Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal - Decline and Re-opening

Decline and Re-opening

With their network of feeder railways, the canals were profitable. Coal traffic rose from 3,500 tons in 1796 to 150,000 tons in 1809, but the arrival of the railways brought serious decline, and in the 1850s, several schemes to abandon the canals were proposed. The Monmouthshire Company, which had become the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company under an Act of Parliament obtained in 1845, bought out the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal Company in 1865, but the move came too late, and the Monmouthshire Canal gradually closed, while the Brecon line was retained as a water feeder. Control of the canals passed to the Great Western Railway in 1880, and they were consequently nationalised in 1948.

The section of canal from Pontymoile to Pontnewynydd was converted into a railway in 1853, with the loss of 11 locks, and more significantly, much of the water supply to the lower canal. Following the conversion, the next part of the canal to close was the section from Newport to the docks, which lasted until 1879. The rest of the Newport section, to the northern portal of Barrack Hill Tunnel, was closed in 1930, and the Cwmbran section followed in 1954. The Crumlin branch was abandoned as a commercial waterway in 1930, but was retained in water. In February 1946, a serious breach occurred at Abercarn, 2.5 miles (4 km) from Crumlin, and although this section of the canal had not been used for 16 years, the breach was repaired. However, the branch was closed just three years later in 1949, and the section from Pontywaun to Crumlin was filled in and used as the route for the A467 road in 1968/9. The rest of the canal was formally abandoned in 1962, but within two years, restoration had begun. Funding for the restoration became available as a result of the National Parks legislation. This was designed to help The Broads in Norfolk and Suffolk, but that area was not designated as a National Park, whereas the Brecon Beacons were, and the canal was seen as a valuable amenity in an area of natural beauty. The canal was reopened to Pontymoile in 1970.

The Brecon to Pontypool section was one of seven stretches of canal, formally designated as remainder waterways, which were re-classified by the British Waterways Act of 8 February 1983. Under the act, a total of 82 route miles (132 km) were upgraded to Cruising Waterway Standard. The Cefn Flight of fourteen locks has been recognised as being of international significance, and is on Cadw's list of Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

Restoration of the old Monmouthshire Canal began in 1994, when Torfaen Borough Council raised Crown Bridge in Sebastopol, to give sufficient height for navigation again. The section to Five locks was restored over the next two years, and was formally opened on 24 May 1997 by the Mayor of Torfaen. A new basin at the top of the locks marks the end of the navigable section.

All of the canal route within the jurisdiction of the City of Newport was designated as a Conservation Area on 21 January 1998. 21 of the structures of the canal now have Grade II listed building status. At the Brecon end, the canal terminates at the Theatre Basin, as a result of a project to rebuild the Brecknock Boat Company wharf, which was abandoned and infilled in 1881. Funding was provided by the Welsh Office, the Welsh Arts Council and various private sector bodies. The old wharf buildings have been re-used by the Brecon Theatre, and access is provided by a new canal bridge, named after the engineer Thomas Dadford.

The next section to be opened for navigation was a 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch running from Pentre Lane bridge, just above Tamplin Lock, down through Tyfynnon, Malpas and Gwasted locks to Malpas junction, and then up through Gwasted Lock on the Crumlin branch, to the bottom end of Waen Lock. Work started in January 2008, and was completed in time for the Welsh Waterways Festival held at the end of May 2010. The Inland Waterways Association National Trailboat Festival was held at the same time, and a slipway was rebuilt at Bettws Lane, just below Malpas Lock, to enable the trailboats to be launched easily. Bettws Lane bridge was itself rebuilt to provide more headroom for boats, using grants from the European Regional Development Fund and the Local Regeneration Fund. The grants were secured in 2004, and the bridge was formally opened by the Mayor of Newport on 1 March 2007.

The Trust were awarded a grant of £854,500 in 2012 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, to enable the eight locks near Ty Coch to be restored. It will also be used to train people in the skills needed to restore historic canals, and to enable lock gates to be made locally using traditional working methods.