Our ride last Sunday was to Fourteen Locks, just outside Newport. Even though it was Valentines Day the sunshine won and 11 cyclists turned out. It was a glorious February day, sunny and cold.
Fourteen Locks is part of the Monmouth and Brecon canal system, It was started in 1792 and the locks were constructed to cope with the drop of 157 feet in just over 1/2 mile. Quite an engineering feat and all dug and built by gangs of navvies.
The canal was mainly used for transporting pig iron form the iron works outside Abergavenny down to the docks in Newport. But canals had a relatively short life and the transporting of heavy goods was taken over by the railways. So from about 1850 the canal went into decline.
However in the 1970 volunteers started work on restoring the lock system and its still ongoing.
The visitor centre has a cafe and is a venue for art exhibitions.
All the following pictures were taken from the web or the Fourteen Locks website.
Here's the route
I find the whole idea of locks so amazing..such a simple and easy concept yet who would have ever thought of putting it in practice. It's good they are restoring them, and keeping the route intact.
ReplyDeleteHard work going through that lot.
ReplyDeleteGood day out mind.
I love some history with a post. This was informative to read. Sounds like a good day for biking.
ReplyDeleteI'm back from looking up images of the areas you mentioned. How beautiful! I saw some pics during fall season also. I seem to always have to google images when someone mentions a place they've been. I have a curious mind, lol. I like learning.
ReplyDeleteAs said above, it's good to see people restoring the canals as they were a whole way of life for so many, and an important part of our industrial history. I recently read Real England: The Battle Against the Bland, which whilst focusing on English matters, had a chapter devoted to the canal networks and their loss, and so much has been lost already it is a real shame, so good to see the work being done here to preserve and promote this section of the canals.
ReplyDeleteCold day?
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed it so far though a few matches were boring to the extreme...