Prince of Wales Colliery

Prince of Wales Colliery - ST 2140 9465

The Prince of Wales Colliery	The Prince of Wales Colliery	The Prince of Wales Colliery
Monument to the Colliery disaster	Colliery drainage level	Colliery drainage level	Colliery drainage level
Colliery drainage level	Colliery drainage level	Colliery drainage level	Colliery drainage level
Colliery railway bridge	Colliery railway bridge	Colliery railway bridge	Colliery railway bridge
The Colliery sidings on right	GWR signal box at junction

Abercarn Tinplate Works

Lower tinplate works - ST 2122 9501

Lower tinplate works	Lower tinplate works	Lower tinplate works	Lower tinplate works
Lower tinplate works	Lower tinplate works	Lower tinplate works	Lower tinplate works
Railway to Upper works	Railway to Upper works	Railway from Lower works	Lower tinplate works, 1976

Upper tinplate works - ST 2161 9528

Railway to Lower works	Railway from Lower works	Railway to Lower works	Railway from Lower works
Railway from Lower works	Upper tinplate works site	Upper tinplate works ruins	Stonework of Western riverbank
Stonework of Western riverbank	Stonework of Western riverbank	Railway bridge to GWR	Railway bridge to GWR
Railway bridge to GWR	Railway bridge to GWR

Abercarn Village and the Furnace

The tunnel under High Street - ST 2156 9486

This tunnel under High Street appears to be quite old but it's purpose is obscure. It was probably access to Abercarn Furnace or an early tramroad from Quarry Pit to the canal by the bridge and lock. It also seems to have been used as a bomb shelter during WW2 according to post-war maps.

The Distillery Pond area, 1875	The Distillery Pond area, 1948	The bridge and lock over the canal	The tunnel under High Street
The tunnel under High Street	The tunnel under High Street	The tunnel under High Street	The tunnel under High Street

Abercarn Furnace - ST 2162 9487

This is the site of the second charcoal iron-smelting blast furnace of 1753 which ceased work in c1788. Two furnace arches are visible, together with the charging house. The site of the dam and pool that powered the bellows for draught can be seen beyond the distillery pond. The furnace is the earliest fairly intact surviving iron furnace in the south Wales coalfield. The first iron furnace was at Graig Furnace higher up the Gwyddon Valley and later ironworks were nearer the site of the lower tinplate works.
The print of the works in the 1770s is available from Risca Industrial History Museum

Abercarn Furnace from 1750s	Abercarn Furnace in 1754	Abercarn Furnace, 1770s	The front of the charging house
The side of the charging house	The waterwheel pit	Detail on the charging house	Detail on the charging house

The chemical works and distillery pond - ST 2180 9485
Abercarn Brewery - ST 2220 9500

The chemical works (distillery) produced an acid for use in the wool-dying industry. It was owned by David Morris & Son, who also owned the chemical works at Risca and Ynysddu. He went bankrupt in 1883 and it had certainly closed down by 1899, the distillery pond becoming a reservoir for the iron and tinplate works. It is also famous for its midnight Viking funeral ceremonies, loved-one's ashes put in a little matchstick boat, set alight and launched across the pond, a midnight dip, anyone? . Abercarn Brewery was a little further upstream but it too had closed by 1899 to become a mineral water factory until the 1940s.

The site of the chemical works	The site of the chemical works	The Distillery Pond	The Distillery Pond dam
Tramway to the chemical works	Tramway from the chemical works		'M Morgan Abercarn'

Hafod Quarry, High Meadow - ST 2260 9655

A large modern quarry which developed after 1948 on the site of an older small quarry.

Hafod Quarry	Hafod Quarry	Hafod Quarry
Hafod Quarry	Hafod Fach barn above the quarry

West End

West End Village

A small, almost self-contained community on the West bank of the river, once the home of the gasworks, fire station and a foundry. There was also a railway line through the houses connecting the GWR with Halls Road Tramroad. At some time in Abercarn were 'Lloyds Engineering &and Foundry Co Ltd' c1895, 'Abercarn Engineering &and Foundry Co Ltd' and 'M Morgan' but where their foundry was sited is not clear. I suspect it was the foundry in West End linked to Halls Road. The was a Mrs Mary Morgan, wife of Richard Morgan, who ran the local ironmongers in Llanover Street but that seems a rather tenuous link to a foundry.

Abercarn Fire Station, 1953	Abercarn Fire Station, 1953	Abercarn Fire Station, 1953
Foundations in the woods	Foundations in the woods	GWR footbridge
Site of gasworks and fire station	Site of gasworks and fire station	GWR and tinplate works bridges
Railway to Halls Road Tramroad	Railway to Halls Road Tramroad	Railway to Halls Road Tramroad

Pant-y-Resk level crossing - ST 2139 9546

There was a level crossing where Halls Road crossed Pant-y-Resk Road. The historical view shows both the railway and the route of the original tramroad. Recently the trackbed, overgrown for years, has had the immediate surroundings cleared and fenced in 2021 for no apparent reason, some grand plan? or just money left in a kitty that needed spending?

Level crossing warning signal	Level crossing warning signal	Halls Road level crossing North	Halls Road level crossing South
Halls Road level crossing	Halls Road level crossing	Halls Road level crossing
Halls Road railway and tramroad	Halls Road level crossing	Halls Road level crossing	Halls Road level crossing
Halls Road level crossing	Halls Road level crossing

Abercarn and Newbridge Gas and Water Co Ltd

Gas was first supplied from Abercarn Gasworks on 17 November 1876. The company appears to have been promoted by the Abercarn Colliery and the Tinplate Works. The contractor was Charles Jordan of Newport and the laying of the mains was contracted to Jesse Bailey of the Abercarn Colliery. Jesse Bailey also seems to have been active in procuring lamp posts for the company. The original gasworks was between the river and Halls Road and was replaced c1947 by a new one next to West End fire station on the other bank of the river.

'Jesse Bailey Abercarn' lamp post	'Jesse Bailey Abercarn' lamp post
The original Abercarn Gasworks	The original Abercarn Gasworks	The original and the newer Gasworks

Cwm Pennar - ST 2080 9550

Steve Davies and I found a level, some pits or collapses and a possible ventilation shaft in the Cwm Pennar valley. They don't seem to appear on any maps but they could be connected with the workings of Pant-y-Rest Colliery at the head of the valley.

Cwm Pennar level	Cwm Pennar level	Cwm Pennar level	Cwm Pennar pits or collapses
Cwm Pennar pits or collapses	Cwm Pennar pits or collapses	Cwm Pennar pits or collapses	Cwm Pennar pits or collapses
Cwm Pennar ventilation shaft	Cwm Pennar ventilation shaft	Cwm Pennar ventilation shaft	Cwm Pennar ventilation shaft

Celynen South Colliery

Celynen South Colliery - ST 215959

Celynen South Colliery, originally just Celynen or Celynon Colliery was opened by the 'Newport Abercarn Black Vein Steam Coal Co' in 1876 with 3 shafts. In the 1920s it became part of the 'Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Co' and about 10 years later passed to 'John Paton and Partridge Jones'. The colliery closed in 1985 and the site is now a housing estate however an interesting relic of the aerial ropeway still exists.

Celynen South Colliery	Celynen South Colliery	Celynen South Colliery
'Menelaus', Celynen South Colliery	Celynen South Colliery, 1969	'47' at Celynen South Colliery	'47' at Celynen South Colliery
Celynen South Colliery shaft	Celynen South Colliery shafts	Celynen South Colliery shafts	Celynen South Colliery shafts
Celynen South tip sluice to river	Celynen South tramway bridge	Celynen South tramway bridge	Celynen South tramway bridge
Monmouthshire Canal	Monmouthshire Canal

Celynen South Colliery Aerial Ropeway - ST 2220 9680

The ropeway ran from the colliery to the now-landscaped tips on the top of Twyn-y-Gnol

Aerial ropeway pylon foundations	Aerial ropeway pylon foundations	Aerial ropeway pylon foundations	Aerial ropeway ironmongery
Aerial ropeway ironmongery	Aerial ropeway ironmongery	Aerial ropeway ironmongery	Aerial ropeway ironmongery

Bucket No 33

At some time it appears bucket No. 33 fell off the ropeway, spilling its contents and ending up in the undergrowth near the top of the ropeway. My partner, Jill, told about it in 2009 and took me up to see it. By 2013 it had been rolled or dragged down the hill and left upside down. Revisiting in 2023, it was back the right way up. Let's hope it's left alone now.

Bucket No 33 turned back up, 2023		Bucket No 33 upside down, 2013	Bucket No 33 upside down, 2013
Bucket No 33 upside down, 2013	Bucket No 33 upside down, 2013		Bucket No 33, 2009
Bucket No 33, 2009	Bucket No 33, 2009	Bucket No 33, 2009	Bucket No 33, 2009

Celynen South Colliery Quarry - ST 2147 9573

The quarry was probably opened before the colliery to obtain the building stone for the colliery buildings. A tramway ran down to the colliery, passing under Halls Road Tramroad through a short tunnel. The tunnel is still there but for some reason only one end has been walled up (on the quarry side).

Celynen South Colliery Quarry, 1880	Celynen South Colliery Quarry, 1901	Celynen South Colliery Quarry	Celynon South Colliery Quarry
Celynen South Colliery Quarry	Celynon South Colliery Quarry	Celynen South Colliery Quarry	Celynen South Colliery Quarry
Celynen South Colliery Quarry	Colliery quarry tramway	Colliery quarry tramway	Colliery quarry tramway
Colliery quarry tramway	Colliery quarry tramway bridge	Colliery quarry tramway bridge

The Gwyddon Valley

Gwyddon Trial Level - ST 2255 9410

A rifle range existed periodically on the South side of the valley and, where the targets were, a square-cut stone tunnel leads about 300ft into the hillside. It was dug in the 1880s and there is a very minimal tip, the stone must have been used elsewhere, and it would seem no coal was found. There are odd 'scratchings' along the old rifle range that appear to have been attempts to find a coal seam.

The Gwyddon trial level, 2012	The Gwyddon trial level, 2012	The Gwyddon trial level, 2012	The Gwyddon trial level, 2012
The Gwyddon trial level tip, 2012	The Gwyddon trial level tip, 2012	The Gwyddon trial level, 2023	The Gwyddon trial level, 2023
The Gwyddon trial level, 2023		Other Gwyddon trial levels, 2023	Other Gwyddon trial levels, 2023
Other Gwyddon trial levels, 2023	Other Gwyddon trial levels, 2023	Other Gwyddon trial levels, 2023

The Lost Farmsteads of the Nant Gwyddon Valley

A beautiful Autumn day and the Ramblers and the Twmbarlwm Society combine their forces for a full-frontal assault on the hidden depths of the Gwyddon Valley.

Sawmills - ST 2372 9577
Brook Bungalow - ST 2374 9594

When the Gwyddon was forested, probably in the 1940s and '50s, a sawmill was set up here in wooden and corrugated iron sheds. It's now just an open space. First port-of-call is the site of Brook Bungalow, just above the site of the sawmill, and another tale of the macabre, the last elderly occupant hadn't been seen for a few days so when the police called in to check....

Craig Furnace - ST 2374 9594

A little further and we come across some mysterious stone walls, could be charcoal burners, could be aliens. Quickly followed by an equally mysterious hole-in-the-wall, didn't go back very far but what was it for? answers on a postcard to Rob Southall, please..

The site of Gwyddon sawmill	Site of Brook Bungalow	Stone buildings at Craig Furnace	Stone buildings at Craig Furnace
Stone buildings at Craig Furnace	Stone buildings at Craig Furnace	Stone buildings at Craig Furnace	Stone buildings at Craig Furnace
Stone buildings at Craig Furnace		Hole at Craig y Trwyn	Hole at Craig y Trwyn

Trywyn - ST 2386 9647

Trywyn is next after a fair bit of uphill scrambling, just ruins but Rob had some great photos of a very attractive house.

Trwyn farmhouse	Trwyn farmhouse	Trwyn farmhouse	Trwyn farmhouse
Trwyn farmhouse	Trwyn farmhouse	Trwyn farmhouse	Trwyn farmhouse

Ysgubor Wen - ST 2440 9759

As we reach the moors we pass the scant foundations of Ysgubor Wen, believed to be quite ancient, then past a well-inscribed boundary stone, lunch, and down to Hafod Owen.

Ysgubor Wen

Boundary stone at Ysgubor Wen

Boundary stone at Ysgubor Wen

Hafod Owen - ST 2465 9690

A few outhouses, a pigsty and stable possibly, and a waterpipe remain, sad testimony to it's former occupants. Then the long trek down the valley and home.

Hafod Owen Farmstead	Hafod Owen Farmstead	Hafod Owen Farmstead	Hafod Owen Farmstead
Hafod Owen Farmstead	Hafod Owen Farmstead	Hafod Owen Farmstead	Hafod Owen Farmstead

Foresters shelter or hut - ST 2342 9603

A small primitive building in the Gwyddon Valley appears to be a hut or shelter for a forester, charcoal-burner or shepherd, it's about 9ft square, built lean-to fashion against a small rock face with the other 3 walls made of stone. There's a central slab which may have been for a brazier or firebox and a narrow entrance. Certainly old, possibly early 19th century. many thanks to John Cottle for finding it. I was hoping it may have been an iron or lead level as there's no coal at all in the Gwyddon, which may just be a blessing !!

Foresters shelter or hut	Foresters shelter or hut	Foresters shelter or hut	Foresters shelter or hut
Foresters shelter or hut	Foresters shelter or hut	Foresters shelter or hut	Foresters shelter or hut
Foresters shelter or hut	Foresters shelter or hut

Acknowledgments, sources and further reading.

Thanks to :- Lin Bryant, John Cottle, Steve Davies, Andrew Gadd, Alan Murray-Rust, Andrew Smith, Rob Southall, Richard Terrell, David Williams, OHIHS
'A historical tour around Mynyddislwyn Mountain' by Len Burland, Old Bakehouse Publications.
'Halls Tramroad' by Foster Frowin - A comprehensive five-part article appeared in 'Archive' magazine, Issues nos 55, 56, 59, 60 and 66 with loads of original photos and the 1840s tithe maps. Fascinating reading!!
A history of the Abercarn Ironworks by F. Frowen, L. Milsom and L. Burland, Gwent Local History Journal, Spring 1997, vol.82, p.16.