Crickhowell
Earning a living
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Iron smelting in the area | |
As well as the forge at Glangrwyne other forges were set up along the river Clydach. The old engraving below shows one of the earlier charcoal-burning ones. You can see the water wheel for powering the machinery like the great hammers for pounding the hot iron into shape. |
Powys County Archives |
A
tramway was built up the Clydach
valley for transporting materials from the canal to the forge and back.
(See the map, right). These smaller forges were operating in the early
Victorian period. Bigger coal-burning forges improved production. Another
ironworks was built at Beaufort run by Joseph
and Crawshay Bailey. This provided much employment locally. |
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