Built over Afon Honddu, this little footbridge gave access to the forge from Priory Groves woodland.
There used to be an iron furnace here, powered by water from the river. The furnace was built about 1720 and was based on bloom methods using iron ore and limestone was brought from Hirwaun and charcoal from the surrounding area. It closed about 1780 as competition increased from ironworks in the Merthyr area using coke-fuelled blast furnaces.
Warning: wheelchairs may struggle getting back up the slope between the bank vole on the sculpture trail and this cache due to the combination of the slope and the mud, unless it is particularly dry weather. The river paths are not suitable for wheelchairs so you will have to return back up the slope. Make your assessment before you go down.
Cache placed with kind permission from Countryside & Outdoor Recreation Officer, Powys County Council.
The Little Bridges series was started by Stanthews in 2009 to highlight small footbridges in remote parts of Wiltshire. Since then, the series has been expanded by others all over the country and starting to spread fast. There is a stats listing, so you can see how many Little Bridges you have found, you can find it here: - Little Bridges Geocaching Series (littlebridgesseries.co.uk). If you would like to add to the series, please go to this site, on the tab Get Involved click number request and fill in the form. To qualify, the bridge must be a foot bridge too small for vehicles, please make sure your title exactly matches “Little Bridges # xxxx then the name” including spaces so it will get picked up and added to stats list.