John Dadford was an English canal engineer, as were his father Thomas Dadford and brothers Thomas Dadford, Jr. and James Dadford. He lived from approximately 1769 to 1800, although neither date is known for certain.
John Dadford was the third son of the canal engineer Thomas Dadford and his wife Frances Brown, the daughter of a Wolverhampton toymaker called Samuel Brown. They lived in the Wolverhampton area, and it is probable that John was born in that area. His older brothers were Thomas and James, both of whom worked as canal engineers. He had a younger brother called William and a sister called Mary. [1] He is known to have been a pupil at Sedgley Park Roman Catholic School between May 1778 and June 1781. [2]
By 1790, he was working as an engineer, assisting his father and his brother Thomas with surveys for the Neath Canal. His involvement with the construction of the Glamorganshire Canal is less certain, but quite likely. By 1792, he was working independently, surveying a route for a canal and tramway to connect the Neath Canal to the Glamorganshire Canal, and a route for a road along the Aberdare Valley. Between 1792 and 1793 he was employed as a carrier on the Glamorganshire Canal. [2]
His next major project was the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal. When he first surveyed the line, it was to run from the Glangrwyney Ironworks near Gilwern to the River Usk at Newbridge, near Caerleon, but the northern terminus was then extended to Brecon, and negotiations with the Monmouthshire Canal resulted in a revised line, with the two canals joining at Pontymoile. A bill was presented to Parliament in January 1793, but after its second reading, the Monmouthshire Canal succeeded in making an amendment, for a somewhat different route which had been surveyed by his brother Thomas. [2]
An Act of Parliament to authorise the canal was obtained in March 1793, and allowed either the company or owners of collieries to build tramroads from the canal to points up to 8 miles (13 km) from it. Although no work on the canal had started, the company began building the Clydach Tramway, with Dadford as engineer. It used edge rails, like modern railways, which were laid on iron sleepers initially, but then on wooden sleepers. It is difficult to be certain which sections Dadford was responsible for, with Hadfield describing a tramroad from Gelli-felen colliery to Gilwern, which then crossed the River Usk to reach Glangrwyne, where iron from Ebbw Vale was worked in a forge [3] Skempton describes a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) tramroad from Llangroiney [Glangrwyne] to Gellifelen, and a second section from Gellifelen to Fossalog, near Nantyglo, [2] while Gladwin and Gladwin describe a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) route from Llammarch Colliery to Clydach Ironworks. [4] Dadford's bridge over the Usk collapsed in February 1795, when the river was in flood, and the fact that he had not built flood relief culverts into the embankments on either side of the bridge was deemed to have been a contributory factor in its failure. [2]
In July 1794, he became the engineer for the Montgomeryshire Canal, which extended the Llanymynech Branch of the Ellesmere Canal from its terminus at Llanymynech to Newtown. It had been authorised in March 1794, and John was to be assisted by his brother Thomas. The route involved crossing the River Vyrnwy, where a five-arched aqueduct was built, each with a span of 39 feet (12 m), and crossing the River Rhiw at Berriew, where two 30-foot (9.1 m) arches spanned the river, and there were two more arches on the land. One of the arches of the Vyrnwy aqueduct collapsed, and there were troubles with the Rhiw aqueduct. He resigned in July 1796 and emigrated to America. On his brother's suggestion, he was replaced by his father. The committee were critical of the Dadfords, but when they called in William Jessop to advise them, he suggested that such issues were merely teething problems, and were quite normal on such a project. [2] [5]
It is not known what Dadford did after emigrating, and he was not mentioned in his father's will in 1809, which probably indicates that he died there before then. Despite the failure of some of his bridges, he was highly regarded, with the Monmouthshire Canal requesting that if anyone was sent down to inspect the works, they would prefer John Dadford to anyone else. [2]
The spelling of Glangrwyne is encountered in different forms including Glangrwyney and Llangrwyne.
The Glamorganshire Canal in South Wales, UK, was begun in 1790. It ran along the valley of the River Taff from Merthyr Tydfil to the sea at Cardiff. The final section of canal was closed in 1951.
The Llangollen Canal is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire. The name, which was coined in the 1980s, is a modern designation for parts of the historic Ellesmere Canal and the Llangollen navigable feeder, both of which became part of the Shropshire Union Canals in 1846.
Thomas Dadford Sr. was an English canal engineer as were his sons, Thomas Dadford Jr., John Dadford, and James Dadford.
Thomas Dadford Jr. was an English canal engineer, who came from a family of canal engineers. He first worked with his father in the north of Britain on the Stour and the Trent, but later independently, contributing to a number of canal schemes, mainly in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire but also in Montgomeryshire and Ellesmere, before dying at the age of 40.
The Montgomery Canal, known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs 33 miles (53 km) from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llanymynech and Welshpool and crosses the England–Wales border.
The Leominster Canal was an English canal which ran for just over 18 miles from Mamble to Leominster through 16 locks and a number of tunnels, some of which suffered engineering problems even before the canal opened. Originally the canal was part of a much more ambitious plan to run 46 miles from Stourport to Kington.
The Neath and Tennant Canals are two independent but linked canals in South Wales that are usually regarded as a single canal. The Neath Canal was opened from Glynneath to Melincryddan, to the south of Neath, in 1795 and extended to Giant's Grave in 1799, in order to provide better shipping facilities. With several small later extensions it reached its final destination at Briton Ferry. No traffic figures are available, but it was successful, as dividends of 16 per cent were paid on the shares. The canal was 13.5 miles (21.7 km) long and included 19 locks.
The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable 35-mile (56 km) 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.
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 in just 800 yd. 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.
The Swansea Canal was a canal constructed by the Swansea Canal Navigation Company between 1794 and 1798, running for 16.5 miles (26.6 km) from Swansea to Hen Neuadd, Abercraf in South Wales. It was steeply graded, and 36 locks were needed to enable it to rise 373 feet (114 m) over its length. The main cargos were coal, iron and steel, and the enterprise was profitable.
Thomas Sheasby, Senior (c.1740–1799) was a British civil engineer and contractor. His early work involved bridge construction, after which he went on to build canals, including several in South Wales. He was imprisoned for a time when there were contractual problems with the Glamorganshire Canal Company.
Gilwern is a village within the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, Wales. Historically in Brecknockshire, it extends to either side of the River Clydach on the south side of the Usk valley. Its position beside the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal led to it being an important industrial centre at one time.
The Aberdare Canal was a canal in Glamorgan, Wales which ran from Aberdare to a junction with the Glamorganshire Canal at Abercynon. It opened in 1812, and served the iron and coal industries for almost 65 years. The arrival of railways in the area did not immediately affect its traffic, but the failure of the iron industry in 1875 and increasing subsidence due to coal mining led to it becoming uneconomic. The Marquess of Bute failed to halt its decline when he took it over in 1885, and in 1900 it was closed on safety grounds. The company continued to operate a tramway until 1944. Most of the route was buried by the construction of the A4059 road in 1923, although a short section at the head of the canal remains in water and is now a nature reserve. The company was wound up in 1955.
George Watson Buck (1789–1854) was the engineer of the Montgomeryshire Canal in the early 19th century, and was responsible for the unique lock paddle design.
Semington Aqueduct is an aqueduct at Semington, Wiltshire, England, UK. It carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the Semington Brook.
The Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway, also known as the Heads of the Valleys line, was a railway line which operated between 1860 and 1958 between the Monmouthshire town of Abergavenny and the Glamorgan town of Merthyr Tydfil in South East Wales.
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 kilometres (3.5 mi) 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 Arbury Canals were a system of private canals, in the Arbury Estate, between Nuneaton and Bedworth in Warwickshire, England. They connected with the Coventry Canal. They were built by Sir Roger Newdigate between 1764 and 1795, and ceased to be used soon after his death in 1806. The Griff Hollows Canal was separate to the main system, and carried coal until its closure in 1961.
Hugh Henshall (1734–1816) was an English civil engineer, noted for his work on canals. He was born in North Staffordshire and was a student of the canal engineer James Brindley, who was also his brother-in-law.
The Blaenavon Railroad was a horse drawn tramroad built to link Blaenavon Ironworks with the Monmouthshire Canal in south east Wales.
