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Smiths Canal - Llansamlet


magpie patrick

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Its not often I set eyes on a canal I'd never seen before, still in a place I visit regularly,  in a spot I've sometimes been only 100 yards from. So this was a surprise. 

 

I think I'd heard of the Llansamlet Canal, other than the obvious* I'd no idea where it was. This is the canal and tunnel at White Rock. The tunnel had three side openings for coal to be unloaded, although why this was thought necessary isn't clear. Beyond that, all I know is it was 1.5 miles long and open from about 1780 to 1850.

 

* for those that don't know the area Llansamlet is an industrial suburb of Swansea 

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Edited by magpie patrick
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Really interesting, thanks for posting.  Could you clarify, the "three side openings " were these inside the tunnel allowing coal to be loaded, directly from the workings, into boats in the tunnel? Also, the two outfalls / adits in the last photo, what was their purpose?

 

 

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7 hours ago, NB Esk said:

Really interesting, thanks for posting.  Could you clarify, the "three side openings " were these inside the tunnel allowing coal to be loaded, directly from the workings, into boats in the tunnel? Also, the two outfalls / adits in the last photo, what was their purpose?

 

 

Just come out of a meeting on another project (Swansea canal in Clydach) but one of the participants knew of this canal. Apparently boats were unloaded straight into the furnace! That being the purpose of the two side openings (there is a third)

Edited by magpie patrick
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Having recently moved to Llanelli this is great, will definitely be having a mooch around. Had already traced the Swansea canal where it has been buried under the new road, extreme left in the image above from Buccaneer.  Much of the canal in Swansea itself has been obliterated by years of development, the suggested plans for connecting a rerouted Swansea canal and the Neath & Tennant are interesting if a long way from any sort of action.

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On 28/03/2019 at 06:10, magpie patrick said:

Its not often I set eyes on a canal I'd never seen before, still in a place I visit regularly,  in a spot I've sometimes been only 100 yards from. So this was a surprise. 

 

I think I'd heard of the Llansamlet Canal, other than the obvious* I'd no idea where it was. This is the canal and tunnel at White Rock. The tunnel had three side openings for coal to be unloaded, although why this was thought necessary isn't clear. Beyond that, all I know is it was 1.5 miles long and open from about 1780 to 1850.

 

* for those that don't know the area Llansamlet is an industrial suburb of Swansea 

20190327_150514.jpg

20190327_145055.jpg

20190327_151157.jpg

That's less than a couple of miles fro where Mrs Bob lived as a kid......in Ynysforgan, across the road from the canal, near the railway viaduct. She was a child there in the 50's and there was a canal, with water, but never remembers seeing any boats.

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19 hours ago, AMModels said:

Having recently moved to Llanelli this is great, will definitely be having a mooch around. Had already traced the Swansea canal where it has been buried under the new road, extreme left in the image above from Buccaneer.  Much of the canal in Swansea itself has been obliterated by years of development, the suggested plans for connecting a rerouted Swansea canal and the Neath & Tennant are interesting if a long way from any sort of action.

Yeah, I know - it's me that wrote the submissions for the local plan! the route goes up the Fendrod (the watercourse parallel to Valley Road) - then there is enough room under the motorway and railway bridges to get a canal alongside the river. The really big ask though is a new aqueduct over the Tawe at Clydach

 

If you're now in Llanelli it's well worth nipping over for a look at the Smith's Canal - for the serious enthusiast it's worth travelling even further!

Edited by magpie patrick
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4 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Yeah, I know - it's me that wrote the submissions for the local plan! the route goes up the Fendrod (the watercourse parallel to Valley Road) - then there is enough room under the motorway and railway bridges to get a canal alongside the river. The really big ask though is a new aqueduct over the Tawe at Clydach

 

If you're now in Llanelli it's well worth nipping over for a look at the Smith's Canal - for the serious enthusiast it's worth travelling even further!

Oooh good to know was looking around to try and find details of the course, Id only seen a short precis on a few blogs.

 

Will definitely have a wander round, am planning on finding the Kidwelly canal as well.

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  • 3 years later...

Little bit of an update on this as I am writing a book and out of the blue, that activity intersected with canal history. Recent weeks of research have revealed such fascinating canals as the Neath (and various navigation predecessors), Tennant's, Glan-y-Wern (and I haven't even got to the Swansea Canal yet).

 

I had never even heard of Smith's Canal until the last few days, but it now has me hooked.

 

It is interesting that the Coflein information is suspect, especially at the northern end, probably because this canal closed so early and there is **almost** no trace remaining of the canal. Parts of the route were then obliterated by a tramway replacement and then the Swansea Vale Railway. So it looks to me as if RCAHMW and GGAT input has focussed on the southern end around the tunnel and the coal staithes at Foxhole, but up toward Llansamlet the information has largely been seemingly pulled from early OS maps - and not very effectively.

 

Hadfield writes barely four paragraphs about the canal, and most of that is quoting from a single thesis about the development of Swansea and a history of Swansea Docks, so seemingly very little has been recorded about it. To be fair, there's really not a lot written or recorded about the early Neath estuary canals either.

 

The canal is stated as having started "near Gwernllwynwith House", the estate of the eponymous John Smith. Hadfield then mentions the canal being paralleled by a tramway to a nearby pit - Scott's Pit - half a kilometre north on the road to the village of Heol Las. Yet RCAHMW state that the end of the canal is at grid ref SS 69365 97890. This is undoubtedly because this is the end of a watered section. From this point it is clear that a tramway ran straight as an arrow across several fields to the pit at Gwernllwynwith, and that tramway ran across the end of the canal and ended on the north side of the cut.

However, even a cursory glance at the same map shows marshy ground - as wide as the watered section and continuing on the same line. Indeed, on another map, this marshy stretch is even marked 'Old Canal'. It seems likely that this marshy length was closed before the part still then in water because otherwise the tramway would more likely to have been terminated on the south side of the cut, rather than the north side. 18th Century Welsh pit owners weren't renowned for their habit of spending money unnecessarily.

 

So where did this older cut go? Well it seems to have reached only another 0.73km further than the RCAHMW-stated endpoint at SS 69720 98365, at the northeastern corner of Scott' Pit. As well as the marshy strip, these early maps show two additional rectangular 'canal-width' water-filled hollows, one now hard up against the M4 embankment where the Peniel Green - Heol Las road passes under the motorway and another just to the west of that minor road just beyond the motorway. These depressions have now vanished but the first one is marked on several subsequent maps. It is possible that the second depression was the actual terminal basin as the map shows a curious change in the size of the adjacent road at this point. There is reference to the wharf at Birchgrove yet there is no sign of the canal extending to that village. Scott's Pit is as close at it gets. Between Scott's Pit and the village (and more pits) is Birchgrove House, so possible that the landowner didn't want a canal crossing his land - purse speculation that.

 

On LIDAR there are faint traces of the canal but it's the maps that are the real clues. I am aware of the presece of Townsend's Great Leats but these are several hundred metres to the south at their closest. However, it possible that the canal was built over the functioning leat, as the leat is known to have served the Pwll-Mwr colliery (close by the junction of the GWR and the SVR at Winsh-wen). 

 

Despite frequent reference to the canal closing in 1852, it's really not known when it closed and it is possible parts of the canal remained open considerably later, if only to bring coal the short distance from pits to the multitude of works that covered the Lower Tawe Valley.

 

Looking at the local maps, it would seem that there were tramways coming in from other local pits (one of them even marked as Smith's Road - although obviously Smith is a common name). 

 

Listing of specific records of interest

Smiths Canal - overall reference

Coal staithes at Foxhole (Southern Terminus)

White Rock Tunnel (under White Rock Copperworks) [The Copperworks record includes a map of the site that includes the canal and location of the side openings]

Canal Bridge, Llansamlet Village (Now demolished. Was by Plough & Harrow Pub. Newer tarmac shows exact location)

Smith Canal [sic] GGAT Record

 

 

 

Edited by stort_mark
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On 13/12/2022 at 11:59, stort_mark said:

Little bit of an update on this as I am writing a book and out of the blue, that activity intersected with canal history. Recent weeks of research have revealed such fascinating canals as the Neath (and various navigation predecessors), Tennant's, Glan-y-Wern (and I haven't even got to the Swansea Canal yet).

 

I had never even heard of Smith's Canal until the last few days, but it now has me hooked.

 

It is interesting that the Coflein information is suspect, especially at the northern end, probably because this canal closed so early and there is **almost** no trace remaining of the canal. Parts of the route were then obliterated by a tramway replacement and then the Swansea Vale Railway. So it looks to me as if RCAHMW and GGAT input has focussed on the southern end around the tunnel and the coal staithes at Foxhole, but up toward Llansamlet the information has largely been seemingly pulled from early OS maps - and not very effectively.

 

Hadfield writes barely four paragraphs about the canal, and most of that is quoting from a single thesis about the development of Swansea and a history of Swansea Docks, so seemingly very little has been recorded about it. To be fair, there's really not a lot written or recorded about the early Neath estuary canals either.

 

The canal is stated as having started "near Gwernllwynwith House", the estate of the eponymous John Smith. Hadfield then mentions the canal being paralleled by a tramway to a nearby pit - Scott's Pit - half a kilometre north on the road to the village of Heol Las. Yet RCAHMW state that the end of the canal is at grid ref SS 69365 97890. This is undoubtedly because this is the end of a watered section. From this point it is clear that a tramway ran straight as an arrow across several fields to the pit at Gwernllwynwith, and that tramway ran across the end of the canal and ended on the north side of the cut.

However, even a cursory glance at the same map shows marshy ground - as wide as the watered section and continuing on the same line. Indeed, on another map, this marshy stretch is even marked 'Old Canal'. It seems likely that this marshy length was closed before the part still then in water because otherwise the tramway would more likely to have been terminated on the south side of the cut, rather than the north side. 18th Century Welsh pit owners weren't renowned for their habit of spending money unnecessarily.

 

So where did this older cut go? Well it seems to have reached only another 0.73km further than the RCAHMW-stated endpoint at SS 69720 98365, at the northeastern corner of Scott' Pit. As well as the marshy strip, these early maps show two additional rectangular 'canal-width' water-filled hollows, one now hard up against the M4 embankment where the Peniel Green - Heol Las road passes under the motorway and another just to the west of that minor road just beyond the motorway. These depressions have now vanished but the first one is marked on several subsequent maps. It is possible that the second depression was the actual terminal basin as the map shows a curious change in the size of the adjacent road at this point. There is reference to the wharf at Birchgrove yet there is no sign of the canal extending to that village. Scott's Pit is as close at it gets. Between Scott's Pit and the village (and more pits) is Birchgrove House, so possible that the landowner didn't want a canal crossing his land - purse speculation that.

 

On LIDAR there are faint traces of the canal but it's the maps that are the real clues. I am aware of the presece of Townsend's Great Leats but these are several hundred metres to the south at their closest. However, it possible that the canal was built over the functioning leat, as the leat is known to have served the Pwll-Mwr colliery (close by the junction of the GWR and the SVR at Winsh-wen). 

 

Despite frequent reference to the canal closing in 1852, it's really not known when it closed and it is possible parts of the canal remained open considerably later, if only to bring coal the short distance from pits to the multitude of works that covered the Lower Tawe Valley.

 

Looking at the local maps, it would seem that there were tramways coming in from other local pits (one of them even marked as Smith's Road - although obviously Smith is a common name). 

 

Listing of specific records of interest

Smiths Canal - overall reference

Coal staithes at Foxhole (Southern Terminus)

White Rock Tunnel (under White Rock Copperworks) [The Copperworks record includes a map of the site that includes the canal and location of the side openings]

Canal Bridge, Llansamlet Village (Now demolished. Was by Plough & Harrow Pub. Newer tarmac shows exact location)

Smith Canal [sic] GGAT Record

 

 

 

Thanks for this, it's great stuff. I was told about Smiths about 10 years ago but time prevented detailed investigation. Also good to see the the pics.
If I recall correctly I was told Smiths canal was on a level above the Swansea and there was a question that the two were not connected? 

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  • 1 month later...

More on Smith's Canal

I decided I wanted to know more about this remote canal, so travelled to Swansea last week to see what more could be found. The reality is that even where there should be remnants - because the canal hasn't been built over - it is remarkably difficult to get to the original line of the canal. From Llansamlet church eastwards to the starting point, the canal should be accessible and as it's the absolute middle of winter, there is minimum vegetation. But still it's almost impossible to quickly or easily access the line of the canal.

image.jpeg.469c7603ebe41246830dac9deb47da95.jpeg

This is the Plough and Harrow pub, and looking east. The canal ran towards me along the tarmac (which is now the entrance to the Llansamlet Community Centre). The pub car park is to the left. There is a b&w photo of this scene and is the only photo I have seen of the canal fully in water, although without any boats.

image.jpeg.873d766ac8b3318fdb0a386248e641af.jpeg

This is now looking west from the south side of the community centre. The canal ran alongside the rough grass and the lower brick wall at the end is where the canal continued. Most of the next mile is covered by the Swansea Enterprise Park.

image.jpeg.e6f8479e3742e6425ff9330164f5801d.jpeg

On the other side of Church Road in Llansamlet, looking east. I had hoped to walk this stretch towards the start of the canal. But it just wasn't possible. The fly-tipped rubbish is obvious. The land beyond doesn't seem to be used but access is tricky as there are few public footpaths. It's not even clear who owns the land. I'm not overly bothered about trespassing as long as I'm not damaging crops, fences, assets, etc.  But physically it wasn't possible. The water can be seen here.

image.jpeg.602b9981a08956727bdfe350e450df80.jpeg

 

This is the route of a public bridleway (not just a footpath!) from the end of Tawe Road (off Peniel Green Road) and it goes north towards the new B4625. Completely impassable and no sign of a path. The wall on the right is the wall of the former Swansea Vale Railway. Long gone.

image.jpeg.4ec21c8d9466061a6a757812516077cd.jpeg

Getting to the canal from the north - the B4625 - is a lot easier although the path is obviously little used. The fly-tipping at the southern end might have something to do with it. The canal line is straight ahead along the line of the young trees, with marsh to the right, and this is heading NE. Ive learnt that on many disused canals, the trees tend to grow out of the former canal bed rather than the bank or the former towpath.

image.jpeg.fc94c75dd334fd06d674bb14f4bb94ef.jpeg

The canal crosses the B4625 here but no trace on either side beyond some small ridges.

image.jpeg.b3e20b481e3c40ee271093d391cbcfac.jpeg

The canal was crossed by the Swansea Vale Railway. However, as the canal was closed in 1852, I'm not even sure if there was a bridge over the canal. This is a field between the old railway embankment and the M4 embankment  off to the right. In early 6" OS maps, there is clearly a line of marsh and even 'canal width' open water across this field, with the latter more or less where these ponies are standing.

 

image.jpeg.b3a2a478a2cafbd975823a9fdc37e816.jpeg

The start of the canal was the Gwernllwynchwyth estate and the pits around it. The most likely end point (ignoring what Coflein record as they are clearly wrong) was Scott's Pit, seen here. The old engine house remains and can be seen on a rise in the middle right of the photo. The canal almost definitely ended in this copse in the field. It is possible that the canal continued just beyond the barbed wire at the lower edge of the photo. However, this seems to be on a slight rise whereas the copse is flat.

image.jpeg.b1b7081ac3e3ce803f0ed788e18ffac3.jpeg

This is the road and parking opposite the Scott's Pit site (to the right). However, this odd road shape shape has been here since the earliest OS maps and must surely have something to do with the canal and/or local waggonways.

image.jpeg.84ec43299d8aef90887e36b3a703daa1.jpeg

The engine house at Scott's Pit. There has been little excavations done to date. 

image.jpeg.e7b6b7fed1e71c458422f911fdde403b.jpeg

The field to the immediate south of Scott's Pit with the copse beyond the frost on the far side of the field. The photo of the copse above was taken from the gap in the trees on the upper left.

image.jpeg.d2c2a53f688ad85ddd0110fdbb758356.jpeg

An additional twist to this story is the Gwernllwynchwyth (try saying that to a taxi driver after a few pints) which is now completely ruined and overgrown with absolutely no attempt to even make it safe let alone any form of interpretation. The estate was the focal point of the coal estate, with pits scattered around. Smith's Canal (Smith bought the estate early on) was replaced and it is likely that the upper 0.75km was closed early on and a waggonway ran from the pits around Gwernllwynchwyth for about 500m to a 'new' terminal basin.

image.jpeg.4666a19e5dfcea71118fd4c568ba1e1a.jpeg

As a final treat (I will do an update on the Hafod-Morfa end of the canal in due course) this is part of an artificial water supply system known as Chauncey's Great Leat that supplied water from streams in the Gwernllwynchwyth estate to coal mines and early industry in Pentrechwyth several miles to the southwest, close to the Tawe. This arrangement doesn't make total sense because one immediately asks the question why not get water from the Nant y Fendrod or even the Tawe itself. Bricks and stone linings can be seen in the watercourse, but - as everywhere with this long-lost canal - it's so difficult to access.

On 15/12/2022 at 22:57, oboat said:

Thanks for this, it's great stuff. I was told about Smiths about 10 years ago but time prevented detailed investigation. Also good to see the the pics.
If I recall correctly I was told Smiths canal was on a level above the Swansea and there was a question that the two were not connected? 

There is no connection possible between Smith's Canal and the Swansea Canal. The former is on the eastern side of the Tawe, the latter alongside-ish on the western side.

  • Greenie 2
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1 hour ago, stort_mark said:

More on Smith's Canal

I decided I wanted to know more about this remote canal, so travelled to Swansea last week to see what more could be found. The reality is that even where there should be remnants - because the canal hasn't been built over - it is remarkably difficult to get to the original line of the canal. From Llansamlet church eastwards to the starting point, the canal should be accessible and as it's the absolute middle of winter, there is minimum vegetation. But still it's almost impossible to quickly or easily access the line of the canal.

image.jpeg.469c7603ebe41246830dac9deb47da95.jpeg

This is the Plough and Harrow pub, and looking east. The canal ran towards me along the tarmac (which is now the entrance to the Llansamlet Community Centre). The pub car park is to the left. There is a b&w photo of this scene and is the only photo I have seen of the canal fully in water, although without any boats.

image.jpeg.873d766ac8b3318fdb0a386248e641af.jpeg

This is now looking west from the south side of the community centre. The canal ran alongside the rough grass and the lower brick wall at the end is where the canal continued. Most of the next mile is covered by the Swansea Enterprise Park.

image.jpeg.e6f8479e3742e6425ff9330164f5801d.jpeg

On the other side of Church Road in Llansamlet, looking east. I had hoped to walk this stretch towards the start of the canal. But it just wasn't possible. The fly-tipped rubbish is obvious. The land beyond doesn't seem to be used but access is tricky as there are few public footpaths. It's not even clear who owns the land. I'm not overly bothered about trespassing as long as I'm not damaging crops, fences, assets, etc.  But physically it wasn't possible. The water can be seen here.

image.jpeg.602b9981a08956727bdfe350e450df80.jpeg

 

This is the route of a public bridleway (not just a footpath!) from the end of Tawe Road (off Peniel Green Road) and it goes north towards the new B4625. Completely impassable and no sign of a path. The wall on the right is the wall of the former Swansea Vale Railway. Long gone.

image.jpeg.4ec21c8d9466061a6a757812516077cd.jpeg

Getting to the canal from the north - the B4625 - is a lot easier although the path is obviously little used. The fly-tipping at the southern end might have something to do with it. The canal line is straight ahead along the line of the young trees, with marsh to the right, and this is heading NE. Ive learnt that on many disused canals, the trees tend to grow out of the former canal bed rather than the bank or the former towpath.

image.jpeg.fc94c75dd334fd06d674bb14f4bb94ef.jpeg

The canal crosses the B4625 here but no trace on either side beyond some small ridges.

image.jpeg.b3e20b481e3c40ee271093d391cbcfac.jpeg

The canal was crossed by the Swansea Vale Railway. However, as the canal was closed in 1852, I'm not even sure if there was a bridge over the canal. This is a field between the old railway embankment and the M4 embankment  off to the right. In early 6" OS maps, there is clearly a line of marsh and even 'canal width' open water across this field, with the latter more or less where these ponies are standing.

 

image.jpeg.b3a2a478a2cafbd975823a9fdc37e816.jpeg

The start of the canal was the Gwernllwynchwyth estate and the pits around it. The most likely end point (ignoring what Coflein record as they are clearly wrong) was Scott's Pit, seen here. The old engine house remains and can be seen on a rise in the middle right of the photo. The canal almost definitely ended in this copse in the field. It is possible that the canal continued just beyond the barbed wire at the lower edge of the photo. However, this seems to be on a slight rise whereas the copse is flat.

image.jpeg.b1b7081ac3e3ce803f0ed788e18ffac3.jpeg

This is the road and parking opposite the Scott's Pit site (to the right). However, this odd road shape shape has been here since the earliest OS maps and must surely have something to do with the canal and/or local waggonways.

image.jpeg.84ec43299d8aef90887e36b3a703daa1.jpeg

The engine house at Scott's Pit. There has been little excavations done to date. 

image.jpeg.e7b6b7fed1e71c458422f911fdde403b.jpeg

The field to the immediate south of Scott's Pit with the copse beyond the frost on the far side of the field. The photo of the copse above was taken from the gap in the trees on the upper left.

image.jpeg.d2c2a53f688ad85ddd0110fdbb758356.jpeg

An additional twist to this story is the Gwernllwynchwyth (try saying that to a taxi driver after a few pints) which is now completely ruined and overgrown with absolutely no attempt to even make it safe let alone any form of interpretation. The estate was the focal point of the coal estate, with pits scattered around. Smith's Canal (Smith bought the estate early on) was replaced and it is likely that the upper 0.75km was closed early on and a waggonway ran from the pits around Gwernllwynchwyth for about 500m to a 'new' terminal basin.

image.jpeg.4666a19e5dfcea71118fd4c568ba1e1a.jpeg

As a final treat (I will do an update on the Hafod-Morfa end of the canal in due course) this is part of an artificial water supply system known as Chauncey's Great Leat that supplied water from streams in the Gwernllwynchwyth estate to coal mines and early industry in Pentrechwyth several miles to the southwest, close to the Tawe. This arrangement doesn't make total sense because one immediately asks the question why not get water from the Nant y Fendrod or even the Tawe itself. Bricks and stone linings can be seen in the watercourse, but - as everywhere with this long-lost canal - it's so difficult to access.

There is no connection possible between Smith's Canal and the Swansea Canal. The former is on the eastern side of the Tawe, the latter alongside-ish on the western side.

Brilliant detective work.

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14 hours ago, buccaneer66 said:

The entire route of this canal can be seen on the Welsh Tithe maps online.

If you want a really obscure canal to find in South Wales,find the Pen Clawdd Canal

 

The Welsh tithe maps are extremely interesting and I have been using them to track down something even more remote than the Pen Clawdd Canal. They don't add much to the story of the upper Smith's Canal though.

Funnily enough, the canals around the Loughor estuary are already on my radar, as I spent last Wednesday trying to get access to parts of the Kymer's Canal network around Kidwelly and Burry Port. Easier said than done, as with all the canals in this area.

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The second part of my investigations last week. 

 

I had a little time to look at Smith's Canal at the lower end, down at Foxhole and the White Rock Copperworks. As always is the case, being on your own exploring around these kinds of areas with heavy undergrowth and uneven ground poses significant risks (especially with ice on the ground), so I was unable to do as much as I wished. 

image.jpeg.8346d67ce665c58ec518c56c96c504c7.jpeg

This is a fairly well-known view of Smith's Canal as it enters a tunnel under the White Rock Copperworks. I'm not sure why there are two entrances here at the northern end (there appears to be only one exit at the other end) but there is quite a lot of spoil all around and it is possible parts have been covered over. I still have a lot of documentation to read about both the White Rock works, so this may all be explained somewhere.

image.jpeg.e63459391a644a3a2874733937e922fa.jpeg

Looking back north from above the tunnel entrance. It is intriguing that the wider area at the far end in the photo appears to be the only wider place where boats could wind. From the tunnel approach to the coal staithes on the river (through the tunnel and along the river bank for some hundreds of metres) there is simply no space for a winding hole. I did wonder if these horse-drawn boats (do any exist now?) were perhaps double-ended. However, there is no doubt that there has been slumping of the uphill slope and it is possible that any winding hole was simply filled in later, as space is at a real premium here. the photos don't show how steep the slope is either side of the canal bed, and they also managed to squeeze many narrow buildings in too.

 image.jpeg.a1c0fb8f813402046b99d4b2d5aa42d7.jpeg

This is the southern end of the tunnel, with a rather curious wall arrangement above the tunnel entrance. It was incredibly difficult to move around this area and I wasn't able to explore the last few hundred meters to the remnants of the coal staithes on the river. The canal 'bed' is currently at 14m here, the same as at Llansamlet Church. So there were no need for locks. However, the last 0.75km from the accepted end at Llansamlet and the probable end does see a rise of about 4m suggesting there may have been two or more locks at the very beginning of the canal. Even today there is a strong flow of water from a spring near Scott's Pit so this could have been a source of water for that very short pound.

image.jpeg.a6af8ac3fd4470618d1b6e9bd4a8ca8f.jpeg

This is included only to show the very beautiful stone work that is still there. It looks like the retaining wall height was increased at some stage, but using thinner, flatter stones.

image.jpeg.32b2b6858ab51434332f220d45383f95.jpeg

One of the most interesting features was the use of openings in the side wall of the tunnel to allow coal to be unloaded almost directly into furnaces and smelters. There are four of these openings. Until recently these were completely accessible, but sadly security fencing has been put up to prevent people like me coming to harm on icy January mornings.

image.jpeg.d013bbe18c44644f4ea3d53cc97758ec.jpeg

Security fencing and remains of part of the old White Rock copperworks.

 

For anyone interested in this canal and the industrial history of this area - once described as the most desolate, derelict and polluted landscape in Europe - there is a good selection of references. The early OS maps are great (NLS Library) but also the usual selection of specialist maps, the listed buildings are archaeo sites, etc. Next stop will be the National Archives.

Obviously the Hadfield book. Some books - notably D. Morgan Rees "Industrial Archaeology of Wales" - are surprisingly unhelpful though.

"Swansea Copper", Chris Evans and Louise Miskell

"Copperopolis: Landscapes of the Early Industrial Period in Swansea"

"The Smelting of Copper in the Swansea District of South Wales: From the Time of Elizabeth to the Present Day", George Grant Francis

"The Lower Swansea Valley Project", ed. K.J. Hilton.

One of the chapter authors of the last book filmed their regeneration work in 1962 and has included not only the original footage on YouTube but also three other versions that show the same scenes in 2012 and also plot the exact filming locations. Although there is nothing of Smith's Canal, it does illustrate the scale and nature of what lay in the Lower Swansea Valley and it is easy to compare this with what is there now. The house on the left of the bend at 0:36 in the video is now this house on Jersey Road in Swansea.

 

I'm quite interested in exploring more but would need like-minded people to do it, for safety reasons.

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On 05/04/2019 at 17:38, AMModels said:

Oooh good to know was looking around to try and find details of the course, Id only seen a short precis on a few blogs.

 

Will definitely have a wander round, am planning on finding the Kidwelly canal as well.

 

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On 05/04/2019 at 17:38, AMModels said:

Oooh good to know was looking around to try and find details of the course, Id only seen a short precis on a few blogs.

 

Will definitely have a wander round, am planning on finding the Kidwelly canal as well.

If you have not seen this before you may find interesting. The Berry Port & Gwendreath Valley Railway and its Antecedent Canals. Vol One. The Canals. Oakwood Press (No 116A). 

In the same publication; Kymer Canal. Quay Pic's taken 2011 when the area had just been "Improved"

27B45E83-FD38-4A37-BE12-289DC89DF8FD_1_105_c.jpeg

IMGP9167.JPG

7 minutes ago, oboat said:

You may find The Berry Port & Gwendreath Valley Railway and its Antecedent Canals. Vol One. The Canals. Oakwood Press (No 116A). 

In the same publication; Kymer Canal. Quay Pic's taken 2011 when the area had just been "Improved"

 

IMGP9167.JPG

 

IMGP9186.JPG

Edited by oboat
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3 minutes ago, oboat said:

You may find The Berry Port & Gwendreath Valley Railway and its Antecedent Canals. Vol One. The Canals. Oakwood Press (No 116A). 

In the same publication; Kymer Canal. Quay Pic's taken 2011 when the area had just been "Improved"

27B45E83-FD38-4A37-BE12-289DC89DF8FD_1_105_c.jpeg

IMGP9167.JPG

 

IMGP9186.JPG

 

IMGP9173.JPG

Just now, oboat said:

 

IMGP9173.JPG

 

IMGP9166.JPG

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