Llangynidr canal aqueduct
Near the Coach & Horses Bridge (named after the nearby pub), the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal makes a sharp turn to cross the Afon Crawnon on a stone aqueduct. You can get a broadside view of the structure from the parallel road.
The Afon Crawnon kept the canal topped up after the initial section from Gilwern to Llangynidr opened in 1797 (the upper sections towards Brecon were added from 1799 to 1801). The feeder channel remains in use. You can walk along it to the weir which diverts water from the stream – use the lock gates beyond the aqueduct to cross the canal from the towpath.
The locks either side of Coach & Horses Bridge are the lowest in a flight of five locks at Llangynidr. The section between the lowest two locks has been problematic for engineers. The canal was lined with concrete in 1994 but in 2001 the lining had to be replaced after winter groundwater forced the canal bed upwards. The same happened the following winter, and the lining was replaced again.
Further east, Forge Road (the main road through the village) crosses the canal on Yard Bridge. East of the bridge was a wharf and limekilns.
The bridge is named after the Jones timber yard and sawmills, which were nearby. In the early 20th century the business was run by Morgan Jones, who lost two sons in the First World War. Fred Powell-Jones (pictured right), a motorbike dispatch rider, was shot by a British sentry after failing to hear the sentry’s challenge. Brother Percy (left), a Captain with the South Wales Borderers, died in Iraq in 1916. Reg Williams, a clerk at the timber yard, died while serving in Yemen in 1915.
The company treated its employees to a summer outing, usually by charabanc. Amid wartime shortages, the 1917 outing was by canal boat to Brecon. Most of the 40 to 50 employees had never previously passed through Llangynidr’s locks or Ashford tunnel, upstream.
The navigable section of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is looked after by the charity Glandwr Cymru the Canal & River Trust in Wales.
With thanks to the archive of the Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canals Trust, and the Crickhowell District Archive Centre
Postcode: NP8 1LS View Location Map
Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canals Trust website