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River Neath
River Neath ( cy, Afon Nedd) is a river in south Wales running south west from the point at which its headwaters arising in the Brecon Beacons National Park converge to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay. Course The rivers Nedd Fechan, Mellte and Hepste rise in south Powys on the southern slopes of Fforest Fawr. This headwater area is formed from Old Red Sandstone. Each then crosses a band of Carboniferous Limestone before traversing country formed by interlayered sandstones and shales traditionally referred to as the Millstone Grit. Within the limestone belt, short sections of each river flow underground, though that of the Hepste also flows at the surface during periods of particularly wet weather. The steep descent of these rivers towards the Vale of Neath, and also of the Afon Pyrddin and Afon Sychryd, tributaries of the Nedd Fechan and Afon Mellte respectively, involves the development of a number of waterfalls over resistant ban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neath Castle
Neath Castle ( cy, Castell Nedd) is a Norman castle located in the town centre of Neath, Wales. Its construction was begun by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the nominal Lord of Glamorgan, at a date estimated between 1114 and 1130. It is also referred to as "Granville's Castle", after Richard I de Grenville (or Granville or Glanville; died post 1142), Lord of Neath, who has also been credited with its construction. The town of Neath takes its Welsh name, "Castell-nedd", from the castle. History The first castle in Neath was located west of the river near the Roman fort of Nidum, and was a timber fortification in a motte and bailey structure. When Richard de Grenville founded Neath Abbey close by, he abandoned this original castle, and it may have been used by the monks as a source of building material. A second castle on the opposite bank of the river, in what is now the centre of the town, is first documented in 1183; shortly afterwards, William de Cogan, son of Miles de Cog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nedd Fechan
The Nedd Fechan is a river almost wholly within the county of Powys, Wales, currently administered as part of the unitary authority of Powys. It rises on the eastern slopes of Fan Gyhirych in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park and flows south for 7 miles (12 km) to join with the Afon Mellte at Pontneddfechan, their combined waters continuing as the River Neath (Welsh Afon Nedd) to the sea near Swansea. The only significant tributary of the Nedd Fechan is the Afon Pyrddin which joins it at Pwll Du ar Byrddin ('the black pool of the Pyrddin'). Downstream of this confluence it forms the boundary between Powys to its east and Neath Port Talbot to its west. __TOC__ Geology The headwaters of the river run over Old Red Sandstone as far as Blaen-nedd-isaf where they encounter the Carboniferous Limestone outcrop. The river then continues through a wooded gorge for the remainder of its course. The section downstream of Pont Rhyd-y-cnau is cut in sandstones ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waterfall Country (Wales)
Waterfall Country (or sometimes Waterfalls Country) is an English name often given to the Vale of Neath in South Wales. The tourist area around the head of the valley has an unusually large number of publicly accessible waterfalls. The area is not officially defined but generally includes the group of falls on the Nedd Fechan, Pyrddin, Hepste and Mellte rivers, all of which lie between the villages of Pontneddfechan and Ystradfellte in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Each of these falls lies within or on the boundary of the county of Powys. A few miles further west are Henrhyd Falls on the Nant Llech, a tributary of the Tawe and to the south-west are Melin Court Falls on the Melin Court Brook, a tributary of the River Neath. These, along with Aberdulais Falls on the Dulais, a further tributary of the Neath are also encompassed by the term 'Waterfall/s Country' by some writers. Collectively the falls are one of the more popular natural attractions in South Wales, which has c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afon Sychryd
The Afon Sychryd is a river in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Although it is a relatively short river, with a total length of , it is notable for the gorge and two waterfalls through which it flows. Course The river has two upper arms, the first arises near Penderyn, which has been dammed to create a small reservoir, known as Penderyn Reservoir. The second arm starts just below Craig y Llyn and is known locally as the Nant Gwrangon; it flows past the village of Rhigos and through Cwm Wyrfa on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Where the two arm joins it flows through the southern slopes of the Fforest Fawr Geopark and under the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road and turns northwest to join the Afon Mellte at Pontneddfechan.Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL12 'Brecon Beacons National Park: western area' Its lower section is cut into a spectacular gorge beneath Dinas Rock (Craig-y-Ddinas), site of an Iron Age hillfort and of the once-famous Dinas Silica Mine. The gorge is wel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afon Pyrddin
The Afon Pyrddin is a river forming a short section of the boundary between the counties of Brecknockshire and Glamorgan in Wales, Great Britain. It also forms a part of the boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park, and the boundary of the unitary authorities of Powys and Neath Port Talbot. The river and its waterfalls are one of the key attractions of the Fforest Fawr Geopark designated in 2005. The name could mean 'river by the striking fortress' or 'sweet-flowing river'. The streams of Nant y Bryn, Nant y Fedwen and Nant Hir come together to form the Pyrddin which flows south-eastwards for 3 miles (5 km) to its confluence with the Nedd Fechan (sometimes also known historically in an Englished form "Neath Vaughan"; at one time this would have been a fair indication of the Welsh pronunciation in English spelling, but with changes in English pronunciation it has now diverged considerably)). Waterfalls The Pyrddin is best known for two spectacular waterfalls, Sgwd Gwla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vale Of Neath
The Vale of Neath (or Neath Valley, Welsh: ''Cwm Nedd''), one of the South Wales Valleys, encompasses the upper reaches of the River Neath in southwest Wales. In addition to the River Neath, it is traversed by the Neath Canal and the A465 dual carriageway. Settlements in the valley include Neath, Cadoxton, Tonna, Aberdulais, Resolven, Blaengwrach, Glynneath and Pontneddfechan. Coal mining was an industry in the valley with mining operations being located at Aberpergwm and Pentreclwydau near Glynneath. Waterfall Country " Waterfall Country" is a nickname given to the Vale of Neath due to the diverse number of waterfalls in the valley. In the upper reaches of the valley, at the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, are the waterfalls of four or five rivers: the Afon Hepste, Nedd Fechan, Afon Pyrddin, Afon Mellte and Afon Sychryd. In the lower valley, waterfalls can be found at Melincourt and Aberdulais. Vale of Neath Railway Currently partly used as a goods line the Vale of Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, that extend a relatively short distance into the rock and they are called ''exogene'' caves. Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called ''endogene'' caves. Speleology is the science of exploration and study of all aspects of caves and the cave environment. Visiting or exploring caves for recreation may be called ''caving'', ''potholing'', or ''spelunking''. Formation types The formation and development of caves is known as ''speleogenesis''; it can occur over the course of millions of years. Caves can range widely in size, and are formed by various geological processes. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, erosion by water, tectonic forces, microorgani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite.Blatt, Harvey and Robert J. Tracy (1996) ''Petrology: Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic'', 2nd ed., Freeman, pp. 281–292 Shale is characterized by its tendency to split into thin layers ( laminae) less than one centimeter in thickness. This property is called '' fissility''. Shale is the most common sedimentary rock. The term ''shale'' is sometimes applied more broadly, as essentially a synonym for mudrock, rather than in the more narrow sense of clay-rich fissile mudrock. Texture Shale typically exhibits varying degrees of fissility. Because of the parallel orientation of clay mineral flakes in shale, it breaks into thin layers, often splintery and usually parallel to the otherwise indistinguishable beddin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) because they are the most resistant minerals to weathering processes at the Earth's surface. Like uncemented sand, sandstone may be any color due to impurities within the minerals, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, certain colors of sandstone have been strongly identified with certain regions. Rock formations that are primarily composed of sandstone usually allow the percolation of water and other fluids and are porous enough to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers and petroleum reservoirs. Quartz-bearing sandstone can be changed into quartzite through metamorphism, usually related to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carboniferous Limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian Epoch of the Carboniferous Period. These rocks formed between 363 and 325 million years ago. Within England and Wales, the entire limestone succession, which includes subordinate mudstones and some thin sandstones, is known as the Carboniferous Limestone Supergroup. Depositional basins Within Great Britain the suite of rocks known traditionally as the Carboniferous Limestone Series was deposited as marine sediments in three distinct ‘provinces’ separated by contemporary landmasses. One of these landmasses was the Wales-London-Brabant Massif, an east–west aligned belt of land stretching through central Wales and the English Midlands to East Anglia and on into Belgium. The limestones deposited to its south form a distinct South Wales-Mendip province which extends from Pembrokeshire in the west through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Red Sandstone
The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also extends northwards into Greenland and Svalbard. These areas were a part of the ancient continent of Euramerica, Euramerica/Laurussia. In Britain it is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) to which Stratigraphy, stratigraphers accord Geological unit#Lithostratigraphic units, supergroup status and which is of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, ORS is often used in literature on the subject. The term was coined to distinguish the sequence from the younger New Red Sandstone which also occurs widely throughout Britain. Sedimentology The Old Red Sandstone describes a suite of sedimentary rocks deposited in a variety of environments during the Devonian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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