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!
British Ironworks –
After the discovery of iron stone locally, the principal ironworks were built by the 'British Iron Co' in 1825, with production beginning in 1827 served mainly by the LNWR's Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway. In 1843 the company became the 'New British Iron Co' being taken over by the 'Ebbw Vale Iron Co' in 1852. Pig iron production ceased in 1876 with all production stopping in 1881. 12 furnaces with coke and calcining ovens were planned but only 6 built. Parts of the back wall and coke ovens survive, along with the office block, now roofless, as does the beam engine pump house of 1845 contained the beam pumping engine for the adjacent mine workings, next to its chimney base, from the British Ironworks Colliery.
All of the caches are within close proximity of the paths around the loop so please stick to them.