| This view, looking NE up the Afan valley towards Cymmer and Glyncorrwg. Taken from the road on top of the "aqueduct" , the remains of the bridge which carried the railway line from Port talbot can be seen centre right. |  |
| This view looking SW from the "Aqueduct".
Another bridge can just be seen centre left which carried another railway
up the vallet towards Tonmawr.
Two roads can be seen. The car at the junction has come from the direction of Cwmavon which is down the valley to the left of picture. The road up the hill leads to Neath via Cimla while down the hill will lead under the aqueduct joining the main Port talbot Cymmer road. |
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| View from the far side
of the aqueduct and just below the road level. The burial ground left top
is that of the Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, just out of shot.
The house just below the burial ground was previously the "Kingshead" Public House. It was here that Lucy Thomas (nee Wagstaff) lived in the latter half of the 1800`s. The small building to the left of the old pub (blue door) was the old Butcher`s shop which was run by Lucy`s husband Thomas. A Plaque in the left hand of the two adjoining house shown centre left records this as being the birthplace of the actor, Richard Burton. Some of the locals think that he was actually born in the row of cottages which originally stood adjoining the Kingshead. |
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| The Aqueduct :
Built
about 1825 it supplied water to the water wheel which generated the blast
for the Pontrhydyfen Ironworks. The water-course was 4 feet wide and 3
ft deep and flanked by pedestrian paths either side.
The bridge is 495 ft long, 75 ft high and 13 ft wide and has four arches. It no longer carries water, the canal having been filled in, but is now only used by pedestrians and cyclists. |
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