Thursday 1st July 1919
two or three thousand men employed in these works belonging to Mr Thomson & Son; the whole at night has a very grand effect we did not reach home until after eleven Mama did not go with us. Thursday July 1st 1819 This morning after breakfast we set off
for Brecon; in our way we visited some more iron works belonging to a Mr Crawshaw on a much larger scale than those we had inspected the night before, here I saw the entire process of iron: and the largest steam engine in Europe having remained there for some time we proceeded to Brecon
where we dined; it is a very pretty Town and delightfully situated “Mid Mountains High” from the Castle Inn where we had excellent accommodation, is a very fine view of the Beacon of Brecon the highest mountain I have yet seen; after dinner we advanced
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Cyfarthfa ironworks, the largest in Britain in 1819, was owned by the Crawshay family. The demand for cannon and other weapons was great and Cyfarthfa became critical to the success of the war effort, so much so that Admiral Nelson paid a personal visit to the works in 1802.
1825 Cyfarthfa Ironworks Interior at Night by Penry Williams (A reverberatory is on the right, rolling mills on left). This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%27Cyfarthfa_Ironworks_Interior_at_Night%27,_by_Penry_Williams,_(1825).jpg
1840 Painting of Dowlais Ironworks by George Childs from: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/Merthyr-the-Welsh-Men-of-Steel/
The Crawshay family crest included a pile of cannonballs in token of the crucial role of their ironworks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyfarthfa_Ironworks
BBC Wales on 9 May 2018 published an article by Sarah Dickins . She reported that the Design Commission for Wales believed that Merthyr can learn from the success of Titanic Belfast and the Eden project in Cornwall. The project was at an early stage but 60 architects, planners and heritage experts had already discussed ideas. A centre-piece would be regenerating Cyfarthfa Castle, built for the Crawshay family, ironmasters in the 19th Century. Up to £50m should be spent to build on Merthyr Tydfil's industrial past and make it a major tourist destination, the report urged. Apart from excellent historic images there is a Video Appeal by Geraint Talfan Davies https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44041166
Brecon: The confluence of the Honddu and the River Usk made for a valuable defensive position for the Norman castle which overlooks the town. Brecon's Norman walls were largely destroyed during the English Civil War. The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal was built between 1797 and 1812 to link Brecon with Newport and the Severn Estuary. Its Usk bridge was painted by J.M.W. Turner c.1769. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brecon
1823 Brecon: colour print on aquatint by G. Hunt, Collection National Library of Wales Accession number 1129266 This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.
2006 Brecon town shopping centre by Velela, who grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law. In https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brecon_shopping_centre.jpg
Michael Faraday in Wales. My thanks go to Gary Williams who has written to inform me that Michael Faraday, the chemist and eminent scientist famed for his work on electricity and magnetism, toured Wales just after Lucy. “He was in Merthyr on 12-15th July and carried on up to Cadair Idris and Yr Wyddfa and Parys Mountain. There is a book called "Michael Faraday in Wales" which can be bought second hand. The author is Dafydd Tomos and the publisher is Gwasg Gee. It's fascinating comparing the two sets of notes because the book about Faraday contains his own writing from his diary.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday
Brecon Beacons are said to be named after the ancient practice of lighting signal fires (beacons) on mountains to warn of attacks by invaders. The area was inhabited during the Neolithic and the succeeding Bronze Age, with numerous burial cairns which adorn the hills of the centre and west of the National Park. Numerous hill forts were established in the area during the Iron Age which are thought to have once been trading and political centres. When the Romans came to Wales in 43 AD, they stationed soldiers in the area and Y Gaer, near the town of Brecon, was their main base. During the Norman Conquest many castles were erected , one of the most famous being Carreg Cennen Castle.
2006: View down from Corn Du, Brecon Beacons National Park by Heinz-Josef Lücking, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publishes it under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_down_from_Corn_Du_-_Brecon_Beacons_National_Park_-_Wales_UK.jpg
There are many old tracks which were used over the centuries by drovers to take their cattle and geese to market in England. The drovers brought back gorse seed, which they sowed to provide food for their sheep. The area played a significant role during the Industrial Revolution as various raw materials including limestone, silica sand and ironstone were quarried for transport southwards to the furnaces of the industrialising South Wales Valleys.
Castle Inn: In 1809 part of the castle ruins and outbuildings were renovated by Sir Charles Morgan to become one of the first ‘modern’ hotel in Wales.
Image from the Brecon Castle Hotel website
The Regency Ballroom, with the medieval remains of the Great Hall of Brecon Castle attached, is undoubtedly one of the most attractive and historic venues in the Brecon Beacons National Park. http://www.breconcastle.co.uk/
Image from the Brecon Castle Hotel website
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“View from the Castle Inn at Brecon, July 1st 1819”, from Lucy’s sketchbook
Can you help us?
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what the Merthyr ironworks, Brecon and the Beacons would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will bring our research alive.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?