialist, Thomas Hill (1736-1824), and his partners, Thomas Hopkins (d.1793) and Benjamin Pratt (1742-1794), seized the opportunity to invest in the Blaenavon site, which they knew was rich in mineral resources. The businessmen invested some £40,000 into the ironworks project and erected three blast furnaces. It was an incredibly risky venture but the three men were confident that the enterprise would be a large-scale success and that their investment would provide considerable returns. The experience that all three men had acquired in iron-making, business and banking, proved invaluable in numerous ways. Family Background Thomas Hill, the leading partner, came from a very wealthy industrial background. He was a successful Worcestershire banker and ran Wollaston slitting mill. Hill had also inherited a considerable fortune from his father, Waldron Hill (1706-88), and his uncle, Thomas Hill (1711-82), who were successful glassmakers at Coalbournhill, Stourbridge.
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Listed Buildings Detailled Descriptions
Community Langstone Record No. 2903 Name Thatched Cottage Grade II Date Listed 3/3/52 Post Code Last Amended 12/19/95 Street Number Street Side Grid Ref 336900 188900 Formerly Listed As Location Located approx 2km S of Langstone village, and approx 1km N of Llanwern village. Set on the E side of the road within 2.5 acres of garden. History Cottage built in 1907 in vernacular style. Said to be by Lutyens and his assistant Oswald Milne. The house was commissioned by Lord Rhondda owner of nearby Pencoed Castle for his niece, Charlotte Haig, daughter of Earl Haig. The gardens are said to have been laid out by Gertrude Jekyll, under restoration at the time of survey (September 1995) Exterior Two storey cottage. Reed thatched roof with decorative blocked ridge. Elevations of coursed rubble with some random use of terracotta tile. "E" plan. Picturesque cottage composition, multi-paned casement windows and painted planked timber doors. Two axial ashlar chimneys, one lateral, large red brick rising from ashlar base adjoining front door with pots. Crest on lateral chimney stack adjacent to front door presumably that of the Haig family. The second chimney is constructed of coursed rubble with pots. To the left hand side of the front elevation there is a catslide roof with a small pair of casements and boarded door. Design incorporates gabled and hipped ranges and pent roof dormers. Interior Simple cottage interior, recently modernised. Planked doors to ground floor. Large "inglenook" style fireplace with oak mantle shelf to principal reception room, with simple plaster border to ceiling.
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The Rashbrooks on Tour 2013 Day 1. Saturday, Worcester, Worcestershire It’s that time of year again – the first week of the school summer holidays and we are going canal boating! This year it will be me, my husband Simon, my daughter Sarah and her friend Jade. Sadly this year my son can’t come with us as he has found himself a job! We will miss him but it can’t be helped and he definitely needs the money! We are picking our boat up from Goytre Wharf which is near Abergavenny and plan to do the length of the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. We have heard that it is extremely beautiful, being nestled between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains with some spectacular scenery. After picking up some supplies in Worcester (mostly for the all important English breakfast!) we set off in the car and are there a mere 90 minutes later despite the M50 being down to one lane. Goytre Wharf is somewhat off the beaten track, down a country lane but a real surprise when you turn the corner – an absolutely gorgeous setting – we can see the fleet of Red Line Boats all lined up along the wharf and on the other side lots of private boats, mostly motor cruisers, alongside what looks to be a busy café/restaurant with lots of tables and parasols outside. In reception I introduce myself to Sue, the marina administrator who I have spoken to many times from the Booking Office. It is really lovely to be able to put a face to a name and she is very welcoming – our boat is ready to go and she takes us through it, pointing out the water tank, the gas tanks, the heating, advising on the toilets and showers etc and then leaves us to unpack our suitcases and supplies.
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Blaenavon Management Plan
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24115-Monmouthshire-And-Brecon-Canal-Map-English.Pdf
elcome Brecon | Aberhonddu Gilwern Abergavenny | Y Fenni W History, heritage, culture, arts and some You are just about at the halfway way point of Behind the Norman castle, on the edge C fantastic local ale... this market town ASHFORD TUNNEL IS the canal. It was close to bridge 110 that the of the town and River Usk, this market ro o Welsh really packs a punch. And beyond that, first building work started on the canal in 1796. town really knows how to throw a es Getting it’s a great place to start your exploring. festival. The calendar is full of events in from Active Abergavenny. Turn up in June and you’ll Get on your bike, meander on a 375 yarDS LONG G ru r Govilon | Gofilon join the greats of the road bike world for landwr Cym ve ACCOMMODATION Phrases boat trip or hire a canoe and head This small village, split across the centre by ˆ i WITH JUST 5’ 6” its Festival of Cycling, then come back R For accommodation in HE downstream to find a picnic spot. the canal, once played a much bigger role in l & ON T in September to get your taste buds The Cana the area contact a Tourist Pack up your fishing rod to find your OOOF HEADR M the iron industry, today noted by its inclusion Canal tingling at Abergavenny Food Festival. spot on the towpath, or just take a les Information Centre or visit: in the Blaenavon World Heritage site. Trust in Wa stroll around one of the many walks mGood Morning The Mon & Brec Canal has a deep cultural of the area.
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Blaenavon (United Kingdom) Be Seen Evidence of the Sources of All Its Raw Materials
into practice the latest methods of the Industrial Revolution. Within a short distance of the Ironworks can Blaenavon (United Kingdom) be seen evidence of the sources of all its raw materials. Big Pit is a coal mine sunk by the Blaenavon Company about No 984 1860 which operated until 1980. On the hills north of Blaenavon, extensive evidence can be seen of the methods used to extract iron ore and coal during the first decades of the operation of the ironworks, together with the quarries for limestone. Linking the Ironworks, the ore workings, the quarries, and the wharves on the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal is a network of daringly engineered Identification primitive railways, constructed at a time of imaginative innovation in railway technology. Blaenavon’s principal Nomination The Blaenavon Industrial Landscape contribution to ironworking technology came in the late 1870s, when Percy Gilchrist and Sidney Gilchrist Thomas Location Wales perfected there a process for making mild steel from pig iron smelted from phosphoric ores. State Party United Kingdom There was no extensive settlement in the area before the establishment of the Ironworks in 1789. In the town of Date 28 June 1999 Blaenavon, south of the Ironworks, there remain many buildings which are eloquent evidence of the area’s industrial past – the homes of ironmasters and the working community, a church and a school built by the owners of the Ironworks, chapels founded by English-speaking and Justification by State Party Welsh-speaking congregations, shops, public houses, and the impressive Workmen’s Hall and Institute built in 1894, Iron and coal were characteristic materials of the Industrial financed by a levy on the wages of miners and Revolution, and the principal products of the South Wales ironworkers.
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Local Development Plan (To 2021) Cynllun Datblygu Lleol
Torfaen County Borough Council Local Development Plan (to 2021) Adopted December 2013 Written Statement Cyngor Bwrdeisdref Sirol Torfaen Cynllun Datblygu Lleol (hyd at 2021) Fabwysiadwyd Rhagfyr 2013 Datganiad Ysgrifenedig Foreword Therefore, the LDP identifies opportunities for continuing I am pleased to introduce the Adopted Torfaen Local Development Plan (LDP). It is the culmination of a major investment and regeneration including the provision of piece of work and is a significant achievement for the Council. new homes (including affordable homes), jobs, community Therefore, I would like to thank the Forward Planning Team facilities and transport infrastructure; whist at the same time and other Council Officers, Stakeholders, Members, the LDP protecting Torfaen’s natural, built and historic environment. Inspector and Programme Officer for all their hard work, I am confident that the Plan provides certainty for both the perseverance and commitment during its long and complex local community and developers and provides the basis for preparation process. consistent, plan led, decision making on planning applications. The Plan’s Vision is to, by 2021, deliver planned, sustainable The Council will annually monitor the Plan and keep you growth reflecting the specific role and function of Torfaen’s informed on its implementation. settlements, through a ‘network of integrated communities’. Finally, it is now for the Plan to be delivered in order to achieve It will provide for a distinctive, vibrant and prosperous area our Vision for Torfaen. where people have the skills, knowledge and opportunities to achieve a better quality of life in safe, healthy and thriving communities with accessible local facilities. It will promote the sustainable regeneration of our town centres ensuring they are a focus for social, commercial and community life, whilst also protecting and enhancing Torfaen’s unique natural heritage and cultural and historic identity.
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Canal Festival Launch Volunteer Action to Preserve
Forgotten Landscapes Partnership Newsletter Issue 2 - February 2012 Welcome to the February edition of the Forgotten Landscapes e-newsletter! Keep up-to-date with the latest project news plus information on events and activities with this monthly bulletin. WHAT’S ON? CANAL FESTIVAL LAUNCH New evening classes The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is celebrating its 200th birthday this year. The year-long celebration to Upland Conservation mark this anniversary kicks off on Feb 10th with a launch Tuesdays 7-9pm event at Pontymoile basin. On this day churches along Community Heritage the length canal will ring their bells, just as they did when Wednesdays 7-9pm the canal opened in 1812. There are plenty of chances to join in the celebration with a series of events Living Landscape Lecture – Volunteer throughout the year. Read the full Canal Festival Launch article. Rangers Tuesday 7th February VOLUNTEER ACTION TO 7pm - 8.30pm PRESERVE THE LANDSCAPE Exhibition: Reflections on the Forgotten Landscapes In December last year a group of volunteers began monitoring red grouse in the area. The red grouse Saturday 11th - Sunday 19th February population - which is the most southerly in the UK - has 9am - 4pm decreased enormously over the past decades. The surveyors have had to resort to trickery to count the Living Landscape Activity – Volunteer birds – tempting them from their hiding places by playing Rangers a red grouse’s call on CD. This work plays a vital role to the project, allowing us to find out whether or not moorland management work is getting results. Read the Saturday 18th February full Volunteer action to preserve the landscape article.
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Week-Long Holiday
Day 1 – Cruise to Govilon or Gilwern; Day 4 – Head for Talybont-on-Usk, Day 7 – You’ve got time to reach the if it’s a long summer’s evening you’ll with great pubs and the starting point southern end of the navigable section Week-long Holiday even have time to reach the stunning for a pleasant walk along the Brinore of the canal, on the outskirts of the busy stretch of canal beyond B111, Tramroad to Talybont reservoir. Or for town of Cwmbran. Or you may turn Active Itinerary surrounded by mountain views. peace and quiet, moor just before the earlier, at Pontymoile Basin (B52) or top lock - the perfect spot for a BBQ. Mamhilad (B62). End the day on a Day 2 – A gentle cruise to Llangynidr, peaceful stretch near Llanover. Llanfoist-Brecon- with time for a walk down to the river Usk. Day 5 – Down through the locks to Moor either before the locks, or between Llangattock, with its historic lime kilns. Day 8 – Cruise back to Llanfoist Cwmbran-Llanfoist the first and second locks. Take a 20-minute stroll into picturesque Wharf by 9am ready to disembark Crickhowell. There are excellent longer by 9.30am. Why not visit Abergavenny 71 miles / 12 locks / 40 hrs Day 3 – An action-packed day: go up walks on Llangattock escarpment or or Blaenavon World Heritage Site through six locks in total, through the Table Mountain above Crickhowell. before heading home? tunnel, under five lift bridges and across the aqueduct. Spend time in the historic Day 6 – Cruise to Goytre Wharf, market town of Brecon and moor complete with wooded walks, lime overnight in Brecon Basin.
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3. Blaenavon Ironworks
Great Archaeological Sites in Torfaen 3. BLAENAVON IRONWORKS The Blaenavon ironworks (SO 2499 0928) were established in 1787 by a consortium of businessmen from the English Midlands taking advantage of the ready supplies locally of raw material – iron ore, limestone and coal for coke – to feed the furnaces, and a hillside site convenient for the building of blast furnaces where the charge could be prepared and fed in from an upper yard the top. However, it lacked a convenient water supply for power, and was therefore designed from the first to be powered by steam. Three furnaces had been constructed by 1792, making it one of the most productive ironworks in the world at the time. Two more furnaces were soon added, in 1801 and 1807. Unusually, two of the furnaces retain their attached casting house in the lower yard, where the molten iron tapped from the furnace was run into a bed of sand to cool. In the early years the Napoleonic Wars created a huge demand for iron, but this plummeted after Waterloo and the iron industry struggled. Later, with the development of the railway industry, an increase in demand led to new plans for the company in the 1830s. These saw the construction of a tower to house a water balance that was designed to transport wagons between the lower and upper yards, as well as plans for new furnaces, forges and rolling mills on a separate site at Forgeside. However the favourable conditions did not last and the Foregside project had to be mothballed until the late 1850s.
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