Swansea Canal

History

The Swansea Canal was built to serve collieries, iron works and copper works in the Tawe valley. The first section, from Swansea to Godre'r-graig, opened in 1796, and the whole 16.5 miles was complete by October 1798, with 36 locks and five aqueducts carrying it across tributaries of the Afon Tawe. A central section just over a mile long, the Trewyddfa Canal, was a private canal built by the Duke of Beaufort, who was allowed to charge tolls on it. The canal cost £51,602 up to mid 1798, well within budget, and its opening brought more industry to the valley: four short branch canals were built and a network of tramways gradually linked mines and quarries to it.

The Great Western Railway bought it in 1873, paying £107,666 for the main canal and £40,000 for the Trewyddfa section, and it stayed profitable until the mid 1890s. Its last commercial traffic was in 1931, and horse-drawn boats were last recorded at Clydach in 1958.

Much of the canal has since been filled in: the northern section was affected by the A4067 road round Ystradgynlais, and the southern section below Clydach had been infilled by 1982. The Swansea Canal Society was formed in 1981 to work towards restoring the remaining sections. The Canal & River Trust now describes what is left as a walking and cycling route, with a towpath that is part of the National Cycle Network.