Cwmynyscoy and the tramroad

Cwmynyscoy Tramroad

The Cwmynyscoy tramroad operated from c1800 to c1900, possibly to the 1930s as the quarry tramway. It connected the quarries to exchange sidings on the Taff Vale Extension Railway and under it to the Pontymoile Tinplate Works. Most of it can be followed as footpaths or lanes. Baxter calls this the Blaendare Tramroad but it is usually accepted that the 'Blaendare Tramroad' was a connection to the Trosnant Tramroad in the Glyn Valley. The Cwmynyscoy line certainly appears to have reached Blaendare at some time but possibly to the brickworks through the tunnel rather than the ironworks.

Tramroads around Pontypool	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	TVER Tramroad bridge
Tramroad Cottage	Tramroad Cottage	Tramroad at Rock Hill Road	Tramroad at Victoria Road
Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad
Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad
Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad
Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad
Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad	Cwmynyscoy Tramroad

Drainage Level beside the tramroad - ST 2799 9974

This tunnel appears to be a drainage level into Nant Dare for ironstone workings higher up.

Nant Dare drainage tunnel

Nant Dare drainage tunnel

Nant Dare drainage tunnel

Nant Dare drainage tunnel

Tunnel to Long Row - ST 2772 9956

This may be the tunnel described by a visitor from America in 1828 as being on a tramroad to Pontymoile. It doesn't seem to be very deep so maybe a covered route under slagheaps as at Garndyrys Ironworks, Blaenavon. We visited this tunnel in 2017 but in 2021 it appears to have been covered over. However, as consolation, we found a tramplate sticking out of the bank in the same area.

Tunnel at Upper Race	Tunnel at Upper Race	Tunnel at Upper Race
Tunnel at Upper Race	Tunnel at Upper Race	Tunnel at Upper Race
Tunnel at Upper Race	Tunnel at Upper Race	Tramplate at Upper Race

Cwmynyscoy Quarries - ST 282996

Quarrying first began c1826 and the lower quarry continued to be worked until c1976. The upper quarry, Cwm Quarry also known as Tamplins Quarry, is shown as disused from 1900. It was connected to the lower quarries and the tramroad by a tunnel. The foundations of the 'Lion' pub, known locally as the 'Lions Den', an ancient beerhouse opened before 1845, are at ST 2838 9928, next to the ruins of Ashtree Cottages, built before 1881. The exit of the mine tunnel from Porthmawr, Upper Cwmbran, is reputedly in the quarry, as used by the ladies for shopping trips to Pontypool.

Cwmynyscoy quarry, c1970	Cwmynyscoy quarry,	Cwmynyscoy quarry,	Cwmynyscoy quarry,
Cwmynyscoy lower quarry	Cwmynyscoy lower quarry	Cwmynyscoy lower quarry	Cwmynyscoy lower quarry
Cwmynyscoy lower quarry	Cwm or Tamplins quarry	Ashtree Cottages, Penyrheol	Ashtree Cottages, Penyrheol
The 'Lions Den' beerhouse	Quarry below New Farm

Penyrheol

Mountain Level or Aberdare No 1 Level - ST 2762 9936

This iron mine is believed to have opened in the 1790s. In September 2015 I had a unique opportunity to visit this old iron mine with a party of experienced and professionally trained cavers that I just couldn't miss. Don't try this at home ! Sadly the entrance is now sealed off.

Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level
Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level	Mountain level

Penyrheol Reservoir - ST 2770 9915

This reservoir was built in 1912 and it served the local area until 1980. Its empty shell is now a safe haven for the local wildlife. The hillside behind bears the scars of further scouring. These areas have been categorised as Grade 2 Listed by CADW as they are considered an important part of our industrial heritage.

Penyrheol Reservoir and air shaft

Penyrheol Reservoir valvehouse

Mountain Level airshaft

Penyrheol Reservoir

Scourings

This shallow gouge in the landscape is the remains of “scouring”, a primitive form of open cast mining. As mentioned previously, Iron ore lay close to the surface so was easily exposed. The “Miners” would use picks and shovels to break up and loosen top soil. Then water that had been collected behind small temporary dams was channelled or raced out over the prepared ground. This washed away the soil and exposed the iron ore bearing stone. After the ore was removed, a residue of coal was often left behind, which the workers were then allowed to collect for their own use. This was called outcropping, giving those that gathered the coal the title of out-croppers.

The Scourings

The Scourings

The Scourings

The Scourings middle reservoir

The Scourings Reservoir - ST 2774 9838

This was the main reservoir for the long scouring running downhill. The iron sluicegate frame is still in place.

The Scourings reservoir

The Scourings sluicegate

The Scourings sluicegate

The Scourings sluicegate

Upper Race and Blaendare

Railway line from Hafodyrynys

The Blaendare branch either zig-zagged its way up from Old Furnace or took a longer and easier route from Hafodyrynys. It served the ironworks, brickworks, collieries and levelsen route, ending up at the foot of the incline to Cwm lickey. Most of the route to Hafodyrynys is walkable if rather wet in places but the zig-zag has gone under the reclamation works.

Trackbed to Hafodyrynys	Trackbed to Hafodyrynys	Trackbed to Hafodyrynys	Trackbed to Hafodyrynys
Building on Blaendare branchline	Building on Blaendare branchline	Building on Blaendare branchline	Building on Blaendare branchline
Rails at the foot of the incline	Rails at end of line	Concrete block at end of line	Stone sleeper on the incline

Blaendare Tramroad

The Blaendare Tramroad ran from the ironworks to the Pontnewynydd branch of the Monmouthshire Canal (MCC) in Pontypool possibly connecting with the Trosnant Tramroad. It was built to 3'4" gauge in c1796 and engineered by Thomas Dadford of the MCC. A letter from John Barneby to Sir Charles Morgan. dated 22 Nov 1801, seeks permission to run the tramroad through a corner of Coed Alice from Blaendare to connect with the MCC's tramroad at Pontypool. Unfortunately the 1845 Tithe maps don't help to locate the route but the 1881 OS map does show a 'Tramroad-like' route. This purely conjectural though. The Blaendare Tramroad is not to be confused with the Cwmynyscoy Tramroad (qv).

Pontypool, 1836

The Blaendare Tramroad

The Blaendare Tramroad

Blaendare Ironworks, Upper Race - ST 2745 9950

The Blaendare Ironworks and brickworks, Upper Race, was in operation by 1794 becoming part of the Ebbw Vale Iron Co empire in 1864. It appears to have closed C1890 with the brickworks carrying on as a separate company. The row of cottages, 'Five Houses', date from before 1881 and can be used as a reference point when looking at old maps of the area. The 3'4" gauge Blaendare Tramroad connected the ironworks to the MCC Tramroad at Pontypool in the same area as the Trosnant Tramroad.

Blaendare Ironworks	Blaendare Ironworks site	Blaendare Ironworks site	Blaendare Ironworks site
Blaendare Ironworks site	Blaendare Ironworks site	Five Houses	Five Houses
Building above 'Five Houses'	Building above 'Five Houses'	Stonework on Mount Pleasant lane

Blaendare Level - ST 2727 9921

Blaendare Level is a later working of Blaendare Slope. The Slope seems to have opened around 1896 though there was a Blaendare Level in 1836 and it's history is muddled up with Quarry Level. It became part of the NCB and closed in 1949. However it re-opened under GKN Ltd in the 1950s mainly for fireclay, finally closing completely around 1979. The site has been landscaped and it's hard to imagine it now.

Blaendare level in 1901	Blaendare level in 1920	Blaendare level in 1962	Blaendare level in the 1970s
Blaendare level in the 1970s	Blaendare level in the 1970s	Blaendare level in the 1970s	Long Row in the 1970s

Blaendare Brickworks (Pontypool Brick Co Ltd) - ST 2730 9935

In the first quarter of the 19th century the firm of Robert Farquhar and Company, of Pontypool, acted as coal merchants and owners of a level at Blaendare. The proprietors were Robert Farquhar, Edwin Allies and Andrew Maund (the father of John Maund - see the Boundary Stones page). Maund's share was sold in 1822. The business was also involved in the limekilns at Goytre Wharf on the Brecon & Abergavenny Canal. Robert Farquhar seems to have died in 1832. It appears as if this was the beginnings of the Blaendare brickworks. From c1845 until 1906 it was owned by the Blaendare Co Ltd or Blaendare Colliery Co Ltd when the Pontypool Brick Co Ltd came into being. The works is in trade directories up to 1948, is on OS maps up to 1954 and had disappeared by 1962. Blaendare Farmhouse above the site was built in 1810 using hand-made bricks from Blaendare Brickworks for the Brickworks manager.

Blaendare Brickworks, c1845	Blaendare Brickworks, 1880	Blaendare Brickworks, 1901	Blaendare Brickworks, 1920
Blaendare Brickworks	Blaendare Brickworks	Brickworks gate pillar
'Blaendare' brick	'Blaendare' brick	'Blaendare' brick	'Blaendare' brick

Blaendare Quarry - ST 2690 9935

Blaendare Quarry is shown as disused by 1899. Blaendare Farmhouse below the quarry was built in 1810 using hand-made bricks from Blaendare Brickworks for the Brickworks manager. It was built on the site of the previous farmhouse dating back to 1674.

Blaendare Quarry

Blaendare Quarry

Locomotives named 'Blaendare'

There were at least three locos called 'Blaendare', only one of which is likely to have worked at Blaendare. This was a Kitson 0-6-0ST that came to Blaendare from the GWR in 1930. Originally it was TVR '80', GWR '789' and moved on to Blaenavon in 1947. The other two 'Blaendare's worked at Ebbw Vale Ironworks, the first probably being a rebuild of an 1855 Neilson box tank and the second, a 1903 Peckett 0-4-0ST (no photo).

'Blaendare'

'Blaendare'

'Blaendare' at Ebbw Vale Ironworks

Cwm Lickey and Mynydd Maen

Blaendare Clay Level - ST 2720 9904

Blaendare Clay Level opened in 1810 to supply the brickworks with raw material for its bricks. The roof behing the grille is a fine example of 18th century bricklaying skills

Clay level	Clay level	Clay level	Clay level ironwork
Clay level interior	Clay level interior	Clay level interior	Clay level interior

Gorse Level (Gorse Bush Level) - ST 2733 9911

On the Eastern side of the incline, opposite the clay level, a depression is all that remains of Gorse Level. It's recorded in 1888 owned by EVSIC and working the Elled seam who were busy leasing out their mines at that time and nothing more is known.

Gorse Bush level

Gorse Bush level

Cwm Lickey incline - ST 2726 9904

The incline connected the higher level collieries and levels with the railway to Blaendare and Hafodyrynys.

Cwm Lickey incline	Cwm Lickey incline	Cwm Lickey incline	Cwm Lickey incline
Sleeper on the incline	Tramplates in the tips	Tramplates in the tips

The Collieries of Cwm Lickey

Cwm Lickey Colliery - ST 2718 9893

Cwm Lickey Colliery were opened by 1865 and worked by Ebbw Vale Iron Co amongst others until c1907, officially abandoned in 1949 and filled in 1964.

Tramway towards tips	Tramway towards pond	Air shaft to side of tramway	Air shaft to side of tramway
Air shaft to side of tramway	Air shaft to side of tramway	Air shaft to side of tramway	Cwm Lickey Colliery shafts

Cwm Lickey Colliery tips - ST 2735 9895

At some time in the 1950s, the 'Star Brick Co' had an idea for making bricks and blocks out of colliery waste. They set up a small operation at the foot of Cwm Lickey Colliery tips which does not seem to have been too successful. This area is littered with 'Star' bricks.

Cwm Lickey Colliery tips	Cwm Lickey Colliery tips	Cwm Lickey Colliery tips	Cwm Lickey Colliery tips
'Star Brick Co' workings	Cwm Lickey Colliery tips	Cwm Lickey Colliery tips	Cwm Lickey Colliery tips

Rose Cottage - ST 2712 9891

Rose Cottage is shown on the OS maps from 1881 to 1962, next to the surface buildings of the colliery.

Rose Cottage	Rose Cottage	Rose Cottage
Rose Cottage	Rose Cottage

New Vein Level - ST 2740 9879

New Vein Level is shown on the 1881 OS map but is marked as 'disused' by the 1899 edition and not shown afterwards. A tramway wound its way around the hillside to two other old levels.

New Vein Level

New Vein Level

New Vein Level tips

New Vein Level tramway

Middle and Eastern levels - ST 2769 9871

Already marked as an 'Old Level' on the 1881 map.

Middle level	Middle level	Site of the Eastern level	Eastern level tramway
Eastern level tramway	Eastern level tips	Eastern level tips	Eastern level tips

To the head of Cwm Lickey

Cwm Lickey pond - ST 2705 9870

Cwm Lickey pond was the middle one of three linked feeder reservoirs created in 1832 to enable water balance machinery in the mines to operate and also to wash out the kilns and supply the brickworks. It is now the only one remaining of the three and is known locally as the middle pond. The remains of the old stone retaining walls and the iron sluice taps can be found. The flattish hollow below the pond is where the third reservoir was situated and is now inpenetrable marsh!

Cwm Lickey lower reservoir	'Glyn Eng. Works Pontypool'	Cwm Lickey middle reservoir
Cwm Lickey middle reservoir	Middle reservoir overflow	Middle reservoir overflow
Middle reservoir overflow	Upper reservoir pipeline	Upper reservoir

The higher scouring reservoir and its leats - ST 2745 9842

This small reservoir is above the main scouring bank and appears to have two leats travelling in different directions.

The higher scouring reservoir	The higher scouring reservoir	The higher scouring reservoir
The higher scouring reservoir	The higher scouring reservoir

Rifle Range markers hut - ST 2658 9831

The hillside here is littered with remnants of old bullets and empty cases as in the past time the area has been used as a practice firing range. It was first used as a training ground during the 1860’s and also during the 1878 Zulu War, the Boer War and the First and Second World Wars. At the weekends shooting competitions would also be held here.

Rifle range furthest target	Rifle range furthest target	Rifle range butts	Rifle range butts
Rifle range targets		Rifle range markers hut	Rifle range markers hut
Rifle range markers hut	Rifle range markers hut	Rifle range markers hut	Rifle range markers hut
Rifle range markers hut	Rifle range markers hut	Rifle range markers hut

Mynydd Maen

Building on Mynydd Maen - ST 2557 9831

This brick-built building right on top of Mynydd Maen has all the appearance of being of military origin, possibly for an earlier radio aerial, observation post or anti-aircraft battery.

Mynydd Maen building

Mynydd Maen building

Mynydd Maen building

Boundary stones - all over the place

Mynydd Maen is covered with boundary stones. This is one of at least two that mark the boundary between Pontypool and Llanfrecha Upper Parishes.

'PP', Pontypool Parish

'LUP', Llanfrechfa Upper Parish

Lower Race and Old Furnace

Coch-y-North Lane Quarry - SO 2662 0071
Old Furnace - SO 2685 0030

Coch-y-North Quarry is at the end of the original tramroad from Blaen-y-cwm Colliery and at the head of the incline down to Old Furnace and the Trosnant Tramroad. This is probably the incline that used chains which proved too heavy for successful operation.

Old Furnace, 1843 tithe map	Old Furnace, 1881	Old Furnace in c1955
Coch-y-North Lane Quarry	Coch-y-North Lane Quarry	Coch-y-North Lane Quarry	Coch-y-North incline
Gelli-Pistyll buildings	Gelli-Pistyll machinery

Albion Road Colliery - SO 2687 0021
Albion Slope - SO 2750 0015

Lower Race has been a hive of industrial activity since before 1881, coal-mining, brick-making, wagon repairs, engineers and foundries, slag crushers, etc. Any attempt to positively identify these ruins is almost impossible.

Site of Albion Road Colliery	Site of Albion Road Colliery	Site of Albion Road Colliery
Site of Albion Road Colliery	Site of Albion Road Colliery	Albion Slope ruins
Albion Slope ruins	Albion Slope ruins	Albion Slope tips

Mynydd Maen Colliery - SO 2698 0035

Mynydd Maen Colliery was opened in 1913 on the site of an 1870s level and was connected underground to Wern Hill level. It was taken over by the NCB and closed in 1955. Since then the canteen building survives as a stable and across the stream the ruins of the engine house and another building hide in the undergrowth.

Mynydd Maen Colliery, 1920	Mynydd Maen Colliery tips	Mynydd Maen engine house	Mynydd Maen engine house
Mynydd Maen engine house	Mynydd Maen engine house	Mynydd Maen engine house	Mynydd Maen engine house
Mynydd Maen Colliery canteen	Mynydd Maen Colliery canteen	Mynydd Maen Colliery canteen	Mynydd Maen Colliery canteen

Gypsy level - SO 2660 0024

Gypsy level is working at the time of the 1881 map but marked 'disused' by 1901.

Gypsy Level, 1881	Gypsy Level, Old Furnace	Gypsy Level, Old Furnace	Gypsy Level, Old Furnace
Gypsy Level, Old Furnace	Gypsy Level, Old Furnace	Gypsy Level tramway	Gypsy Level tramway

Lower Race Brickworks (Pontypool Brick Co Ltd) - ST 2730 9935

The earlier brickworks at Lower Race seems to date from the 1840s, being shown as a brickyard on the 1840 Tithe Map, occupied by Edward and Abraham Vaughan which also shows adjacent land as being occupied by John and Thomas Gameston but as a 'garden' (see above). In 1891 Henry Bythway managed the Lower Race brickworks of the Blaendare Co and, at the same time, was also the manager of the Cwmffrwdoer Brick Co. The Lower Race Brickworks was disused by 1901 and demolished by 1910.

By c1905 an 'Upper Race Brickworks' but still in Lower Race appears on the other side of the Blaendare road and is shown as disused in 1948. The area had been cleared on the 1962 map. This is probably the brickworks using the 'Pontypool Brick Co' imprints. The Pontypool Brick Co Ltd is first mentioned in Kellys 1906 directory at The Race, Pontypool with the last entry being in the Industrial Directory for Wales & Monmouthshire for 1948.

Lower Race Brickworks, c1845	Lower Race Brickworks, 1880	Lower Race Brickworks, 1916
'Pontypool Brick Co'	'Pontypool Brick Co Ltd'	'Pontypool Brick Co Ltd'

Acknowledgments, sources and further reading.

Many thanks for sharing their valuable knowledge to Clive Davies, Ray Lawrence, Stuart Poultney, Lawrence Skuse, Mike Stokes, Neil Waite, Leyton Williams.
'Cwm Lickey Circular Walk' Leaflet by Torfaen Council.
'Down to Pontymoile' by Roy Morgan.
'A local history of the Race' by Neil Waite.
'Tramroads of Pontypool' by Gordon Rattenbury (RCHS).
'The Iron Heart of Gwent' by Clive Davies and Gwyn Tilley.