The Glamorganshire Canal

Authorised for construction on the 9th of June, 1790 the Glamorganshire Canal was
envisaged by the ironmasters of Merthyr Tydfil as a means of transporting their
products to the docks in Cardiff. For chief engineer Thomas Dadford senior it proved
to be a difficult task not least because 50 locks had to be constructed.

16 of the 50 locks were located in a mile long stretch between Abercynon and
Quakers Yard, where there was a fall of around 200 feet. When completed it would
take a boat over two hours to navigate this section of the canal. While the first part of
the canal, between Cardiff and Navigation House (Abercynon), opened for traffic on
the 10th of February 1794 it would take another 4 years to cover the 9 miles between
Abercynon and Merthyr.

A bridge crosses the canal at the top of Martins Terrace. Navigation House, once
home to the Glamorganshire Canal Company’s headquarters and now a pub, is
visible in the background.
The principal shareholder in the Glamorganshire Canal was ironmaster Richard
Crawshay of Cyfarthfa and, to the frustration of the areas other ironmasters, he
expected his products to take precedence at the canal head loading areas. This,
coupled with the problem of congestion which the upper, heavily locked section of the
canal suffered from, led to the owners of the Dowlais, Penydarren and Plymouth
ironworks constructing the Merthyr Tramroad (sometimes known as the Penydarren
Tramroad). Opened in 1802 it ran 9.5 miles from Merthyr Tydfil to the canal basin in
Abercynon.

It was around this canal basin that the original community of Abercynon grew. As
well as the canal company headquarters, located at Navigation House, there were
warehouses, depot houses, a winding hole, saw pit, blacksmiths shop and possibly a
dry dock. Soon cottages and other buildings were constructed. The growth in
population led to a Post Office/ General Store opening and, eventually, a surgery. The
Basin was also home to three public houses- the Lifeboat and Swan (since converted
into Swan Cottages) were joined later by New Inn.

The New Inn public house.

On the 21st of February 1804 the Merthyr Tramroad was the setting for the world’s
first steam engine journey as Richard Trevithick’s “High Pressure Tram-Engine” took
a load of 10 tons of iron from the Penydarren Iron Works to Navigation House in
Abercynon. After this famous first run it made several other journeys and on one
occasion hauled a load of 25 tons. Unfortunately the engine was prone to breaking
down and its weight, around 5 tons, meant that it damaged many of the cast iron plate
rails. This led to the experiment eventually being abandoned.
 Abercynon’s monument to Trecithick’s historic locomotive. The tramroad along
which the locomotive ran was located to the right of this picture. Its route toward
Navigation House is now covered by the council yard and offices.

The Basin was also the terminus for a second tramroad. The Llanfabon Tramroad,
sometimes referred to as Sir William Smith’s Tramroad, was constructed in 1810 to
bring coal from the Nelson area to the Glamorganshire Canal. The route can still be
traced from the Basin to Fiddlers Elbow whereupon it becomes the road to Nelson.

The Aberdare Canal Company obtained an Act of Parliament on the 28th of March
1794 which authorised the building of a canal from Aberdare to join the
Glamorganshire Canal in Abercynon. It also allowed for the building of tramroads to
mines, quarries or works within 8 miles of the proposed route. As construction of a
canal was not deemed viable at the time- only the Hirwaun Ironworks would have
made use of it, the company instead engaged James Dadford, son of Thomas Dadford
senior, to survey the route of a tramroad from Aberdare to Penderyn. The route of the
canal was re-surveyed in 1800 by Thomas Dadford, brother of James Dadford, but no
further action was taken.

It was not until after the opening of two further ironworks in the area in 1806 that a
canal was deemed viable. In 1809 Edward Martin was employed to re-survey the
route and Thomas Sheasby contracted to construct the canal. 6 and three quarter miles
in length the Aberdare Canal finally opened for traffic in 1812.
 Junction Lock and lock keepers cottage. It was here that the Aberdare Canal joined
the Glamorganshire Canal.

For over 40 years the Glamorganshire Canal was the most successful in south Wales
however the opening of the Taff Vale Railway in 1841 marked the beginning of the
end. While the canal managed to hold its own for a time the closure of the ironworks
in the 1870s was a serious blow. Despite improvements made by the Marquess of
Bute, who had taken over control of the Glamorganshire Canal in 1885, by 1886 six
railway companies all competing for traffic were serving Merthyr Tydfil.

As the canal struggled to compete for traffic it was struck by another problem- severe
subsidence at the upper sections, especially around Aberfan, forced the closure of the
Merthyr to Abercynon section on the 6th of December 1898. Two years later, in 1900,
the Aberdare Canal also closed to commercial traffic. In 1915 further breaches in the
canal and subsidence at Cilfynydd saw its closure between Abercynon and
Pontypridd. The Pontypridd to Cardiff section remained in operation until 1942, the
canal eventually closed in 1951.

Today much of the route of the Glamorganshire Canal is filled in and covered, mainly
by the A470, while the Aberdare Canal was largely destroyed by the building of New
Road.