Report - Gelli Felen Tunnel, Brynmawr, Wales - Oct 2014

[paulpowers]

I was working in Swansea and spotted a star on my map on the way down which I decided to pay a visit to on the way back home.

the road down is an arse ache especially in a van but the 5 minute diversion was well worth it

Gelli Felen’s original single bore tunnel opened with the first section of the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway in September 1862. The line’s principal driving force was Crayshaw Bailey, a major local industrialist, whose influence was crucial in attracting investors. In 1860, it was his wife who cut the first sod to mark the start of construction but a year later, with the company’s finances looking precarious, the London & North Western Railway had to ride to the project’s rescue, taking over its management.

The Abergavenny-Brynmawr section, engineered by John Gardner, involved eight bridges, two tunnels and a climb of over 1,000 feet, placing it amongst the steepest stretches of railway in the UK with one three-mile section demanding a rising gradient of 1 in 34.

The tunnel, just 352 yards long, incorporates a curve of 90° to the north and is mostly masonry lined. Some patches of engineering brick are to be found, especially in the second southerly tunnel which appeared in 1877 when the route was doubled in an effort to maximise traffic flows. The bores are linked by two adits which are now partly flooded.

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[Ojay]

access looks tricky

 

[paulpowers]

the door was left in the bushes at the side

 

[The Wombat]

Top work as always Mr Powers

 

[Wevsky]

That last shots pukka paul

 

[dave]

Very nice that and well lit too really enjoyed looking through those.

 

[Tomw1989]

Awesome shots!

Were you down this way when we had the landslide?

The portal in the last photo did have palisade fencing (was a tight squeeze but managable), then they decided to start bricking it up...Good to see that they haven't completed it though.

Also, the tunnels are in Clydach and not Brynmawr

 

[Lenston]

Quality as usual Paul