IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
East View, PONTYPOOL, NP4 7UR

This is not to disparage the Welsh – British is the name of the small mining/ironworking community from which the view is taken. Despite appearances, this is a passenger train, not a freight train. Known as the 'paddy', it is waiting take miners up to the remote Blaenserchan Colliery, deep in a side valley above Talywain. The extent of waste ground indicates the extent to the which the local mining and ironworking industry had declined even by the 1960s, with only Blaenserchan Colliery remaining of local pits. The area above the train was once occupied by the British Iron Works, which had ceased operating as early as 1900, with the site partly filled out with spoil from the neighbouring Lower Navigation Colliery, which itself ceased operation in 1947. The building to the right of the train is the locomotive shed – known as Big Arch - for the network of non-BR lines which had served the area, and its size indicates how important it had been. At the back of it can be seen the beam engine house of 1845, which survives in roofless condition. By this stage the shed only had 3 locomotives left, with only two in active use. The locomotive is 'Llewellyn' built by Hunslet Engineering works no.3817 in 1954 and is the standard 'Austerity' design used extensively by the National Coal Board. Above the train can be seen the goods shed and signal box at Abersychan and Talywain Station, originally the terminus of the LNWR Abersychan Extension south from Blaenavon, later met by a GWR from the south. This closed to passengers in 1941 and to goods in 1954, although the line remained open to serve Blaenavon Big Pit until 1980. This site http://www.industrialgwent.co.uk/a42-british/index.htm has an excellent overview of the local industrial history.

Alongside an old mine access road.

“British” is the name of the hamlet on the edge of old mining remains.

Viewed from the top of here. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2355927 British Road is so named because it formerly ran through the site of the British Ironworks.

An upland South Wales Valley scene; terraced homes, disused colliery sites, industrial dereliction and nature trying to reclaim wasteland. The weather seems suitably sad and dismal.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3409412 to another view and some details.

The remains of what is thought to be the former NCB's Area Estate Office.

These ruins occupy a quadrangle roughly 40 metres by 40 metres. The ironworks, on land to the west of Abersychan, were established in 1826, originally named Abersychan Ironworks. The newly-formed British Iron Company took over the works in 1829. The upsurge in demand for steel from about 1870 caused a decline in the demand for iron, so much so that the ironworks closed down in 1876. Various fragments of the works remain. As well as these buildings, there are the remains of a former pumping engine house http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3409387 about 100 metres away.

The sign is alongside a road through the former British Ironworks site. In the distance, to the left of the road, are the ruins http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3409412 of the former offices and foundry.