Stone sign marking Bryn Oer Tramroad - geograph

The Bryn Oer Tramway (also known as the Brinore Tramroad) was a horse-worked

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard-gauge railway, standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum r ...

built in South

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 1814.

History

The

Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal ( cy, Camlas Sir Fynwy a Brycheiniog) is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park, and its present rural ...

was built under an Act of Parliament of 1793. The Act allowed the canal company to build feeder railways up to in length to transport freight to the canal for

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...

. The Bryn Oer Tramway was built under this act in 1814, opening in 1815. It was a horse-worked

plateway A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later. Plateways consisted of "L"-shaped rails, where the flange o ...

that served the Bryn Oer collieries and the limestone quarries at

Trefil Trefil is a small village in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, south Wales. It lies at the top of the Sirhowy Valley, near to Brecon Beacons National Park. It is three miles northwest of Tredegar. With one public house, The Top House, serving ...

, dropping along its route to the canal at

Talybont-on-Usk Talybont-on-Usk ( cy, Tal-y-bont ar Wysg) is a village and community in Powys, Wales, in the historic county of Brecknockshire. It lies on both the Caerfanell river and the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, about from the River Usk. In 2001, i ...

. An extension was built to serve the Rhymney ironworks in the

Rhymney Valley The Rhymney Valley () is one of the South Wales valleys, with the Rhymney River forming the border between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Between 1974 and 1996 a Rhymney Valley local government district also existed (one o ...

. By the 1830s, the growth of local railways had begun to complete with the tramway, especially with the introduction of

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

that were too heavy to work on the fragile plateway. By 1860, most of the tramway's traffic was being sent by railways and it closed in 1865.Brinore Tramroad website
/ref>

The tramway today

Much of the route of the tramway is in use as a public bridleway for walkers, horseriders and mountain-bikers, and stone

sleepers ''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin Ho ...

remain in place in several places. A Brinore Tramroad Conservation Forum has been established to protect and conserve the remains of this important piece of Wales'

industrial archaeology Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past. This evidence, collectively referred to as industrial heritage, includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, sites, infrastructure, docu ...

. The Forum comprises the

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain ...

Authority,

Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales ( cy, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Count ...

Tredegar Tredegar (pronounced , ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the In ...

Town Council, Talybont and

Llangynidr Llangynidr is a village, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales, about west of Crickhowell and south-east of Brecon. The River Usk flows through the village as does the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. It is in the historic county of B ...

community councils A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory Parish councils in England, parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may ...

together with Llangynidr Historical Society and individuals.

References

* *

External links

Brinore Tramroad Conservation Forum's siteimages of Brinore Tramroad and surrounding area on Geograph website
3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Wales Early Welsh railway companies Industrial railways in Wales Narrow gauge railways in Powys Transport in Powys Railway lines opened in 1815 Closed railway lines in Wales History of Powys Brecon Beacons Rail trails in Wales Footpaths in Powys Railway lines closed in 1865 1815 establishments in Wales Horse-drawn railways Narrow gauge railways in Blaenau Gwent {{UK-rail-transport-stub

History

The tramway today

See also

References

External links