PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE EIGHTIES
Uploaded 9
August 2006…
This remarkable
collection of twelve images was taken by Peter Hudson, a passenger on a railtour called the ‘Caerwent
Cannonball’, which run on 15 March 1980 , and which, amongst other places, visited the Big Pit washery at Furnace Sidings.
Shortly after all the rails were lifted from the Top
Line up to a little short of Blaenavon (High Level)
station. We are very much hoping
to prevail upon Peter to provide some more images if possible. These highly evocative pictures bring back a
great deal of what we have lost in the past quarter of a century, and cry out
for side by side comparisons with pictures from today. We will do what we can, so keep this page
bookmarked.
We have tried
to arrange the pictures in some kind of geographical sequence, with the
sequence completed upon arrival at Furnace Sidings. We have added the captions, and trust that
our memories are not TOO defective. We
have not used the highest resolution images that Peter sent us in order to
reduce the download times to something reasonable, but we do have very high
resolution images to hand, and we MAY be able to help if you wish to scrutinize
one in detail. Peter has given us
approval to do with the images as we wish.
If you DO decide to copy the images, then please respect his trust by
not reproducing them, particularly for financial gain.
The train has just passed through Panteg & Griffithstown station, which saw its last passenger train in 1962. The up buildings still survive as the offices of a builders merchant Ron Couch. The train is now on Mon Bank having seen the route in the picture curve its way northwards through the complex of yards south of Pontypool Road station, to converge with the northbound Pontypool, Caerleon and Newport Railway, before entering Pontypool Road station proper. Panteg & Coedygric signal box has gone, the viaduct carrying the road has gone, though the road still exists carried on a series of embankment and single span concrete bridges, except for a short rump on the left which spans the PCN.. One of concrete bridges now spans the busy A4042 dual carriageway which crosses the space once occupied by the yards there. Even the gas holder disappeared in 2005. The line in the foreground is part of the route of the old Newport Abergavenny and Hereford Railway.
The sad remains of Panteg and Coedygric signal box. It had closed only six months earlier. The train is on ‘Mon bank’ a steep portion of the old Monmouthshire Railway & Canal Company’s (the ‘Rat & Cat’s’) line south of Cwmynyscoy Viaduct and Skew Bridge which crossed the Mon and Brec Canal. Just beyond this point the line converged with the old Newport Abergavenny and Hereford Railway. The stone wall to the left of the box is the parapet of a very short tunnel that permitted the Taff Vale Extension Extension (sic!) to gain access to the Pontypool Caerleon and Newport, whilst to the right can be seen a small part of Panteg Steelworks.
The train is passing a point where lines, remodelled around
1950 to form a double junction, permitted trains on the ‘Mon’ to drop down to
the Vale of Neath line. Previously a complex tangle of short lines
led down, albeit with some reversing, to Glyn
Pits. Just round the bend lies Pontypool
(Blaendare Road) Halt which was opened in 1928 and
closed in 1962, and was used mainly by boys of the erstwhile Jones’ West Mon
Grammar School. To the right of the
train lies Trosnant Junction Signal Box, a curious
box, which was raised bodily by three feet in 1933 so that it could additionally
serve
This view, to
the south east, was taken from the train as it passed over the bridge at Trosnant Junction.
The meandering path was once the bed of the Taff Vale Extension of the
Vale of Neath line.
Pontypool (Clarence Street) station occupied this area up as far as the
footbridge in the distance, but the line was closed in June 1964. The area is now completely covered by the
A472 dual carriageway, the successor to the road on the extreme left, which
still functions as a local route. As for
the bridge on which the train is standing, this has now been replaced by a
slender modern structure which permits pupils of West Mon Comprehensive to make
their way to and from school without tangling with the ceaseless road traffic
Looking from
the train north west into the Cwmnantddu. The train is below Cwmffrwdoer
Halt and the Plasycoed and Pantygasseg
road overbridge, but a little above the site of Gwenallt signal box, which was closed in 1963. The Bridgend Hotel, which is still pulls
pints, no longer proclaims ‘Rhymney Beers’ from its roof. The road in the foreground is rather lower
than in earlier years, since it once climbed to span a line coming up from Pontnewynydd, by means of an overbridge. Immediately beyond the bridge stood the
prosaically named Branches Fork Junction and its signal box from which the Ffrwdoer branch diverged to Gellideg,
and to Tirpentwys colliery (off the picture to the
left), and the Cwmnantddu branch diverged to the
right before going forward into the valley shown. The construction site in the centre of the
picture was once occupied by Gwenallt Colliery
(locally known as the Jack Pit). Behind
the Bridgend the Oak Brickworks once stood, which in latter years exclusively
produced glazed earthenware pipes.
Heads out of
train windows normally look in the direction of travel – if for no other reason
than to avoid losing it on an otherwise unseen bridge parapet! This view is therefore on the return journey,
going down, and facing south east. The
train is about to enter the remains of Cwmffrwdoer
Halt. The road overbridge
carrries the road to Plasycoed
and Pantygasseg, which is to the right and up a long
steep hill. The line here was once
double track, but was singled in June 1965.
The halt, along with all others on the line was opened in 1928, but
closed, doubtless due to the exigencies of war, on 5 May 1941
The train is on
the ‘up’ journey is, judging by both heads and the exhaust. It is on the horseshoe bend between Cwmffrwdoer and Pentrepiod Halts,
and is about to cross the impressive 66 yard Cwmnantddu
Viaduct. Below it is a single track
which once went both to Graigddu Brickworks,
and a washery serving both Llanerch
and Blaenserchan collieries (to the left of the
picture). The line to the collieries was
blocked by a landslide in 1932, and further landslides from the Llanerch tips in the early forties ensured that it would
never open again. The line to Graigddu Brickworks was finally closed in March 1962,
despite the brickworks having closed eleven years earlier. The brickwork’s minor claim to fame was that
it was a major supplier of bricks for the brick arches of GWR locomotives.
The exhausts
continue to rasp as the train continues its journey towards Pentrepiod
Halt, having almost completed the 270 degree bend of the horseshoe. The brick hut in the distance still stands,
though there is now no sign of the hut in the foreground. The houses on the right belong to a small
estate of houses built by the local authority called Waunddu.
The train comes
to rest at the exchange sidings, which are just below the current level
crossing at Furnace Sidings. The set
nearest the camera is Met-Camm Class 101, set no.
B803, whilst the far set is a BRCW Class 118, set no. B462. The far car, 51304, suffered the indignity of
being the first Class 118 car to be scrapped.
The end came in 1985. Beyond the
train is a footbridge – the abutments, now truncated, remain, just south of the
level crossing, which was laid in some years later. How useful this bridge would be today! Note the lack of vegetation, largely kept in
check by large numbers of foraging sheep
A view looking south east down the train towards the rail over rail bridge, from the bridge seen earlier. On the extreme left, a corner of the bottom shed is just peeping into the scene. The brick hut to its right has now gone. The foreground area to the left of the train is now largely occupied by the ‘deviation’ - the line by which stock leaves our yard for the main line. The biggest slag heap is Coity Tip. The road coming in from the right is the link road to Big Pit – this was once a railway line. Just beyond the last coach of the train can be seen the western outside sidings which were lifted in the mid-eighties – perhaps we will see them relaid one day.
A view from the other end of the bridge looking across the yard. The water tower provides a perfect key to the location but the washery building and its associated towers and conveyor systems were all removed in the mid-eighties. The areas immediately above the first coach is now occupied by the top shed, whilst above the fourth coach, a chimney of Daniel Doncaster’s works can be seen dimly in the distance. Note how widely distributed are electricity supplies, which are distributed around the area using wooden poles.
Perhaps the most fascinating image in the collection, this view depicts the operable part of the PBR. The gentleman without the hi-viz vest is walking alongside the now Furnace Sidings platform, whilst the level crossing is in the immediate foreground. At the top of the loop, the headshunt is now absent. In the right foreground the fan of sidings is now the paddock behind the platform, whilst beyond them two massive tips have now been removed to be replaced by the Garn Lakes. In the distance to the immediate left of the tips is Cooper’s Metal Reclamation works, with the Whistle bridge and Inn can also be seen. The brick platelayers hut survives, but the sleeper built hut in the distance has now gone. Peeping from behind some trees is the historic Ty Rheinallt farm. What a pity the overbearing planning laws have mitigated against any reconstruction of this important seventeenth century farmstead, which is now almost certainly beyond redemption. Sic transit gloria mundi indeed!
