Rhondda Heritage Park

Another interesting place to spend a day, with an underground simulation, a row of replica Victorian shops, and an excellent tearoom, what more do you need?



During the underground simulation you are accompanied by an ex-miner who knows the patter as well as all the facts. You walk via the winding house through into the Lamp Room.  There is none of the ritual of donning helmets and placing your cameras and smoking materials in a locker before you 'descend.'  But the experience is very convincing whilst you are within the tunnels and takes around 40 minutes





On the upper level is a fantastic art gallery with work showing a wide variety of styles.  On a clear day there are wonderful views of the Rhondda Valley.  None shown here unfortunately, as it was raining during our visit.

The Victorian shops display all sorts of items that us oldies remember from childhood.

Pontypridd Museum

Situated next to the iconic bridge, Pontypridd museum gives a glimpse into many aspects of the industrial and social life of Pontypridd, formerly known as Newbridge.  Items that make you want more information.

The building itself is interesting with a wide range of books for sale on welsh life and personalities.

The decorative ceiling and organ inside Pontypridd museum

With flat screen TV's becoming ever larger, it was interesting to see this example.  Imagine the owner's delight in being able to see as well as hear programmes on this expensive, state-of-the art piece of equipment. The original owners must have been really rich.

An early entertainment centre.
Radio & TV combined

The history of chain makers, Brown Lenox & Co.

A wide selection of miners' lamps with details of their development.

Well worth a visit, with a multi-storey car park nearby.  Enjoy a walk on the iconic bridge and in the park alongside the river.


http://www.thebestof.co.uk/local/pontypridd-and-rhondda/business-guide/feature/pontypridd-museum

Pontypridd's Iconic Bridge

Pontypridd bridge (with colour co-ordinated signs and vehicles.)

William Edwards was aged 27 when he was given the task of building a three-arch bridge over the river Taff at the town now known as Pontypridd in Glamorgan. He had never built a bridge before, but, self-taught,  he had a good reputation as a stone mason and builder. He had honed his stone building skills by studying the local castle at Caerphilly, where the walls had stood for five hundred years.

This first attempt was washed away when the river flooded the following winter. His contract was that he would build a bridge that would last at least seven years, so he built a second and stronger bridge. He sunk wooden piles into the river and built the bridge using wooden shuttering, but it was again washed away.  His third attempt was built as a single span, the same proportions as the existing bridge, but without the holes on the sides. This time, due to the weight of the stonework sides, when the wooden supports were removed, the bridge again collapsed.

The bridge you can stand on today was William's fourth attempt and was completed in 1756.

He built a structure with three holes at each end, not for water to pass through, but merely to reduce the weight of the stonework abutments. This bridge 250 years later has become iconic, appearing on many photographs and TV programmes.

The bridge first gained fame when an article appeared in the "Gentleman's Magazine" of 1764 claiming this 140ft span bridge was the longest single span in the world being 45 ft longer than the celebrated Rialto Bridge in Venice.  This put Pontypridd, or Newbridge as it was previously known, firmly on the
map of the engineering world.

The single arch bridge, with the modern day road bridge visible through its archway.

This information was gained from the Pontpridd Museum and a gentleman I met this week.
http://www.pontypriddmuseum.org.uk/en/

http://www.thebestof.co.uk/local/pontypridd-and-rhondda/business-guide/feature/pontypridd-museum

Views from the bridge

Raven's Walk Whysom's Wharf

Forest roadway
high above the valley floor

Cross the Greenmeadow Bridge on the Crumlin Arm of the Brecon & Monmouthshire canal and follow the pathway straight ahead. A gentle slope gradually steepens, providing quite a cardiac workout. This time of year the pathway is stoney at best and a small stream at worst.  This is a section of the Raven's Walk which is a circular walk from Cwmcarn Visitor's Centre at the base of Twmbarlwm.

Views across the valley from the roadway

Despite the walking conditions, the sound of running water from the nearby brook makes this woodland hike enjoyable. You seem far away from the town of Risca, in the valley just below.


The pathway opens onto a forest roadway travelling around the side of the mountain.









Descending back to the canal towpath, a short walk brings you to Whysom's Wharf and tearoom.  Great for a warming cup of tea and a bacon buttie.  Open seven days a week during summer, but closed Monday & Tuesday in winter.  ("People often drop in for a cup of tea on those days if they see the gate open," said the proprietor.)

Sitting on the verandah provides views of the canal, whilst inside there are all sorts of treasures hanging around the walls; photographs, rag dolls, paintings, and a wife calmer.  Apparently purchased in Abergavenny Market with Russian origins, the wife calmer hangs in pride of place.  All seemed tranquil on our visit, but he was reluctant to lend it for use elsewhere.





http://www.visitcaerphilly.com/activity_providers/item/65831/Monmouthshire_Brecon_Canal_Crosskeys_and_Risca.html

Risca Miners Memorial 1860

Winter sun shining on the gravestones

The Cwmcarn to Newport section of this canal, known as the Crumlin Arm was opened in 1796, extending originally from Crumlin to Newport, it closed in the 1940s. It was used to transport coal, limestone and iron ore to the docks at Newport for shipping up the river Severn, or further afield.

Walk along the Crumlin Arm of the canal, just below Cwmcarn and over the Greenmeadow Bridge.  Just across the field you will see a small burial ground.  Here lies the shattered bodies of a number of miners who died in the Blackvein Colliery disaster of 1st December 1860. An explosion of firedamp and the effects of afterdamp killed 142 men and boys working the rich seam of steam coal known as the Blackvein.

Observing the holes down the side, this stone appears to have been extracted from a larger piece.

Many of the dead were taken by their families to be buried in their home towns - in England. Locals had refused to work the Blackvein. The pit had a reputation for dangerously high levels of firedamp. These men paid the lethal price for the prized steam coal.

Look left and you will see the burial ground across the field.

As you cross the Greenmeadow Bridge from the towpath, look left and you will see the burial ground in the distance.  This field is very boggy at this time of year, but follow the lane up the hill and access through the trees is much drier underfoot. I have included this image and explanation for anyone thinking of visiting, as it is very easy to miss. Straight ahead is a pathway which takes you almost vertically up the mountainside  - Raven's Walk.

Cascade pouring into the canal close to Greenmeadow Bridge

Making chains

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

The famous photograph of Isambard Kingdom Brunel standing in front of a roll of huge chain from the S S Great Britain (the first iron ship) is well-known.   The history of how the navy came to use chain is less well-known. The idea to use chain instead of ropes on ships was an historic move.   Many believed it would not prove strong enough. However, the smell and bacteria emanating from hemp ropes, especially in hot climates, apart from being unpleasant, often made sailors ill.  An alternative was required.

Pontypridd was the home of Brown Lenox & Co., an extremely successful chain manufacturer.

Image of chain on display at Pontypridd Museum.

Brown Lenox & Co. chain manufacturers

(Details taken from the link below.)

Samuel Brown (1774-1852), formerly of the Royal Navy, patented a stud-link wrought iron chain, suitable as ships' anchor cables, and began manufacturing in 1803. In 1808 he formed a partnership with his cousin Samuel Lenox and they traded as Samuel Brown & Co Ltd until 1823. The firm's anchor cables were adopted by the Royal Navy in 1810. In 1812, the partners selected a site for their London works at Millwall (Middlesex), close to the Royal Dockyard at Deptford. In 1818, an additional site was acquired at Ynysangharad, Pontypridd (Glamorgan), because of its proximity to supplies of iron and coal. The Newbridge Chain Works, as it became known, grew rapidly in size and reputation, and from the mid nineteenth century was sole contractor to the Royal Navy for the supply of anchor chains. From 1818, the firm manufactured cables suitable for construction of suspension bridges. The prestige of this contract brought orders from merchant shipping companies, passenger lines, and leading engineers such as Thomas Telford and Brunel. The factory closed in 2000.

http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=33&coll_id=2077&expand=

http://www.pontypriddmuseum.org.uk/en/

Elaine Morgan, The Descent of Woman

A Welsh Heroine

Elaine Morgan was born in Pontypridd in 1920 and educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she read English. She was a lecturer for the Workers' Educational Association until 1945, after which she became a freelance writer. Her early reputation was established as a playwright and screenwriter, but in 1972 the publication of "The Descent of Woamn" placed her in the international limelight.

It was a best seller and followed by "The Aquatic Ape" (1982), "The Scars of Evolution" (1990), "The Descent of the Child" (1994), and "The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis" (1997).

These books caused great controversy at the time, that she should dare to question opinions expressed by experts in the field. But that didn't stop her expressing her opinions on chat shows and in interviews.

She successfully adapted works for BBC Wales television, such as "How Green was my Valley" (1976), and "The Life and Times of Lloyd George" (1980).

More recently she lived in Mountain Ash in the Welsh Valleys and was a regular contributor to the Western Mail newspaper.

Elaine Morgan died July 2013, aged 92.

picture copyright of "Great Thoughts Treasury."