|
Penwyllt
Penwyllt (Welsh: "wild headland") is a hamlet located in the upper Swansea Valley in Powys, Wales, lying within the Brecon Beacons National Park. A former quarrying village, quicklime and silica brick production centre, its fortunes rose and fell as a result of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales. It is now an important caving centre. It is in the community of Tawe-Uchaf. Beneath Penwyllt and the surrounding area is the extensive limestone cave system of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, part of which was the first designated underground national nature reserve in the UK. A corresponding area on the surface is also part of the national nature reserve, on the slopes of Carreg Cadno. History Industrialisation Penwyllt developed primarily as a result of the need for quicklime in the industrial processes in the lower Swansea Valley, taking limestone from the quarries and turning it into quicklime in lime kilns. Subsequently, Penwyllt also supported the Penwyllt Dinas Silica Brick comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neath And Brecon Railway
The Dulas Valley Mineral Railway was incorporated in 1862 to bring coal from the Onllwyn area north-east of Neath to the quays there, and in the following year was reconstituted as the Neath and Brecon Railway. The line was opened as far as Onllwyn in 1863. The directors allowed a contractor John Dickson a free hand in building the line and when he became bankrupt the company was in a desperate financial situation. Nevertheless, the line was completed to Brecon in 1867, and an offshoot to connect with the Swansea Vale Railway, giving better access to Swansea, was ready in 1873. The larger Midland Railway acquired rights over the line and ran a heavy mineral train service for many years, although the remote and difficult course of the line was expensive to operate. After the 1922 "Grouping" of the railways, a pooling agreement led to the diversion of the heavy traffic to routes that were easier to work over, and the line reverted to a quiet and remote rural line. The passenger se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carreg Cadno
Carreg Cadno ('rock of the fox' in English) is a hill five miles northeast of Abercraf in the county of Powys, south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its summit at OS grid ref SN 874161 reaches a height of 538m / 1763 ft above sea level. The hill is within the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve which is owned and managed by the Countryside Council for Wales. Geology The southern slopes of the hill are formed from the Twrch Sandstone, a coarse quartzitic sandstone (gritstone), formerly known as the Basal Grit of the Millstone Grit Series, and laid down during the Namurian stage of the Carboniferous period. The northern slopes are formed from the underlying Carboniferous Limestone. The area displays various features typical of karstic landscapes including hundreds of shakeholes in both the limestone and the gritstone areas. Substantial areas of gritstone country have foundered as the underlying limestone has dissolved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brecon Forest Tramroad
The Brecon Forest Tramroad is an early nineteenth century tramroad, or rather a network of connecting tramroads or waggonways, which stretched across the hills of Fforest Fawr in the historic county of Brecknockshire (modern administrative county of Powys) in south Wales, UK. Its northern terminus was at the village of Sennybridge in the Usk Valley whilst its southern ends lay at Abercraf and Ystradgynlais in the upper Swansea Valley some to the south. The tramroad project was conceived by John Christie, a Scottish-born entrepreneur based in London who had amassed a fortune from his involvement in the indigo trade with India. This enabled him to purchase the Crown Allotment of the Great Forest of Brecon (or Fforest Fawr) on its sale by the Crown in 1819. Construction of the tramroad was an essential part of his plans for the exploitation of his property. His original intention was to use the tramroad to convey limestone sourced from quarries near Penwyllt to the farms of the Usk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swansea Canal
The Swansea Canal (Welsh: ''Camlas Abertawe'') was a canal constructed by the Swansea Canal Navigation Company between 1794 and 1798, running for from Swansea to Hen Neuadd, Abercraf in South Wales. It was steeply graded, and 36 locks were needed to enable it to rise over its length. The main cargos were coal, iron and steel, and the enterprise was profitable. Sold to the Great Western Railway in 1873, it continued to make a profit until 1895. A period of decline followed, with the last commercial traffic using the waterway in 1931. Subsequently, parts of it were closed and filled in under a succession of owners, but around remain in water. The Swansea Canal Society, formed in 1981, is actively involved in plans for its restoration. Background The canal was constructed to transport coal from the upper Swansea Valley to Swansea docks for export, or for use in the early metallurgical industries in the Lower Swansea Valley. The period 1830-1840 saw the development of towns ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ogof Ffynnon Ddu
Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (Welsh for ''cave of the black spring''), also known informally as OFD, is a cave under a hillside in the area surrounding Penwyllt in the Upper Swansea Valley in South Wales. It is the second longest cave in Wales and the deepest in the United Kingdom. History OFD was discovered in 1946 through digging by Peter Harvey and Ian Nixon, members of the newly formed South Wales Caving Club. Exploration beyond the Boulder Chamber in 1957 revealed passages as far as the Dip Sump. Major extensions were discovered in 1967 through to Cwm Dŵr, which is now known as OFD2. The system is famous for its intricate maze-like structure and its impressive main stream passage. It is now part of the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve, which includes the ruined remains of a former brickworks, including several kilns, quarry workings and tramroad tracks. The terrace of workers' cottages is now occupied by the South Wales Caving Club. The cave has seen many minor incidents r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tawe-Uchaf
Tawe-Uchaf is a community in Powys, Wales. Situated north-east of Ystradgynlais in the upper valley of the River Tawe (hence the name), it includes the villages of Caehopkin, Coelbren, Glyntawe, Pen-y-cae, Penwyllt and Ynyswen. It had a population in 2001 of 1,516, increasing at the 2011 Census to 1,562. There are many caves in the area, the most famous of them being Dan-yr-Ogof, one of the largest cave systems in western Europe and a popular attraction for visitors. A part of Tawe-Uchaf lies within Fforest Fawr Geopark and the Brecon Beacons National Park. A complex of Bronze Age monuments known as Cerrig Duon (the "black rocks") – consisting of a stone circle, avenue, and three-stone row – and Maen Mawr (the "great stone") can be seen near the source of the Tawe at the northern end of the community area. Tawe-Uchaf is also home to Craig-y-Nos Castle, a country house built in 1841 and subsequently purchased and much extended by the renowned operatic singer Adelina Patti. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lime Kiln
A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime ( calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take place at anywhere above 840 °C (1544 °F), but is generally considered to occur at 900 °C(1655 °F) (at which temperature the partial pressure of CO2 is 1 atmosphere), but a temperature around 1000 °C (1832 °F) (at which temperature the partial pressure of CO2 is 3.8 atmospheres) is usually used to make the reaction proceed quickly.Parkes, G.D. and Mellor, J.W. (1939). ''Mellor's Modern Inorganic Chemistry'' London: Longmans, Green and Co. Excessive temperature is avoided because it produces unreactive, "dead-burned" lime. Slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide) can be formed by mixing quicklime with water. Early lime use Because it is so readily made by heating limestone, lime must have been known from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onllwyn
Onllwyn () is a small village and community in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, near Seven Sisters. History First developed by the Romans, the local village Banwen is confined to the Roman Road of Sarn Helen. There are two Roman forts and the remains of a Roman Road within the community. Legend has it that St Patrick was born here and taken to Ireland after the area was raided by Irish raiders. A celebration and a march are held on March 17 to mark the event. With over 200 years of coal mining behind it, the parish once had five pits that employed hundreds of men. Now all that remains is a coal washery and coal processing plant. On the route of the former Neath and Brecon Railway, there was a freight only line to the coal washery from the South Wales Main Line at Neath. The site of the coal washery (and the nearby Nant Helen surface mine), is being redeveloped as the Global Centre of Rail Excellence. Onllwyn was involved in several 20th-century coal mining strikes which brought ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sennybridge
Sennybridge ( cy, Pontsenni) is a village in the historic county of Brecknockshire, Wales, now within the unitary authority area of Powys, situated some from Cardiff and from Swansea. It lies west of Brecon on the A40 trunk road to Llandovery, at the point where the Afon Senni flows into the Usk. It is in the community of Maescar. Economy One of the factors which influenced the growth of Sennybridge was the establishment of the Neath and Brecon Railway which opened a station in the adjoining village of Defynnog in 1867. The promoter and contractor of the railway, John Dickson, also made a start on constructing a railway north from Sennybridge that would have linked the Neath and Brecon Railway to the Central Wales Line at Llangammarch Wells but work was suspended on his bankruptcy in 1867 and never resumed. The partially completed earthworks can still be seen in the countryside north of Sennybridge. Climate Landmarks An extensive area of land to the north of Sennyb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Brecknockshire (Breconshire); although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of the County of Powys, it remains an important local centre. Brecon is the third-largest town in Powys, after Newtown and Ystradgynlais. It lies north of the Brecon Beacons mountain range, but is just within the Brecon Beacons National Park. History Early history The Welsh name, Aberhonddu, means "mouth of the Honddu". It is derived from the River Honddu, which meets the River Usk near the town centre, a short distance away from the River Tarell which enters the Usk a few hundred metres upstream. After the Dark Ages the original Welsh name of the kingdom in whose territory Brecon stands was (in modern orthography) " Brycheiniog", whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Christie (industrialist)
John Christie (1774–1858), was an early industrialist born in Scotland. He is chiefly remembered for his agricultural and industrial activities in South Wales during the early part of the nineteenth century. Christie amassed a fortune through the indigo trade with India and invested it in the purchase of much of Fforest Fawr in what is now the Brecon Beacons National Park in southern Powys. He constructed a network of tramroads between Sennybridge and the upper Swansea Valley, initially with a view to supplying the model farms which he had established with agricultural lime. Connections to coal mines further south were established and to sources of rottenstone and silica sand Sand casting, also known as sand molded casting, is a metal casting process characterized by using sand as the mold material. The term "sand casting" can also refer to an object produced via the sand casting process. Sand castings are produce ... but these ventures bankrupted him by 1827-28.Hughes, S. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fforest Fawr
Fforest Fawr is an extensive upland area in the county of Powys, Wales. Formerly known as the Great Forest of Brecknock in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, water catchment and recreation. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Extent The area extends from the edge of the Black Mountain in the west eastwards to the A470 Brecon to Merthyr Tydfil road, just west of the Brecon Beacons themselves. It includes the peaks of Fan Fawr (734 m), Fan Frynych (629 m), Craig Cerrig-gleisiad (629 m), Fan Llia (632 m), Fan Nedd (663 m), Fan Gyhirych (725 m), Fan Bwlch Chwyth (603 m) and Cefn Cul (562 m). Traditionally Fforest Fawr also included the peaks of Fan Hir and Fan Brycheiniog, although the modern recreational use of the name tends to be restricted to the area east of the Black Mountain of which they form a part. Geology The area is largely underlain by sandstones and mudstones of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
