Bedwas and Trethomas

Brecon and Merthyr Railway

Low bridges, an old quarry and an odd collection of signals are to be found on this stretch of the BMR through Bedwas and Trethomas.

Gelli-wasted Quarry	Rising Sun trackbed	Rising Sun lower bridge	Rising Sun lower bridge
Rising Sun lower bridge	Rising Sun upper bridge	Rising Sun upper bridge	Penllwyn Lane crossing signals
Penllwyn Lane crossing gatepost	Addison Way bridge	Addison Way milepost	Trethomas Station
Trethomas Station	Glyn Gwyn Street bridge	Navigation Street bridge	Rectory Road bridge
Pandy Lane bridge from South	Pandy Lane bridge from North	Pandy Lane bridge culvert
Twyn-yr-oerfel farm	Twyn-yr-oerfel farm

Bryngwyn Colliery - ST 1617 8943

Opened by 1869 and closed in 1903, the colliery engine house is now partially conserved, at least it's fenced off! Follow the incline up to the railway and there are the incline engine and brakehouse and many other foundations. The photos below were taken in 1975 before conservation and nature reclaimed the area. I re-visited in 2012 and those photos are in the gallery but I couldn't identify the photo on the right any more. There's an excellent article in 'Archive' magazine, issue 38.

Bryngwyn Colliery engine house	Bryngwyn Colliery incline top	Bryngwyn Colliery incline top
Bryngwyn Colliery incline top	Bryngwyn Colliery incline top	Bryngwyn Colliery incline top	Bryngwyn Colliery incline top
Bryngwyn Colliery incline top	Bryngwyn Colliery incline top	Bryngwyn Colliery loading bank	Semi-circular foundations
Incline to railway	Bryngwyn Colliery engine house	Bryngwyn Colliery engine house	Bryngwyn Colliery engine house
Bryngwyn Colliery engine house

Cwm-y-glo Colliery - ST 1814 8872

Cwm-y-glo Colliery, 180 ft. deep, has long gone under re-development, being closed in 1893. It was linked to the BMR by a halfmile tramway which went under the main Newport Road through a tunnel at ST 1858 8872 - and there it is, still there in 2012!

Tunnel under Newport Road

Tunnel under Newport Road

Bedwas Colliery

Bedwas Colliery - ST 1785 8945

A modern colliery working from 1909 to 1985, with a benzole plant next door from 1929, a pretty good demolition job has been carried out. However all sorts of odds and ends can still be found in the jungle.

Derrick Parsons remembers his early years in Bedwas and says, "My grandfather, Norman Bowyer, was a borer so he was right up front. He worked down the pit from the early 1920s to the early 1940s. During that time he lost an eye and a finger and finally died of dust – leaving a widow and 6 children. This was before the formation of the NCB and, as a consequence, his widow received very little compensation – I think it was a couple of free tons of coal a year. I must admit that this has coloured my politics to this day!"

Bedwas Navigation wages slip	Bedwas Colliery 1966		Demolition of Bedwas Colliery
Demolition of Bedwas Colliery	Demolition of Bedwas Colliery	Demolition of Bedwas Colliery	Demolition of Bedwas Colliery
Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery
Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery
Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery
Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery
Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery
Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery
Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery	Bedwas Colliery
Bedwas Colliery		Bedwas Colliery quarry	Bedwas Colliery quarry
Conveyor pier and tips	Conveyor pier and tips	Loading area	One of two tanks
Sub-station site	Water tank	Bedwas Colliery upper tip	Bedwas Colliery upper tip
Bedwas Colliery upper tip	Bedwas Colliery middle tip	Bedwas Colliery middle tip	Bedwas Colliery lower tip

Rudry and Waterloo

Iron, Coal, Bricks and Tinplate

Rudry Ironworks - ST 1961 8828

Rudry Ironworks, shown on OS maps as Ty'n-y-coedcae Blast Furnace, was started by Christopher Pope of the 'Rudry Iron Co' in 1828. The furnace had a short life and ceased work in 1834. Pope, who controlled most of Bristol's brass industry at the time, was declared bankrupt in 1831 and the ironworks, including "3 levels with 8 mines, 3 pits and 1 patch", auctioned off. His assignees attempted to work the furnace for a few more years, then the blast engine and other materials were salvaged and the buildings were abandoned. The furnace was of a typical early 19th century design, a free-standing tapered square tower constructed of local pennant sandstone, with four arches, that furthest away the tymp arch for tapping the iron and slag, and three for the admittance of the cold air-blast pipes. By the 1930's, all structures had been demolished.The photo shows Rudry Furnace from the top of the charging bank. The remains have been covered and cannot be viewed, but have been listed as an Ancient Monument.

Rudry Ironworks, 1843	Rudry Ironworks, 1875	Rudry Ironworks, 1898
Rudry Ironworks, 1973	Rudry Ironworks, 1973	Ironworks tramroad, 1973

Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad - ST 1875 8795

I'd long suspected that a raised path to the South was a tramway and suddenly stone sleepers have appeared. It ran from coal (possibly ironstone) outcroppings and an old shaft on the higher ground at mynydd-y-Bwlch, past the block of limekilns to Rudry Ironworks. It is said that it then crossed the river to connect with the Rumney Railway at Graig-y-Rhacca.

Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad. 1900	Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad. 1900	Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad	Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad
Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad	Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad	Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad	Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad
Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad	Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad	Mynydd-y-bwlch tramroad
Mynydd-y-bwlch workings	Mynydd-y-bwlch workings

Waterloo Tinplate works - ST 1924 8807

The Waterloo Tinplate Works was opened c1875 by 'Waterloo Iron & Tinplate Co' with one mill. It passed to Capt. P S Phillips in 1886 who went bankrupt in 1895 when the works was for sale. It was taken over by Richard Thomas becoming the 'Waterloo Tinplate Co Ltd' until it amalgamated with Partridge Jones & John Paton Ltd in 1920. The works was rebuilt or modernised in 1903, having by now four mills that were converted to electricity in 1922. The tinplate works closed by 1942 and was then used as a Naval storage depot and is marked 'disused' on the 1948 map. Rail traffic had ceased by 1952 and the machinery was dismantled in 1954 leaving the shells of the buildings. The nearby Waterloo Row was built at Ty'n-y-coedcae in 1891 for the tinplate workers. Some ruined buildings in the woods behind the reservoir are the last remains of the works. In the 1970s I can remember there being a large 'roofless?' building with the giant foundations of missing machinery.

Waterloo Tinplate Works, 1875	Waterloo Tinplate Works, 1900	Waterloo Tinplate Works, 1920
Tinplate Works announcement	Tinplate Works auction notice	Tinplate Works in the 1890s	Waterloo Tinplate Works, 1952
This is the main stone-built building, the original works complex, along with many odd walls and pillars.	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works
Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works
Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works
Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works
Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works
Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works
Behind the main buildings of the original tinplate works is this smaller brick-built building, built after 1920.	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works
Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works	Waterloo Tinplate Works
Waterloo Tinplate works buildings	Waterloo Tinplate works buildings	Waterloo Tinplate works buildings	Waterloo works feeder pond
A complex of sidings led off the lower Brecon & Merthyr Railway branch to Caerphilly	Waterloo Tinplate Works sidings	Waterloo Tinplate Works sidings	Waterloo Tinplate Works culvert
Waterloo Tinplate Works culvert	Waterloo Tinplate Works sidings	Waterloo Tinplate Works sidings

Garth Rudry Brick Kilns - ST 1910 8800

On the 1915 OS map 'Old Brick Kilns' are shown here. Earlier maps show the left-hand building without a label but not the right-hand building. The foundations of the left-hand building exist and on the right are what appears to be an engine base and a kiln. The engine base consists of two parallel walls c3ft apart along with substantial holding down bolts to one side. The kiln has an arched entrance and a circular flue c2ft on top. None of the bricks have any imprint.

Garth Rudry Colliery, 1875	Garth Rudry Brick Kilns, 1915
Garth Rudry square building	Garth Rudry square building	Garth Rudry square building	Garth Rudry engine base
Garth Rudry engine base	Garth Rudry engine base	Garth Rudry engine base	Garth Rudry engine base
Garth Rudry engine base		Garth Rudry Brick Kiln	Garth Rudry Brick Kiln
Garth Rudry Brick Kiln	Garth Rudry Brick Kiln	Garth Rudry Brick Kiln

Garth Rudry Colliery - ST 1906 8781

Past the tinplate works, behind the spoil tips, is the very marshy site of Garth Rudry Colliery, believed to have been opened around 1872 by Price, Bradbury & Co, passing to Nicholas & Johnson as the Rudry Merthyr Colliery Co. They went bankrupt in 1895 and the Rock Vein Colliery Co took over in 1900 untl c1905 when it too was liquidated. It may have re-worked in the late 1920s.

Garth Rudry Colliery tips	Garth Rudry Colliery	Garth Rudry Colliery	Garth Rudry Colliery
Garth Rudry Colliery	Garth Rudry Colliery	Garth Rudry Colliery	Garth Rudry Colliery

Rudry Colliery and Brickworks Tramway - ST 1916 8763

Sidings from the GWR (B&MR) serviced Waterloo Tinplate Works and from there a tramway or siding ran up the valley to the brickworks. From 1875 to 1900 the OS maps appear to show a direct connection but by 1915 it is clearly separate.

Rudry Sidings, 1900	Rudry Colliery loading bank	Rudry Colliery loading bank	Rudry Colliery loading bank
The footbridge takes a footpath from the trackbed of the tramway up to Garth Place. Just downstream are the remains of a low weir and a pipeline from it running towards Waterloo.	Footbridge to Garth Place	Footbridge to Garth Place	Rudry Colliery tramway pipeline
The trackbed looking South	The trackbed looking North	The trackbed looking North
A bridge over a stream above the footbridge. If the rails are actual running rails, which I rather doubt, the gauge is only about 12 inches.	Rudry tramway bridge	Rudry tramway bridge	Rudry tramway bridge
This is a culvert or drainage level coming from the Ty'r Jenkins direction, possibly the Little Red Ash level of 1908-1913. The tramway probably ran over the top of it at one time but the soil has washed away.	Rudry tramway drainage level	Rudry tramway drainage level	Rudry tramway drainage level
Rudry tramway drainage level	Rudry tramway drainage level	Rudry tramway drainage level	Rudry tramway drainage level
A little further along on the Eastern side of the tramway is a wall close to where the Little Red Ash level of 1908-1913 would have wanted to load their output into wagons (if they had any !!)	Rudry tramway loading bank	Rudry tramway loading bank
Further on again, there is a double-walled building very typical of the construction of a magazine. A siding is shown going to it on the 1900 map.	Rudry tramway magazine	Rudry tramway magazine	Rudry tramway magazine

Rudry Brickworks - ST 1931 8728

The tramway continues up to the brickworks site of which nothing remains today. Rudry Colliery and probably the brickworks were opened in the 1860s and owned by Nicholas and Johnson by 1878. By 1895 the 'Rudry Merthyr Steam and House Coal Colliery and Fire Brick Co Ltd' was in receivership but the company was still managed by A Johnson. The colliery and brickworks appear to have closed about 1899 but the colliery was re-opened on and off until the 1930s. Nicholas and Johnson also owned Risca Brickworks at the Darren until the early 1890s.

Rudry Brickworks, 1900	Rudry Brickworks incline	Rudry Brickworks level	Rudry Brickworks level
Rudry Brickworks pipeline	Rudry Brickworks pipeline	Rudry Brickworks level	Rudry Brickworks level
'N&J Rudry'	'Nicholas & Johnson Rudry Caerphilly'	'Nicholas & Johnson Rudry'	'Rudry' type 2

Rudry Merthyr Colliery - ST 1931 8728

Rudry Colliery was opened in the 1860s and owned by Nicholas and Johnson by 1878. By 1895 the Rudry Merthyr Steam and House Coal Colliery and Fire Brick Co Ltd was in receivership but the company was still managed by A Johnson. The colliery and brickworks appear to have closed about 1899 but the colliery was re-opened on and off until the 1930s.

Rudry Merthyr Colliery, 1900	Rudry Merthyr Colliery tips	Rudry Merthyr Colliery tips	Rudry Merthyr Colliery tips
Rudry Merthyr Colliery tramway	Rudry Merthyr Colliery tramway	Rudry Merthyr Colliery 'tank'	Rudry Merthyr Colliery 'tank'

East of Rudry

Coed Draw iron mine - ST 1970 8775

Coed Draw iron mine was either side of the lane, The shaft on the South side and the tips on the North. It was 'disused' on the 1875 map and probably served the Rudry Ironworks.

Coed Draw iron mine

Coed Draw iron mine

Coed Draw iron mine

Copi Gwynthi and Cwrt-y-llaca - ST 2046 8727

Copi Gwynthi woods to the East of Rudry Brickworks are an area of old coal workings but scantly recorded on maps, leading to a quarry at Cwrt-y-llaca that was 'old' in 1898 and roughly filled in.

Copi Gwynthi workings	Copi Gwynthi hawser	Copi Gwynthi shaft
Cwrt-y-Llaca shaft	Cwrt-y-Llaca quarry	Cwrt-y-llaca wellhouse	Shaft on Rudry Common

Mynydd-y-bwlch levels - ST 2012 8772

The Mynydd-y-bwlch levels were old in 1875 and sporadically worked until the 1950s. The area was covered in old shafts, trial pits and levels but has been thoroughly landscaped.

Mynydd-y-bwlch levels

Mynydd-y-bwlch levels

Mynydd-y-bwlch levels

Pentwyn Colliery - ST 2039 8810

Pentwyn Colliery was working from 1875 to around 1923, latterly owned by the Ashburnham Steamship Co. The site has been roughly cleared, possibly by the landowner or to extract shale to build Llanwern Steelworks. The colliery and engine house were beside the small lake and there were many other shafts and pits in the area just behind it. The incline from the colliery crosses the lane at ST 2033 8815 on solid stone abutments and is prominent running down the hillside to sidings at the site of New Pit at ST 2008 8874 on the Machen Forge branch. (very marshy, virtually a pond, I haven't got big enough wellies to explore this area yet)
Stephen Parry recalls "I spent my first five years in Woodland Cottage, which is in the fields just below there and often went to walk over that area around the pond which used to be there. I remember my uncle (Lesley Halbrock) working in the drift mine that was there; a mine owned (if I remember correctly) by Mr Bracey from Waterloo. You also had a picture of the remains of the bridge below that mine. That bridge was blown up by my Grandfather, Edward Nash, when it became unsafe. Grandshire was the Fire man at Bedwas Colliery and so used to explosives. Grandshire had started work as a 13 year old boy in the Big Pit in Blaenafon; the pit in which his father (William Pitt Nash) had died in the first fatal accident in 1889."

Garn level - ST 2059 8777

The Garn level had two periods of working, from 1920 to 1923 by the Ashburnham Steamship Co, then in the 1950s to 1964. The 1965 OS map shows a very interesting small mine operation with tramways, engine houses, shafts and adits. Sadly the whole area has been landscaped leaving just some flat and broken areas, possibly following shale extraction for the building of Llanwern steelworks. Would have loved to have seen this working....

Pentwyn Colliery and Garn level	Pentwyn Colliery site	Pentwyn Colliery incline	Pentwyn Colliery incline
Pentwyn Colliery bridge abutments	Pentwyn Colliery bridge abutments	Pentwyn Colliery airshaft	Pentwyn Colliery trial pits

West of Rudry

Craig-y-Llan limekiln - ST 1976 8639
Craig-y-Llan airshaft - ST 1922 8622

To the South of Rudry lie Craig-y-llan and Coed Cefn-Onn. First, a very decrepid pair of limekilns lie beside the steep footpath from the 'Maen Llwyd' with a small quarry below them. Further West along the ridge footpath is a collapsed airshaft, possibly from the Rudry iron mines.

Craig-y-llan lime kilns

Coed Cefn Onn leadmine shaft

Cefn-Onn Quarry ropeway cable

Coedcae Garw Farmhouse - ST 1928 8615

Down the hillside from the airshaft is Coedcae Garw, a ruined farm or smallholding.

Coedcae Garw Farm	Coedcae Garw Farm	Coedcae Garw Farm	Coedcae Garw Farm
Coedcae Garw Farm	Coedcae Garw Farm	Coedcae Garw Farm	Coedcae Garw Farm

World War 2 resistance bunker - ST 1985 8645

Further along Craig-y-llan is a small World War 2 resistance bunker just off the main ridge trackway. It was probably designed for special duties wireless operators. The entrance shaft is made from hollow concrete blacks and leads to a small entrance room disguises as a poachers den. Behind it was a larger room, both rooms with brick walls and a corrugated iron roof.

Craig-y-llan WW2 bunker

Craig-y-llan WW2 bunker

Craig-y-llan WW2 bunker

Craig-y-llan WW2 bunker

Parc-y-Van Limekilns - ST 1779 8615

These limekilns were built in the 1840s by John Edmunds , with the two left-hand draw holes around one oval kiln and a single kiln and draw hole on the right.

Parc-y-Van limekilns

Parc-y-Van limekilns

Parc-y-Van limekilns

Acknowledgments, sources and further reading.

Thanks for the use of their knowledge and photographs to :- Sally Burge, Dave Chetwynd, Alan Murray-Rust, Derrick Parsons, Stephen Parry,
Richard Paterson, Tim Rendall
'Archive' magazine, issue 38 - 'Bryngwyn Colliery' by David Bick.
'The History of Rudry' by John Guy.