Swansea Canal

The upper terminus of the Swansea Canal was a large basin situated to the west of Aber-craf, close to an 'S'-bend in the Afon Tawe. There was an iron works nearby, and two tramways linked it to limestone quarries near the summit of Cribarth, a hill to the north-east. There were 33 large quarries near the summit, and many smaller ones, which were served by 10.5 miles (16.9 km) of tramways. Differences in level were handled by 18 inclined planes, built at various times between 1794, when the canal opened, and the 1890s, when quarrying ceased. The main line built by John Christie in the 1820s included four consecutive inclines.[24] Early tramways were built to a gauge of 2 ft 3 in (686 mm), but this was later superseded by 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm).[25] The Rheola Arms public house was sandwiched between the basin and the river, and the Lamb and Flag Inn was located on the south bank of the river, just across a bridge. The canal headed south-west, to pass through the two Cae'r Bont Locks at Ynys-bydafau. There was a brickworks, some saw pits, and a lime kiln by the second lock,[26][27] as well as a dock and dry dock, built by Christie in 1825. From the dock, a tramway crossed the river and ascended to Mynydd y Drum by three inclined planes. Parts of it were originally the Gwaunclawdd Colliery tramroad, and although much of Mynydd y Drum has been stripped away by opencast mining, the entrance to the colliery survives.[28] The modern A4067 road runs along the canal from the basin to just after the first lock, and then veers southwards to cross the river.[26][27]

The isolated aqueduct which carried the canal over the Afon Twrch at Ystalyfera

The canal continues to the west of the river, passing through the first of the three Ynys Uchaf Locks, before it turned sharply to the west, where there were two more locks. The road recrosses the river and once more follows the course of the canal from the bend. Before reaching Ynys Isaf, there was a much wider section of canal. The two Ynys Isaf Locks were located to the south west of the hamlet, either side of the Ship Inn. The first of several aqueducts carried the canal over the Afon Giedd, where there were limekilns. Ystradgynlais Lock was near Bryn-y-groes, as the establishment of the town of Ystradgynlais to the east of the river was a later development. There was another wider section, which by 1878 was already marked "Old Quarry", but had a coal stage associated with Pant-mawr Colliery by 1904. The Star Inn and the Ynys Cedwyn Arms were both located on the east bank. At Gorof there were two more locks, one to the north and the other to the south of the bridge. There was also a waterwheel by the second lock,[26][27] one of 42 positioned along the canal.[29]

Yniscedwyn anthracite iron works; c. 1845.

By 1904, a tramway from the Pant-mawr Colliery ran along the western bank of the canal, and crossed the head of the lower lock to reach railway sidings from the Ynyscedwyn Branch of the Midland Railway. There were two more locks further to the west at Pen-y-Gorof. The Ynyscedwyn Branch met the Ynyscedwyn Works Branch near the lower one, and crossed over its tail.[26][27] The railway followed the course of the earlier Claypon's Tramway Extension, built by Joseph Claypon between 1832 and 1834. He had become the owner of the Brecon Forest Tramways in 1829, on the bankruptcy of Christie. It linked the Drum Colliery to Gurnos Wharf, and he intended to use locomotives on it, although locomotive working from end to end would not have been possible, because there was a large incline in the middle. This was powered, rather than being self-acting, as he wanted to develop traffic northwards from Gurnos onto the Brecon Forest Tramways.[30] The double-track Ynysgedwyn incline is one of the most impressive structures of its type in south Wales which still survive, rising 696 feet (212 m) along its 1,400-yard (1,300 m) length. The gradient increases from 1 in 8 at its foot to 1 in 5 at its head, where there are the remains of an engine house. Just below the bridge where the tramway crossed the canal, a branch canal was built to serve the Ynysgedwyn Ironworks. It curves along the edge of a sportsground and playing field, and the former towing path is now a public footpath.[31]

Continuing to the south west, the main line of the canal then turned towards the south. The A4067 road leaves the canal briefly, to follow the track of the railway, and the canal is marked by a minor road and public footpath, until it reaches the roundabout on the B4599 Gurnos Road. A short length of the canal survives below the roundabout, where it crosses the Afon Twrch on an aqueduct.[26][27] This was one of the first in Britain to be built using hydraulic mortar, and was restored in 1995, although it contains no water.[29] There were two locks at Gurnos, one by a corn mill and the second by the railway station. The A4067 rejoins the canal bed below the station, and is flanked by Canal Terrace to the west. There was a small brickworks by the terrace, and the much larger Ystalyfera Iron and Tinplate Works a little further along the canal.[26][27] This included a row of eleven blast furnaces, making it the largest such installation in South Wales, and the tinplate works was the largest in the world.[32]

The canal passed to the west of the Tinplate Works, but the road passes along its eastern edge. From Ystalyfera to Godre'r-graig, the canal is virtually straight, but the road is offset slightly to the east. The road has made the channel narrower, but the remains of six of the seven locks are still visible, and there are other industrial buildings which were associated with the canal still in existence. The narrowed channel, which is 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) wide, is owned by the Canal and River Trust, and acts as a feeder from the Afon Tawe. By Godre'r-graig, the canal turns to the west, but the road continues southwards.[26][27] Around 1 mile (1.6 km) of the canal between the parting and Ynysmeudwy is owned by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, and is managed as a nature reserve.[29]

Lower Ynysmeudwy Lock, with its restored lock cottage

Most of the next 5.5 miles (8.9 km) is in water, and some of it has been restored. After the unrestored Cilmaengwyn lock, the canal is crossed by the B4603 road and almost immediately crosses the Cwmdu Aqueduct. The minor bridge below the aqueduct was known as Pottery Bridge, for there was a pottery nearby from 1850. China clay was brought up the canal by barge, and a wide variety of items were manufactured by the workforce, which consisted of 112 people at its peak. Many of the items made are now collectible.[33] By 1898, its site was occupied by a tinplate works, which was served by a siding connecting to a railway on the far side of the river.

Ynysmeudwy Upper and Lower Locks are below the bridge. By 1878, the lower lock was crossed by a railway connecting the Cwm-nant-du Collieries to a Patent Fuel Works, by the lock, and continuing over the river to join the railway line. The collieries were disused by 1898, and only a short section of the railway line remained, as the link over the lock and river had been removed. Next came a branch from the main line of the canal to the side of the river, with a dock at the end. A tramway connected the dock to the Waun-y-coed Colliery on the south bank of the river, and there were tramway connections to the Cwm-nant-llwyd Colliery to the south and another to the north-east.[26] The branch is clearly visible from the bridge where the A road crosses, but there are no structures visible any longer of the dock itself and it is difficult to walk to this section due to the growth of brambles etc. The canal is navigable from Ynysmeudwy Lower Lock to Pontardawe, where further progress is blocked by Ynysgylennen Bridge, which has been lowered. The canal continues a little further, passing under Herbert Street Bridge and over Upper Clydach Aqueduct, before disappearing into a culvert.[33]

The culverted section once contained a dock and the two Pontardawe Locks.[33] The Pontardawe Tin Plate Works was located immediately to the east of the canal between the locks, and by 1878 was served by railway sidings which crossed the river to reach the works. Approaching Trebanos, the canal re-emerges from its culvert, to reach Trebanos Lock and Green Lock. The Pheasant Bush Tin Works beside Trebanos Lock was disused by 1898.[26] By Coedgwilym Park, the canal turns briefly to the west, to pass under the B4603 Pontardawe Road bridge, and then there is another short culverted section beneath a council depot,[33] which was the location of a lock. You can walk around the council depot and the drop in level between each end is quite noticeable. There are suggestions that lock 6 is still intact underneath the depot at the point where the canal drops into the culvert through large metal grids. There was a short tramway from below the lock to Ynys-penllwch Graig-ola Colliery.[26] Mond Lock was next, with the B4603 crossing the tail of the lock. Below the bridge is the Mond Nickel Works, set up in 1900 after the chemist Dr Ludwig Mond discovered a process for producing pure nickel. Nickel ore was imported from Canada, and the site was chosen because there were supplies of anthracite coal, water, transport links to Swansea, and an available labour force.[34] The canal crosses the Lower Clydach River on an aqueduct, which discharges water into the river, and the watered section comes to an abrupt halt about 50 yards (46 m) further on.[33]

The next lock was located at Ynystawe in the industrial estate to the south-west of the current terminus. In 1879, it was surrounded by a gas works, a brick works, Clydach Foundry, a tinplate works, and a network of railway sidings radiating from near Cwm Clydach railway station. The canal turned to the south, to run beside the river, and then to the south-west, where it ran parallel to the Swansea Vale Railway. The course of both is now marked by the A4067 road. Junction 45 on the M4 motorway is built over the route of the canal. At Tirpenry, the canal swerved to the west, while the railway passed along the eastern edge of the Midland Tinplate Works and the Morriston Tinplate Works. The A4067 follows the course of the railway at this point, but resumes following the bed of the canal a little further to the south. From this point southwards, the canal was surrounded by a large variety of industrial works around 1900. This included the Tir Penry chemical works and the Union chemical works; Morriston Pottery and Copper Pit, which was a coal pit; Forest spleter works and Morriston spelter works; Rose copper works, Plas Marl coal pit and Landore copper works; Millbrook iron works, Landore tinplate works and Landore Siemens steel works. A tramway crossed the canal to reach the Hafod copper works, a little further to the east of the canal. Next was Hafod phosphate works, where there was a lock with a dock just above it on the eastern bank, and Hafod nickel and cobalt works, where there was another lock, with dry docks on the western bank below it. The final section of the canal is marked by the location of Morfa Road, running beside the railway tracks that lead to Swansea's High Street railway station. To the east was the North Dock, and there was a network of wharfs and two more locks, one leading into the dock, with a final loop built to service the main part of the North Dock.[26][27] The North Dock was closed in 1930, as a result of the development of new docks to the east of the Tawe, although the half-tide basin at its southern end remained in use until 1969.[35]

Restoration of the original route to Clydach would not be possible, but since the construction of a barrage across Swansea Bay, water levels in the river are maintained at all states of the tide, and so it could be used to reach Llansamlet, from where the Fendrod River could be canalised to reach a large lake. The lake is to the east of the River Tawe, and from it, some 3 miles (4.8 km) of new canal and an aqueduct over the Tawe would be required to link up with the remains of the original canal.[18]