IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Phoebe Road, SWANSEA, SA1 7FH

Just opposite the Morfa Liberty stadium, this Mills type milepost is part of National Cycle Route 43. The bridge is part of the new stadium development and the Liberty stadium can be seen just to the right. The river being bridged is the Tawe and is navigable at this point.

Now lined by new apartment blocks. The cycle path is a more recent addition.

This 1998 view of the White Rock Works site was taken from Landore Social Club footbridge (accessible from Neath Road). Landore Social Club (SA1 2LE) is housed in one of the historic copperworks buildings, originally the offices of the Hafod Copperworks of Vivian and Sons. It was later used as a social space for staff of ICI Landore and then Yorkshire Imperial Metals until it closed in 1981. The White Rock Copper Works were established in the Lower Swansea Valley in 1737 by John Hoblyn. The works were operated by Thomas Coster and Company. The company was renamed c1739 as Joseph Percivall and Copper Company and they operated the works until 1764 at which date the company was re-formed as John Freeman and Copper Company. From c1870 the works worked lead and silver and were operated by Williams, Foster and Company and Vivian and Sons until 1874, Vivian and Sons from c1874 until 1924, and British Copper Manufacturers' Limited 1924-1928. The ramp in the right distance originally connected with Kilvey Hill via further inclines. White Rock Quay runs just to the right on the River Tawe. White Rock Works finally closed in 1929 and the waste tips were cleared from 1967 onwards. Taken on an early digital camera.

In this 1998 view, the decaying remains of Upper Bank Station can be seen. Upper Bank was opened in 1871 as part of the Swansea Vale Railway's route to Morriston. It eventually reached Brynamman. The whole line was taken over by the Midland Railway in 1876 and additional through routes were added as a result. Passenger services ceased in 1950 and complete closure took place in the 1960s. By 1985 the only railway here was the section preserved by the SVR Society. In 2007, Swansea Council decided to redevelop the area and by 2010 the preserved railway was itself history, although the society itself lives on.

This arch marks the start of the Sculpture Trail on Kilvey Hill. According to this page http://www.hardcorecarvers.co.uk/nansi/archway1.html the arch was created in 2001. I didn't see many other sculptures as I walked through the forest though. The arch is by artist Nansi Hemming who has other work featured on Geograph too: Image Image Image

All that remains of Hafod Copperworks.

This was latterly the copper rolling mill operated by Yorkshire Imperial Metals and retired in 1980. It is a scheduled monument. This shows the boss of the large built up second motion wheel that is rope driven from a John Musgrave uniflow engine built in 1910. The main bearing cap is off because the top 'brass' has been misappropriated - like an awful lot of the plant. I decided to post this when I realised how gorgeous the colours and textures are. This is probably the only gear reverse steam driven rolling mill left in the UK and the clutches are steam operated - a fact I've only learnt relatively recently.

This shows part of the reverse gear train on the two high rolling mill. The small idler in the middle provides the reverse motion when the gears are engaged by one of two clutches. The one clutch connects the second motion shaft directly to the rolls while the other clutch takes the drive through 5 chevron gears to the stands. On my previous visit in 2012 I had not completely worked out exactly how the reversing mechanism worked.

Viewed from across the river Tawe just south of the new Morfa development.