Victorian Ystradgynlais - hauling lime along the tramway

Ystradgynlais
Transport

	Hauling lime along the tramroad	Glossary
	By the time the Claypon brothers took over the Great Forest Tramroad most of the great enterprise was built. 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.

Lime kilns at Twyn-y-ffald by the Penwyllt quarries

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.
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 !

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