Ystradgynlais By the time the Claypon brothers
took over the Great Forest Tramroad most of the great enterprise was built. The horse-drawn trams brought limestone
to the kilns, and coal
to burn in them. Keeping
the kilns fed and burning was unpleasant and exhausting work and the kilns
gave off thick smoke and fumes. Back to Ystradgynlais
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Transport
Hauling
lime along the tramroad
Large new farms like Cnewr were already
built on the mountainside with sheds for the lime, and the tramroad running
straight into the farmyard.
The problem here was that the horses could not haul enough lime up this
exposed slope. There would have to be lots of smaller loads and this was
expensive. The development of these farms by bringing in lime was never
as successful as had been hoped.caustic
- caustic chemicals burn the skin
Further south
though the quarries of the Great Forest
tramway provided large quantities of limestone which could be heated in
new specially built kilns. The powdered
lime could be sent downhill by tram to the growing iron industry in the
Tawe valley, and to the wharfs of the Swansea Canal. This was more successful
and profitable.
The powdered lime which came from the bottom of the kiln was caustic
and very hot. It was shovelled into barrels which were then loaded
onto trams.
The men leading the horses might then have many
miles of mountain to walk in driving winter rain or snow. It
was a hard life for man and horse !