Maesycwmmer Viaduct

Maesycwmmer Viaduct

The South Wales Valleys created great challenges for the railway builders. Trains prefer relatively flat ground. There is very little in this area, hence most tracks travelled south along the valley bottoms  allowing trains to carry coal and iron ore to Newport and Cardiff docks for export or shipping inland up the river Severn.

To cross the valleys, it was common to build magnificent stone viaducts. Many have been removed and the stone used for churches, local housing, or even garden walls. But a few still remain.

Used now mostly as cycle paths and walkways they should provide breathtaking views. Unfortunately, many, due to health and safety have barriers preventing people (especially the vertically challenged, such as myself) from admiring them.

A bench in honour of the cartoonist Gren who published for many years in the Western Mail

Talywain viaduct forms part of the pathway from Blaenavon to Cwmbran.

Maesycwmmer viaduct sits alongside a busy road, but mostly ignored except for those using it to access the railway station on the opposite side. The pathway has now been named Gren's Way.

Probably the most talked of viaduct was the steel construction at Crumlin. This village is still a major crossroads in the valleys, but the only evidence of this phenomenal structure are the stone abutments visible high up the valley wall.

Crumlin viaduct

Another rail track used to travel through the valley bottom with a vertiginous link between the two systems. Trains progressing up this track often required an extra engine attached to provide extra push.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maesycwmmer


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