Garndiffaith Viaduct

Last updated

Garndiffraith Viaduct Garndiffaith Viaduct crosses Viaduct Road (geograph 2137517).jpg
Garndiffraith Viaduct

Garndiffaith Viaduct is a largely stone-built railway viaduct that formerly carried the former Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway over the valley of the Avon Ffrwd at the lower end of the village of Garndiffaith, Torfaen in South Wales. It is Grade II listed. [1]

The viaduct was engineered by John Gardiner between 1876 and 1877 to extend the LNWR line that principally carried coal from Brynmawr and Blaenavon to meet the Great Western Railway at Abersychan and Talywain.

In 1912 the lines were opened to passenger services operated by the GWR as well as mineral trains, making it easier for miners and other workers to travel up and down the valley. This service ceased in 1941 due to the exigencies of the Second World War, but the viaduct remained in use until 1980 when the last mineral train left Blaenavons' Big Pit mine. The track was shortly dismantled by British Rail thereafter.

The Viaduct today

Today the viaduct has survived well into preservation and is in relatively good condition, now forming part of the National Cycle Network Route 46. However, Reopening the viaduct to railway traffic has become one of the long-term ambitions of the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway as the viaduct is wide enough to accommodate route-sharing, in which the preserved P&BR could expand over it and alongside the cycle-route towards Pontypool and back.

Related Research Articles

Blaenavon town and community in Torfaen County Borough in south east Wales

Blaenavon is a town and community in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Lwyd north of Pontypool, within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The town lies high on a hillside and has a population of 6,055.

Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway

The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) volunteer-run heritage railway in South Wales, running trains between a halt platform opposite the Whistle Inn public house southwards to the town of Blaenavon via a two-platform station at the site of former colliery furnace of the Big Pit National Coal Museum.

Pontnewynydd is a predominantly working class suburb of Pontypool, Torfaen, in Wales. It should not be confused with Pontnewydd in nearby Cwmbran.

Garndiffaith is a village located in Torfaen, south east Wales. It is a small rural area situated between Talywain and Varteg, three miles north of the town of Pontypool and 3.5 miles south of the town of Blaenavon. The village is now part of the Abersychan suburb of Pontypool which also includes Cwmavon, Pentwyn, Talywain, Varteg, and Victoria Village.

The Pontypool, Caerleon & Newport Railway was promoted independently to relieve congestion on the heavily worked Eastern Valley Line of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company. The Great Western Railway put up half the capital, making it in effect a GWR subsidiary. It opened in 1874, and most long distance passenger and goods traffic, especially the heavy mineral traffic, transferred to it. It amalgamated with the GWR in 1876.

The Clydach Gorge is a steep-sided valley in south-east Wales down which the River Clydach flows to the River Usk. It runs for 5.6 km from the vicinity of Brynmawr in Blaenau Gwent eastwards and northeastwards to Gilwern in Monmouthshire. The Gorge was one of the first locations in the region to be industrialised though it still retains its natural environment. It has long been an important transport corridor between Abergavenny and the lowlands of Monmouthshire and the northeastern quarter of the South Wales Coalfield. It is now exploited by the A465 Heads of the Valleys trunk road which runs between Abergavenny and Swansea and which serves the Heads of the Valleys sub-region.

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.

The Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company was a canal and railway company that operated a canal and a network of railways in the Western Valley and Eastern Valley of Newport, Monmouthshire. It started as the Monmouthshire Canal Navigation and opened canals from Newport to Pontypool and to Crumlin from 1796. Numerous tramroads connected nearby pits and ironworks with the canal.

Crumlin Viaduct railway viaduct located above the village of Crumlin in South Wales

The Crumlin Viaduct was a railway viaduct located above the village of Crumlin in South Wales, originally built to carry the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR) across the Ebbw River.

Abersychan and Talywain railway station

Abersychan and Talywain railway station served the west of Abersychan village in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire. The station was the meeting point for two major pre-grouping railways as they competed for the South Wales coal traffic.

Varteg railway station

Varteg railway station was a railway station which served the village of Varteg, in the county of Monmouthshire, on the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway. Built by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) as an expansion to meet the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Abersychan and Talywain. It was sometimes referred to on old Ordnance Survey and British Railway Clearing House (RCH) as 'Varteg Halt', despite it having an extensive station building.

Garndiffaith railway station served the village of Garndiffaith, located in Torfaen, south east Wales. Build by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) as an expansion for the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway to meet the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Abersychan and Talywain.

Blaenavon High Level railway station

Blaenavon High Level is a railway station on the preserved Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, serving the World Heritage Site and town of Blaenavon, south Wales.

Waenavon railway station

Waenavon railway station, also known as Waen Avon, was a station on the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway in South East Wales. To the south of the station a short line served Milfraen Colliery.

Pentrepiod Halt railway station (Monmouthshire)

Pentrepiod Halt, Monmouthshire is a former railway station that was located approximately 2 miles north of Pontypool in Monmouthshire.

The Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway was a railway line in South Wales, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire, originally built in 1866 and immediately leased to the London and North Western Railway to transport coal to the Midlands via the Heads of the Valleys line. The line was completed in the late eighteen sixties and the LNWR were operating passenger trains over the line by 1872. Eight years later it was extended to meet the Great Western Railway at Abersychan & Talywain. Here the line carried on down the valley through Pontypool Crane Street railway station to the coast at Newport. In 1922 the LNWR was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. In later years the line saw a variety of GWR locomotives operating from pit to port; however, the railway retained its LNWR infrastructure up until the very last days before its closure.

Brynmawr railway station

Brynmawr railway station was a station which served Nantyglo and Brynmawr in the Welsh county of Brecknockshire.

Whistle Inn Halt railway station

Whistle Inn is a halt on the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway heritage railway in Torfaen, Wales. It is situated adjacent to the Whistle Inn, near the village of Garn-yr-erw. The station is the northern terminus of the line and its highest point at 1,307 feet (398 m) above sea level. To the north of the halt, on the other side of the road bridge over the line, was Garn-Yr-Erw Halt on the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway.

Pontypool Crane Street railway station

Pontypool Crane Street railway station served Pontypool in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

Snatchwood Halt railway station served Snatchwood between Pontypool and Abersychan in Torfaen, South Wales, UK. The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1912 on the line it had purchased from the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company in 1880. The Halt lay between Pontypool Crane Street to the south and Abersychan to the north. The Halt lay adjacent to the current A4043 road, between the road and the nearby Afon Lwyd.

References

Coordinates: 51°43′58″N3°04′07″W / 51.7327°N 3.0687°W / 51.7327; -3.0687