Bronze Age Gold from Wales

View of the Barry Railway Company’s newly built Trehafod Viaduct over the Afon Rhondda, looking north east. Taken around winter 1888/89, prior to the line opening to coal traffic in 1889. Farmer’s Hotel can be seen through the left (north west) span; part of a row of houses between the river and the Taff Vale Railway can be seen through the third span from the right (south east). Hafod Junction, where the Barry Railway joined the Taff Vale Railway’s Rhondda Fawr Branch, lies a short way beyond the left (north west) edge of the photograph. The masonry retaining walls supporting the Taff Vale Railway can be seen through the second and third spans from the left (north west). The Pontypridd & Rhondda Valley Tramway opened its horse-drawn line from Pontypridd to Porth in 1888 whilst the viaduct was under construction, its line running along the road seen beneath the left (north west) span. In the centre foreground are the disused remains of Walter Coffin’s Tramroad (plateway) of 1810 which connecting collieries in the lower Rhondda Valley to Doctor Griffith’s Tramroad of 1809 a little down valley at Hafod, the latter line connecting to the head of the Doctor’s Canal at Pontypridd which in turn connected to the Glamorganshire Canal. There appear to be some tramroad wagons beside the track in the middle distance. Although much of the length of Coffin’s tramroad was superseded by the opening of the Taff Vale Railway into the Rhondda Valley in 1841, the length of line seen in the photo survived to connect stone quarries located just behind the camera position with Pontypridd and the length in view appears to have operated into the 1870s. The quarries were considerably extended in 1887-1888 to provide stone for the Barry Railway Company’s Trehafod Viaduct and the tramroad was used by the quarry operator. The north line of plates appears to have been washed away by the river, only the south line of plates surviving. This river erosion was repaired however and the tramroad was used into the 1890s. The tipped material on the right (south east) side of the photo formed the level area for the construction of the Barry Railway Company’s Hafod Engine Shed. Photograph mounted on card.