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The Brecon Forest Tramroad is an early nineteenth century tramroad, or rather a network of connecting tramroads or waggonways, which stretched across the hills of Fforest Fawr in the historic county of Brecknockshire (modern administrative county of Powys) in south Wales, UK. Its northern terminus was at the village of Sennybridge in the Usk Valley whilst its southern ends lay at Abercraf and Ystradgynlais in the upper Swansea Valley some 20 km to the south.〔 P R Reynolds, ''The Brecon Forest Tramroad'' (Swansea, 1979)〕〔Stephen Hughes, ''The Brecon Forest Tramroads: the archaeology of an early railway system'' (Aberystwyth : Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales, 1990) ISBN 1-871184-05-3〕 The tramroad project was conceived by John Christie, a Scottish-born entrepreneur based in London who had amassed a fortune from his involvement in the indigo trade with India.〔Stephen Hughes,''p12,The Brecon Forest Tramroads: the archaeology of an early railway system ''(Aberystwyth : Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales, 1990〕 This enabled him to purchase the Crown Allotment of the Great Forest of Brecon (or Fforest Fawr) on its sale by the Crown in 1819. Construction of the tramroad was an essential part of his plans for the exploitation of his property. His original intention was to use the tramroad to convey limestone sourced from quarries near Penwyllt to the farms of the Usk valley and Mynydd Epynt where its soil-improving qualities would be appreciated. He subsequently expanded his activities to exploit minerals outside Fforest Fawr and to markets further to the south in the rapidly industrialising valleys of the South Wales Coalfield. == History of development == Christie commenced construction of the tramroad in about 1821. The earliest section constructed was that between the limestone quarries at Pwll Byfre and Castell-du Farm at Sennybridge. The model farm of Cnewr was constructed at the halfway point of this stretch of tramroad. A second stage was to build a tramroad to serve the Drim Colliery near Onllwyn which Christie had leased in 1822. From the colliery the line ran northeastwards to the village of Coelbren and then across the Nant Llech just above Henrhyd Falls and around the flanks of the hill north to Penwyllt. Initially Christie's probable intention was to link this line to that at Pwll Byfre by an incline through what is now the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve. This scheme was abandoned and instead the line from the Drim was taken northwards along the contours of the eastern side of the valley past the quarries at Penwyllt, wrapping around the western slopes of Fan Gyhirych and over the pass at Bwlch Bryn-rhudd then northeastwards to join the original line just south of the Nant Gyhirych stream. Christie further extended the tramroad southwestwards from its southern terminus to a colliery at Gwaun Clawdd on the northern slopes of Mynydd y Drum and connected it to the Swansea Canal at Cae'r Lan near Abercraf. During the 1820s he was a major shipper of coal on the canal which was shipped through Swansea. Christie was declared bankrupt in December 1827 and the Great Forest, including the tramroad and most of his other assets, passed to his principal creditor, Joseph Claypon, of the banking house of Garfit & Claypon in Boston, Lincolnshire. Claypon built a further extension southwest and then west from the Drim colliery to join the Swansea Canal and to supply limestone to the Ynyscedwyn Ironworks at Ystradgynlais. Following the death of Claypon in 1859 much of Christie's original route was ultimately sold to the railway contractor, John Dickson and incorporated by him into the Neath and Brecon Railway. Claypon's Tramroad was largely unaffected by this, although sections at Ystradgynlais were converted into colliery railways or taken over by the Swansea Vale Railway. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brecon Forest Tramroad」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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