Rogerstone Directory - Editorials - Monmouthshire and Brecon Canals

The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canals

A very brief history of the two canals.

Monmouthshire and Brecon Canals is a twentieth century name for two separate canals, the Monmouthshire Canal and the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal (B & A). The former takes its name from the county that it was in and certainly not from the town of Monmouth; the latter from the town of Brecknock (Brecon) and from Abergavenny.

One major problem facing industry towards the end of the eighteenth century was transport. The Industrial Revolution was based on coal which replaced timber as the main source of fuel. Small ‘cottage’ industries were replaced by bigger units. Roads were poor so that the carriage of heavy/bulky goods was slow and expensive in man power. Water was the alternative. In South Wales the rivers were not conducive to boat transport. The building of the artificial waterways (canals) in England opened a new chapter in transport history that was later to bring prosperity to the South Wales ports.

The high ground to the north of the South Wales Valleys was rich in minerals. The twenty mile long ridge from Blaenavon to Hirwaun contained the iron, the limestone and the coal needed for the ‘new’ works. The English ironmasters who moved into the area were used to using canals to export their goods, so naturally looked to similar facilities in the South Wales area. The first of the major canals, in 1790, was the Glamorganshire from Merthyr to Cardiff. This served the central part of the ridge. The west was served by the Neath and Tennant of 1791 and the Swansea Canal of 1794. The eastern end by the Monmouthshire Canal. This received an Act in June 1792 for a canal from Pontnewynydd, NW of Pontypool via Pontymoile to Newport, known as the Main Line, and a branch from Crumlin to Malpas. The Main Line was 11 miles long with 42 locks. Eleven of those locks were on the 2 miles from Pontymoile to Pontnewynydd and that section was often short of water. It was replaced by a tram road soon after 1812 and closed completely in 1854.

The Crumlin Arm or Branch was also 11 miles long and had 32 locks lowering the canal by 358ft. The Cefn Flight of 14 locks at Rogerstone is one of the wonders of the British canal system and is now known as Fourteen Locks. Thomas Dadford Junior was the engineer for both arms and for many of the associated tram roads.

The Main Line was operational by 1796 as was most of the Crumlin Arm (or Branch).
The flight of Fourteen Locks was probably completed by late 1798. With the exploitation of the coal in the area both arms of the canal were soon busy. The problems came at Newport where the two converged into one. By 1805 the terminus had become congested but not until 1808 was the canal extended to Friars Fields. Further work in 1812 extended the canal to Potter Street where a lock was built, separating the Company’s canal from the section owned by the Tredegar Wharf Company which led to Pillgwenlly. Mileages on the canal were measured from Potter Street Lock as some of the mile posts still show.

From the outset, tram roads or rail roads were an important part of the Company’s affairs and income. In December 1829 a locomotive started work on the Sirhowy tram road.
In 1836 a railway (as today) from Newport to Pontypool was proposed, though not built until 1845. In 1843 discussions took place regarding the changing of all the Company’s railroads to railways.

In 1848 the die was cast when it changed its name to The Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company, hence MR&CC on some of the boundary markers. By 1854 the lower part of the canal was little used and the canal was closed as far as Llanarth Street. The released land was used for railway sidings – a sign of the times. In 1865 the Company bought the B & A to safeguard the water supply to Newport Docks.

However, by this time the canals carried little more than general goods or short journey traffic, the coal and iron to Newport having transferred to the railways. In 1875 the day-to-day running of the Company was transferred to GWR. In 1880 the ‘concern’ was bought by GWR and the two canals became known as The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canals, the title used today.

The last regular boat traffic was in 1915 and tolls were not collected after 1933 though working (cargo carrying) boats continued to use the canal until then 1940s. The era of the canal as an industrial carrier had slowly but surely withered.

It may be partly filled in and derelict in much of its length but it is not dead. It will be revived and like the B & A, will have the last laugh for most of the railways have gone and will not be reborn. The canal from Pontymoile to Newport and from Cwmcarn to Malpas will once more see boats, not working but giving people a lot of pleasure.

Web: www.mon-brec-canal-trust.org.uk

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