The insignificant River Taf Fawr.
22nd July 2022
When in the Brecon Beacons we have extended dry periods and the local reservoirs decrease in depth, little glimpses of history are sometimes revealed. One such piece of history is an old bridge named Pont Y Daf, (translated as ‘Bridge on or over the River Taf), which is normally submerged beneath the waters of the Llwyn Onn reservoir.
There are two River Tafs the Taf Fawr and Taf Fechan, Great Taf and Little Taf, they both rise in the Brecon Beacons and converge just north of the historic town of Merthyr Tydfil. These little rivers played a fundamental part in the 'Industrial Revolution'. This may seem a broad statement but these waters fed the huge ironworks at Cyfarthfa in Merthyr Tydfil and along with the Dowlais Ironworks also in Merthyr Tydfil were the two biggest in the world!! There was also an abundance of wood and limestone in the surrounding area so all the fundamentals were there to produce Iron. In total there were five ironworks in the town.
A leat was constructed to channel water from the Taf Fawr into the Cyfarthfa ironworks. This consisted of a cast iron sluice gate with a stone weir and parts of the leat were actually cut out of the river’s bedrock, the remainder being walled and buttressed with stone - a remarkable construction which is still visible today. The word Cyfarthfa means ‘place of the barking dogs’
On the 21st February 1804, Merthyr Tydfil witnessed the first ever steam locomotive journey as Richard Trevithick’s ‘Penydarren Locomotive’ travelled down through Pentrebach and on to Abercynon. Trevithick has been largely overlooked as the creator of the World’s first steam locomotive.
This town is where the industrial revolution was fuelled from. Iron from these works provided arms for the Napoleonic wars and Lord Nelson’s famous sea battles. Nelson favoured Cyfarthfa iron for his cannons and he visited the works and the town with Lady Hamilton in 1802 staying at the Crown Hotel, a coaching inn in the town. Rails for the world’s railways were made here. No other welsh town has an industrial heritage anything like Merthyr Tydfil.
The Llwyn Onn reservoir was completed in 1926 and is the lowest and biggest of the three dams in the Taf valley that supply the city of Cardiff with water.
The hamlet of Ynys Y Felin was flooded during the construction and some small remnants of stone walls are still visible during periods of drought. In this little community there were twelve houses, a fulling mill, two inns and a Baptist chapel. All the chapel’s graves were exhumed and the dead reinterred in a new chapel and graveyard nearby.
Pont Y Daf Bridge was the main crossing point of the Taf Fawr during the 19th Century and there is evidence of a crossing here as far back as 1800. This old bridge was the main link to the turnpike road between Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil and also to the village of Penderyn in the west.
The derogatory term "Taffy" for a Welsh person is sometimes erroneously stated to have originated with the river. This may have given rise to a colloquial usage of the term "Taffy" or "Taffs" for people from the Mid Glamorgan Valleys (which form the Taf's northern reaches).
The name actually originates as a corruption of the name Dafydd, with the Oxford English Dictionary describing the origin as "representing a supposed Welsh pronunciation of the given name Davy or David (Welsh Dafydd)" It was common for people in times of war to dehumanise an enemy by ascribing a singular name to them all. It is therefore an equivalent of other historic English pejoratives such as Paddy and Jock.
Today the words Pont Y Daf have been used to name the car park just south of the Storey Arms hostel where thousands of people park their cars to walk up to the very popular Pen Y Fan. I wonder how many of them realise the significance of the little river they cross on their way up the mountain.
There are two River Tafs the Taf Fawr and Taf Fechan, Great Taf and Little Taf, they both rise in the Brecon Beacons and converge just north of the historic town of Merthyr Tydfil. These little rivers played a fundamental part in the 'Industrial Revolution'. This may seem a broad statement but these waters fed the huge ironworks at Cyfarthfa in Merthyr Tydfil and along with the Dowlais Ironworks also in Merthyr Tydfil were the two biggest in the world!! There was also an abundance of wood and limestone in the surrounding area so all the fundamentals were there to produce Iron. In total there were five ironworks in the town.
A leat was constructed to channel water from the Taf Fawr into the Cyfarthfa ironworks. This consisted of a cast iron sluice gate with a stone weir and parts of the leat were actually cut out of the river’s bedrock, the remainder being walled and buttressed with stone - a remarkable construction which is still visible today. The word Cyfarthfa means ‘place of the barking dogs’
On the 21st February 1804, Merthyr Tydfil witnessed the first ever steam locomotive journey as Richard Trevithick’s ‘Penydarren Locomotive’ travelled down through Pentrebach and on to Abercynon. Trevithick has been largely overlooked as the creator of the World’s first steam locomotive.
This town is where the industrial revolution was fuelled from. Iron from these works provided arms for the Napoleonic wars and Lord Nelson’s famous sea battles. Nelson favoured Cyfarthfa iron for his cannons and he visited the works and the town with Lady Hamilton in 1802 staying at the Crown Hotel, a coaching inn in the town. Rails for the world’s railways were made here. No other welsh town has an industrial heritage anything like Merthyr Tydfil.
The Llwyn Onn reservoir was completed in 1926 and is the lowest and biggest of the three dams in the Taf valley that supply the city of Cardiff with water.
The hamlet of Ynys Y Felin was flooded during the construction and some small remnants of stone walls are still visible during periods of drought. In this little community there were twelve houses, a fulling mill, two inns and a Baptist chapel. All the chapel’s graves were exhumed and the dead reinterred in a new chapel and graveyard nearby.
Pont Y Daf Bridge was the main crossing point of the Taf Fawr during the 19th Century and there is evidence of a crossing here as far back as 1800. This old bridge was the main link to the turnpike road between Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil and also to the village of Penderyn in the west.
The derogatory term "Taffy" for a Welsh person is sometimes erroneously stated to have originated with the river. This may have given rise to a colloquial usage of the term "Taffy" or "Taffs" for people from the Mid Glamorgan Valleys (which form the Taf's northern reaches).
The name actually originates as a corruption of the name Dafydd, with the Oxford English Dictionary describing the origin as "representing a supposed Welsh pronunciation of the given name Davy or David (Welsh Dafydd)" It was common for people in times of war to dehumanise an enemy by ascribing a singular name to them all. It is therefore an equivalent of other historic English pejoratives such as Paddy and Jock.
Today the words Pont Y Daf have been used to name the car park just south of the Storey Arms hostel where thousands of people park their cars to walk up to the very popular Pen Y Fan. I wonder how many of them realise the significance of the little river they cross on their way up the mountain.