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Crumlin, Caerphilly
Crumlin ( cy, Crymlyn) is a town, community, and an electoral ward in Caerphilly county borough in South Wales, situated in the Ebbw River valley, five miles west of Pontypool, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. History Kelly's Directory of South Wales (1895), noted that Crumlin "was a secluded village, scarcely known to any beyond the few persons resident there". It was considered to be one of the most picturesque spots in the county, surrounded by natural features of "unsurpassed loveliness". The name is said to be derived from Cromlech (see Dolmen), "a designation given to Druidical monuments". The village sits in the South Wales Coalfield and in the neighbouring quarries are often found fine fossils of calamites and lepidodendron; and, in the shale outcrops, fossil ferns and other cryptogamic plants. Crumlin Viaduct Crumlin is famous for its former railway viaduct. Opened in June 1857 for the Taff Vale Extension to the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crumlin Viaduct
The Crumlin Viaduct was a railway bridge, railway viaduct located above the village of Crumlin, Caerphilly, Crumlin in South Wales, originally built to carry the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR) across the Ebbw River. Hailed as "one of the most significant examples of technological achievement during the Industrial Revolution", in its 107 years of service until being dismantled in 1965, it remained: the least expensive bridge for its size ever constructed; the tallest railway viaduct in the United Kingdom; the third tallest viaduct in the world, after the aqueduct at Spoleto, Italy, and Portage Viaduct, the timber viaduct in Portage (town), New York, Portage, New York state. Background During the Industrial Revolution, and the mass-extraction of coal from South Wales, there was a resultant growth in construction of railways into the South Wales Coalfield. The Taff Vale Railway so monopolise ... [...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] |
Blackfriars Railway Bridge
Blackfriars Railway Bridge is a railway bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and the Millennium Bridge. First bridge There have been two structures with the name. The first bridge was opened in 1864 and was designed by Joseph Cubitt for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Massive abutments at each end carried the railway's insignia, preserved and restored on the south side. Following the formation of the Southern Railway in 1924, inter-city and continental services were concentrated on Waterloo, and St Paul's Station became a local and suburban stop. For this reason, the use of the original bridge gradually declined. It eventually became too weak to support modern trains, and was therefore removed in 1985 – all that remains is a series of columns crossing the Thames and the southern abutment, which is a Grade II listed structure. Second bridge The second bridge, built slightly further downstream (to the east), was originally called St Pau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fourteen Locks
Fourteen Locks () is a series of locks, also known as the Cefn Flight, on the Crumlin arm of the Monmouthshire Canal at Rogerstone in Newport, South Wales. The flight of locks was completed in 1799 and raises the water level 160 ft (50 m) in just 800 yd (740 m). This is one of the steepest rises for a major run in the UK which, combined with the sheer number of locks, makes it one of the most significant in the country. The run of locks includes a series of embanked ponds, pounds, sluices and weirs to control the water supply, with no set of gates shared between individual locks. It therefore comprises a flight of locks rather than a lock staircase. History The Monmouthshire Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in June 1792, and consisted of a main line from Newport to Pontnewynydd, which would eventually join up with the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal once that was built, and a branch running from Crindai, now called Malpas, to Crumlin. Both sections ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monmouthshire & Brecon 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 character and tranquillity belies its original purpose as an industrial corridor for coal and iron, which were brought to the canal by a network of tramways and/or railroads, many of which were built and owned by the canal company. The ''"Mon and Brec"'' was originally two independent canals – the Monmouthshire Canal from Newport to Pontymoile Basin (including the Crumlin Arm) and the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal running from Pontymoile to Brecon. Both canals were abandoned in 1962, but the Brecknock and Abergavenny route and a small section of the Monmouthshire route have been reopened since 1970. Much of the rest of the original Monmouthshire Canal is the subject of a restoration plan, which includes the construction of a new marina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crumlin Arm (Monmouthshire Canal)
The Crumlin Arm of the Monmouthshire canal is part of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal network in South Wales. It connected Crumlin and its tramways to the Docks at Newport. History The Crumlin to Abercarn section opened in March 1794 and two years later the branch was open except for Fourteen Locks. It was not until April 1799 that the proprietors (shareholders) declared that the canal was finally complete. The branch was long, rising 358 ft (109 m) through 32 locks. Route The canal started at a basin in Crumlin and ran through the villages of Newbridge, Abercarn and Cwmcarn now under the A467. The canal then reached Cwmcarn lock now under the grass at the end of the present canal. The canal crosses the Pontywaun aqueduct and follow the side of the mountain above Crosskeys and Risca this section is the longest lock-free pound on the system until the Fourteen Locks. The canal descends the fourteen locks and turns sharp along the hill side. The canal now f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. After studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sanford Meisner, Peck began appearing in stage productions, acting in over 50 plays and three Broadway productions. He first gained critical success in ''The Keys of the Kingdom'' (1944), a John M. Stahl–directed drama which earned him his first Academy Award nomination. He starred in a series of successful films, including romantic-drama ''The Valley of Decision'' (1944), Alfred Hitchcock's '' Spellbound'' (1945), and family film ''The Yearling'' (1946). He encountered lukewarm commercial reviews at the end of the 1940s, his performances including ''The Paradine Case'' (1947) and ''The Great Sinner'' (1948). Peck reached global recognition in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing back ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophia Loren
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood cinema. As of 2022, she is one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema and is the only remaining living person to appear on the AFI's list of the 25 greatest female stars of American film history, positioned at number 21. Encouraged to enroll in acting lessons after entering a beauty pageant, Loren began her film career at age sixteen in 1950. She appeared in several bit parts and minor roles in the early part of the decade, until her five-picture contract with Paramount in 1956 launched her international career. Her film appearances around this time include ''The Pride and the Passion'', '' Houseboat'', and ''It Started in Naples''. During the 1950s, she starred in films as a sexually emancipated persona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arabesque (1966 Film)
''Arabesque'' is a 1966 American comedy thriller spy film directed by Stanley Donen and starring Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren, written by Julian Mitchell, Stanley Price, and Peter Stone based on ''The Cipher'', a 1961 novel by Alex Gordon (pseudonym of Gordon Cotler). The film, along with Donen's immediately prior film ''Charade'' (1963), is usually described as being "Hitchcockian", as it features as a protagonist an innocent and ordinary man thrust into dangerous and extraordinary situations. It was the last film of that genre which Donen would make. ''Arabesque'' was filmed in Technicolor and Panavision and was distributed by Universal Pictures. Plot In an undercover mission, Major Sloane kills Professor Ragheeb, an ancient hieroglyphics expert at Oxford University and steals a hieroglyph-encrypted message. Sloane then asks Professor David Pollock, who has taken over Ragheeb's class on hieroglyphics, to meet with shipping magnate Nejim Beshraavi on a business matter. David d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crumlin (Monmouthshire) Railway Station
The Crumlin railway stations historically served the town of Crumlin, South Wales. Both stations are now closed and no longer exist. History Crumlin High Level Crumlin High Level was located to the western bank of the famous Crumlin Viaduct on the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway. It was opened on 8 October 1857 and closed on 15 June 1964. Crumlin Low Level This station opened as Crumlin on 21 December 1850. It was sited in the Ebbw Valley in the town centre. It was the joining point of the Beaufort Ironworks Tramway running to Ebbw Vale in the north, and the Monmouthshire Canal Tramway running to Newport in the south. It was renamed Crumlin Low Level on 1 September 1881 and closed on 30 April 1962.In 2008 the low-level line running through Crumlin resumed passenger services as the Ebbw Valley Railway The Ebbw Valley Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Cwm Ebwy) is a branch line of the South Wales Main Line in South Wales. Transport for Wal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes'' (1965), written by Richard Beeching and published by the British Railways Board. The first report identified 2,363 stations and of railway line for closure, amounting to 55% of stations, 30% of route miles, and 67,700 British Rail positions, with an objective of stemming the large losses being incurred during a period of increasing competition from road transport and reducing the rail subsidies necessary to keep the network running. The second report identified a small number of major routes for significant investment. The 1963 report also recommended some less well-publicised changes, including a switch to the now-standard practice of containerisation for rail freight, and the replacement of some services wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newport, Abergavenny And Hereford Railway
The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway company formed to connect the places in its name. When it sought Parliamentary authorisation, it was denied the southern section, and obliged to use the Monmouthshire Railway between Pontypool and Newport. It opened on 6 December 1853, and was part of an important chain of lines between south-east Wales and Birkenhead; mineral traffic in both directions was dominant. The London and North Western Railway hoped to exploit the line to form a network in South Wales, but that aspiration was not fully realised, and in 1860 the NA&HR merged with other railways to form the West Midland Railway, which soon amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1863. In order better to serve the ironworks in the South Wales Valleys, the NA&HR built the Taff Vale Extension Line, running west from Pontypool and cutting across several of the valleys, making connections with other companies' lines, eventually at twelve locations. The line wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
