The Old and Wild loop
Caution: The British is a Former mining valley. Please be aware there may be hazards in the area
The Wednesday Warriors have given a wide range of outdoor activities a go and Geocaching has become a firm favourite.
We have set us this Geocache loop for the enjoyment and education of others of this interesting post-industrial area. It highlights archaeological and historical features and biodiversity.
'The British', named after the ironworks founded there in the 1800s, had been derelict for over 40 years. Its office building and Quadrangle were designed by Hyde Park and London Zoo architect Decimus Burton. There were four furnaces, of which only the bases survive, with coke and calcining ovens. The office block survives, now roofless, as does the beam engine pump house of 1845, and its chimney base, from the British Ironworks Colliery.
The site is approached through 'Big Arch', an impressive 50-yard, 48ft wide tunnel beneath the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company embankment of 1879. One mile North West of the ironworks site is a substantial earth and stone faced dam containing a reservoir for the works.
In December 2016 Torfaen council bought the derelict iron works site, bringing it back into public ownership after more than 30 years of uncertainty in the private sector.
At 1300 acres, the British is the largest remaining site of industrial dereliction in south east Wales.
The site is now home to various species thriving in this post industrial landscape!
The 'Big Arch' was constructed in 1879 to carry the Monmouthshire Railway. It is a substantial 50-yard long, 48ft wide tunnel beneath a low level branch to serve the main level of the British Ironworks, which operated from 1827 -1883. This branch crossed back under the Monmouthshire Railway's embankment which made the construction of this tunnel necessary. The height of the embankment, which was the result of the already existing London and North-Western line, meant the construction of this unusually long arch and tall revetment walls. The Talywain branch was opened from Pontnewynydd on 18/9/1879. It was built by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company but was worked from the start by the Great Western Railway and the companies were formally amalgamated 1/8/1880. It was closed to traffic on 3/5/1980.
Grade 11 listed for its historical interest, as a good example of railway engineering, and for its group value with the former British Ironworks offices and workshops, and the pumping Engine house of British Colliery.
All of the caches are within close proximity of the paths so please stick to them