Afon Llwyd River in Winter, South Wales

Pontnewynydd bridge

The Afon Llwyd translates from Welsh as the silver or pewter river.  It eams with fish and is one of the fastest flowing rivers in South Wales.   Small weirs shimmer in the sunlight, attracting a quantity of dog walkers who park and walk along the riverside paths. 

Silver river, a very apt description for the way it looks today, but in the 1950s I remember it differently.   It was deep brown in colour, and to a child, almost like melted chocolate, but as you approached it was very smelly, not like chocolate at all.    Industrial pollution and sewage were poured into the river along its length without a thought for the damage to wildlife or people's health.

New Inn, near to the river, was the site of the Gas Works with its huge gasometer.   This was also smelly, and as you walked along the footpath there was a wall.   It was the most wonderful wall, full of texture and delicate colours and shapes.   Some pieces were smooth and shiny as glass, others rough and full of burst bubbles.   It was made from clinker, a waste product from the Works, but to me it was beautiful.   My Mother regularly lost patience as her child gazed and groped this wonderful object.

Strange the things we remember !

The Gas Works and smells are long gone, hopefully never to return, but the Silver river survived and still flows to the sea.

Gorged with all the recent rain, it was pewter more than silver in our recent photographs, but still beautiful.

A by-now well-worn clinker wall

 

Much of the sharpness and colour have been worn away