Stuart’s Photography

Merthyr Road is a photographic project studying the history and the legacy of the industrialisation of the South Wales Valleys.

Where else in the world will you find the world’s oldest railway bridge, or the route of the world’s first railway journey? This was where the world’s first £1 million business deal was done, and where the chains for the Titanic were made.  It was a haven for the persecuted Quakers, and where Isambard Kingdom Brunel left magnificent bridges still in use today.  The largest tin works in the world - not one, but both of them - processed ore brought down from the iron capital of the world by an amazing canal that has been largely erased from both memory and the landscape.  The mines brought wealth and great tragedy in equal measure, and five private railways criss-crossed the valley on their way to battle to carry the coal sought the world over as a military advantage. Huge docks were dug out of the marshes to berth the ships that carried the coal over the horizon, and then abandoned in the 1960’s to their fate.  A marshland became home to people from around the world, and the wealth of a family was used to create magnificant parks, an amazing civic centre, and a fairytale castle folly guarding the pass to the north.  It has given the world the national anthem of Wales, and two of the world’s most celebrated singers in Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones.  The pioneer of cremation in the UK worked here, and he left magnificant round houses and the druids’ Rocking Stone.  It is now home to the National Assembly for Wales, the international arts centre the Millenium Centre, and renowned sports stadium and concert venue the Millenium Stadium.

From the mouth of the River Taff at Cardiff Docks, up through the Taff Gap (also known as the Garth Gap) opening up into the Taff Vale, and then the Taff Valley north from Pontypridd to Merthyr Tydfil, there’s a rich heritage to be explored and seen from an industrial age reaching back to the 1700’s and earlier.  But time is running out, as modern developments continue to erase all traces of what was once the most important industrial area in the whole world.

This is Merthyr Road, the route travelled by river, turnpike, canal, railway and now the A470 and A4054 roads.  It is largely unprotected, unacknowledged, and unknown to tourists and locals alike.  Through this project, I hope to play a small part in changing that.

The best photos are posted to my Flickr account, with accompanying write-ups here in my photography diary. I’m not aiming to create a definitive history of the area, although I hope one day someone will.  I’m just looking to capture some of the hidden wonders of this remarkable place before they are gone forever.

Current articles in the Merthyr Road series are:

• 14 Shots Of Taff Vale
• A Walk Along The Cardiff Railway
• Abercynon Colliery 1889-1988
• Aberfan - Forty One Years On, by thereggy
• Canal Park and Sea Lock Pond
• Cardiff’s Little Venice
• Cefn Coed Viaduct
• Circular Walk From Tongwynlais To The Old Glamorganshire Canal
• Dawn On Caerphilly Mountain
• Excellent Photos From A Bygone Age
• First Visit To Navigation
• Graffiti At The Old Tin Works
• Loading The Chains At Brown Lenox
• Melingriffith - The Other Tin Works
• Pontygwaith In The Autumn
• The Decline Of Pontypridd
• The House That Glenn Built
• The Lost LifeTrail(tm) Stations
• The Taff Trail North Of Pontypridd
• The Unofficial Taff Vale Eastern Ridge Walk
• The View From The Garth
• The World’s First Steam Powered Railway Journey
• What Pontypridd Bridge Might Have Looked Like

The Single Shot Series is a growing collection of one-off photographs that aren’t part of longer articles.

• 16361
• Cardiff City Hall At Dawn
• Cardiff City Hall Reflection
• Mumbles Lighthouse
• Past, Present and Future in Cardiff
• Robert Price Timber and Roofing, Taffs Well
• The Gatso Is Your Friend
• The Leafy Road To Llantrisant
• The Towers Of Brains Brewery
• The Way Is Blocked

I’ve taken far more photos than I’ve had time to write about  Articles that are currently in preparation include

• A Civic Centre Fit For A Capital
• A Giant Bite In The Landscape
• A Night Out In Cardiff Bay
• Administering The Canal
• Bridging The Rivers At Pontypridd
• From The Tin Works To The Power Station
• Gateway Into South Wales - The Old Severn Bridge
• Gateway Into South Wales - The Second Severn Crossing
• In Search Of Willowford Station
• Inside The Sheds At The Old Tin Works
• Junction 100 Years Later
• More Cardiff Railway … Through Taffs Well
• Mystery On The Taff At Merthyr
• Pumping Out The Severn Tunnel
• Recording The Surviving Stones On The Penydarren Tramway
• Romantic Folly Of The Butes
• Tearing Down The Railway Sheds At Canton
• The Blast Furnaces Of The Crawshays
• The Doctor’s Tramroad Through Pontypridd
• The Glamorganshire Canal Local Nature Reserve
• Tracing The Canal Through Cardiff
• Tracing The Canal Through Merthyr
• Walnut Tree Junction Viaduct

To keep up to date with these articles, please check back soon, or subscribe to my blog.