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The Ellesmere Arm from the junction bridge (1959)
The cruiser is in a short piece of water cut in the first half of the 19th century for a boat repairing & building firm. The gas holder was still in use in 1959, though gas was no longer produced here. (28 March 1959)The Ellesmere Arm from the junction bridge (1959)
Tilstock Park Lift Bridge (42) (1957)
Just beyond the bridge, on the right hand side, the garden of the house has a set of lime kilns close to the canal. (28 March 1959)Tilstock Park Lift Bridge (42) (1957)
Tramways of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal
Map from “Canals of South Wales & the Border” by Charles HadfieldBailey's Tramroad was built by Crawshay Bailey and opened in 1821-22 from Govilon, up the southern slope of the Clydach Valley to Brynmawr and Nant-y-Glo (5½m). Opened 1822. Track: plateway, 4' 2" gauge. In 1859, it became owned and partly incorporated into the Merthyr, Tredegar & Abergavenny Railway, whilst other parts were abandoned.
Beaufort Tramroad was built by the Brecknock & Abergavenny Canal, and opened in 1795, from the canal at Gilwern, southwest along the north side of the Clydach Valley through Brynmawr to Beaufort (5¾ miles). There were branches from Brynmawr to Nant-y-Glo (½m), and from near Beaufort to pits at Llwydcoed (¼m - closed before 1812), Track: initially edge-rails, then a plateway, and finally edge rails again. In 1860 the tramroad closed above Brynmawr, and the remainder closed in 1908. N.B. The tramroad identified on the map as the Beaufort is actually the Ebbw Vale
The tramroad, together with its original extension to Llangroiney, formed part of a tramroad constructed by the Monmouthshire Railway & Canal Company and known as the Brecknock & Abergavenny Railroad. It commenced from a part of the Rassa Railroad near Shop Row, Beaufort in an easterly direction through Brynmawr down the bottom of the Clydach valley to Gilwern where it turns northwards to the River Usk at Llangroiney Bridge.
Blaenavon Tramroad. From the end of the canal at Pontnewynydd, NNW to Blaenavon (5¼ Miles). Opened 1795-96.
Blaendare Tramroad. From Pontymoile, west to Blaendare Ironworks at Upper Race (1 mile)
Brynoer Tramroad. From Talybont-on-Usk, south over the Black Mountains to Trevil and the Rhymney Iron Works (12 miles).
Caerleon Tramroad: From the River Usk at Caerleon, in a northeast direction for 4 miles to the canal at Halfway House, Cwmbran. The Tramroad was built by Nicholas Blannin in 1797 & closed in 1874 on the opening of the Pontypool, Caerleon & Newport Railway.
Coalbrookvale (Nant-y-Glo) Tramroad left the Ebbw Vale line at Aberbeeg, and ran north to Coalbrookvale Ironworks and Nant-y-Glo Gate (5½m). It opened 1824-28.
Cwm Ffrwd Rail Road: From the Blaenavon Tramroad at Twyn-y-Ffrwd, West then Northwest up Cwm Ffrwd (2m). Track type reputed to be: plateway, 4' 2" gauge (according to Baxter); and edge rails, 3' 4" gauge (according to Gordon Rattenbury).
Cwm Nant Ddu (Cwmdee): Short local line connecting coal levels, brickworks and tinplate works in the lower end of Cwm Ffrwd-oer. May have extended eastwards to join the canal or tramroad at Pontnewynydd (1¼m).
Ebbw Vale tramroad, opened by the Monmouthshire Canal Company, from the head of the canal at Crumlin Bridge, north to Beaufort ironworks (9½m). It opened in 1796 as a 3' 4" edge rail railway, and was rebuilt as a 4' 2" plateway in 1803. A tram engine was employed from 1829.
Llanfihangel Railway. From Govilon Wharf on the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal, for 6½ miles east through Abergavenny then north to Llanfihangel Crucorney to an end-on junction with the Grosmont Railway. It proceeded from Govilon in an easterly direction for 1½ miles to the River Usk bridge on a falling gradient (an adverse one for laden waggons) because the canal was constructed on the slopes of the Usk Valley. After the Usk bridge, the railway turned north-east to pass around Abergavenny on its north-west side (part of this section of the route was later incorporated into the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway). Close to Abergavenny Junction, the railway turned northwards to its conclusion. The 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, horse-worked tramroad opened in 1811.
Monmouthshire Canal Company Tramroad (Newport to Nine Mile Point): From the canal at Newport, running Southwest then Northwest to Nine Mile Point (9m.). Opened in 1805. There was a branch at Courtybella, running Southwest to the River Usk at Pwllgwenlly (¾m. Opened in 1806). Track: plateway, 4 ft 2 in gauge. Owner: Monmouthshire Canal Co (except the 'Park Mile', the 1m. section commencing 1½ m. from the Newport terminus and running through the private park around Tredegar House. Owner: Sir Charles Morgan). Traffic: general; Passengers carried from 1822. Tram engine used experimentally circa 1816 and from 1829. Closed and rebuilt as a locomotive-worked mineral line in 1853 (became part of the Sirhowy Railway in 1861).
Pwll-Du: A realignment of the Tyla Line through old mine workings (1¾m), the principal engineering feature being the Pwll-du tunnel - approx. 2,050 yards long. Opened c1815. Plateway 2' 0" gauge. Later extended northeast to link up with Hill's Llanfoist line at Garn Ddyrys (½m). Owner: Thomas Hill. Traffic: limestone, etc.
Rassa Railroad. From the termination of the Sirhowy Railway at Sirhowy Ironworks, 2½m north then northeast to Beaufort Ironworks and to connect with the Ebbw Vale Line at Shop Row. Opened 1794. Track: edge rails 3' 4" gauge. Engineer: T Dadford. Owner: Monmouthshire Canal Co. Ltd. Traffic: coal, limestone, etc.
Sirhowy Tramroad: . A continuation of the Nine Mile Point Tramroad from Nine Mile Point up the Sirhowy Valley to Sirhowy Ironworks (16m.), with a branch at Pontllanfraith to Bryn Colliery (¾m.). Opened in 1805. Track: plateway, 4 ft 2 in. gauge. Engineer: John Hodgkinson. Owner: Sirhowy Tramroad Co., later Sirhowy Railway Co. (1861). Traffic: general; Passengers carried from 1822. Tram engine introduced 1829. Closed and rebuilt as a locomotive-hauled mineral line in 1860.
Tramways of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal
Trench Branch: Britton Lock (8) (1956)
Trench Locks were only 6ft 4in wide. The guillotine gate is as reconstructed in 1843, with a winch alongside the gate and the counterbalance in a pit. (23 June 1956)Trench Branch: Britton Lock (8) (1956)
Trench Branch: Britton Lock (8) (1956)
Trench Locks were only 6ft 4in wide. The guillotine gate is as reconstructed in 1843, with a winch alongside the gate and the counterbalance in a pit. (23 June 1956)Trench Branch: Britton Lock (8) (1956)
Trench Branch: Britton Lock (8) (1956)
Trench Locks were only 6ft 4in wide. The guillotine gate is as reconstructed in 1843, with a winch alongside the gate and the counterbalance in a pit. (23 June 1956)Trench Branch: Britton Lock (8) (1956)
Trench Branch: Britton Lock (8) and Kinley Bridge (12) (1956)
Trench Locks were only 6ft 4in wide. (26 June 1956)Trench Branch: Britton Lock (8) and Kinley Bridge (12) (1956)
Uffington, west from site of Kennels Bridge (43) (1962)
Looking towards Haughmond Hill (17 June 1962)Uffington, west from site of Kennels Bridge (43) (1962)
Val Hill No 1 Bridge (64) (1959)
Val Hill in the background. The characteristic landscape of rounded hills was formed by terminal moraine deposited by a glacier in the last Ice Age. (28 March 1959)Val Hill No 1 Bridge (64) (1959)
Weston Lullingfields Bridge and warehouse (1972)
(19 March 1972)Weston Lullingfields Bridge and warehouse (1972)
Weston Lullingfields Bridge and warehouse (1972)
(19 March 1972)Weston Lullingfields Bridge and warehouse (1972)
Whitchurch Arm, west from Chemistry Bridge (1) (1961)
The Arm was formally closed in 1944 and this section was infilled in 1955. In 1982 Whitchurch Town Council commissioned a study by Liverpool University on ways in which the town could be regenerated. One of the suggestions was reopening the canal. This idea gained wide support, and the first section, as far as Chemistry Bridge, was rewatered in 1993. It is now managed by the Whitchurch Waterway Trust. (19 March 1961)Whitchurch Arm, west from Chemistry Bridge (1) (1961)
