Neath and Tennant Canals Trust

Affiliated to the Inland Waterways

29 March 2024

Michael Faraday in the Vale of Neath and surrounding areas 1819

Friday 16th July 1819

Magrath and I left Dowlais together on Friday morning (16th) and then fairly commenced our pedestrian excursion. We re passed Merthyr, leaving it on our left, and made for the Lamb and Flag in the Vale of Neath on our road to Swansea. The country was not at first interesting; being flat and uncultivated. We crossed the tram roads of several iron and coal works, and passed by many a heap of refuse shale and cinder. On entering the Neath Vale, however, beauties began to open upon us. The outline of the hills became more diversified and interesting; their verdure sometimes cultivated and sometimes wild, was always vivid,and harmonised well with the brown but soft tint of the now distant bare hills; and, having heard of waterfalls, we resolve to see a little more of this vale than we first intended.

We reached the Lamb and Flag about 4 o'clock and dined heartily upon some trout from the river in the vale and Ham and Eggs. I by no means found the cwrw so dangerous a beverage as I expected it would be; for it turned out to be excellent ale. After a rest we set off to see a waterfall in the neighbourhood in the grounds of Mr. Williams of Aberpergwm. We could get no guide at the Inn, but the hostler told us we could not possibly miss the way. However, doubting our own abilities more than we did, we cautiously enquired of every other person we met and were at last kindly taken charge of by a finely made, bare-legged and bare footed Welch damsel, who said she would "put us on the way". We complained to Margarita ( for from the salutations of passers-by we found that to be her name) of the hostlers lazy confidence in our means of finding out scarcely visible paths, which she apparently put down to his fear of being called into use. She would not allow, however, that all the people told tales or were as bad as he was: but said she supposed they had the same mixture in the vale as elsewhere and put herself among the middling folks.

We passed Mr. William s's house, a pretty place, and apparently preserved in very neat order. Shortly after, Margarita called Betty, a little welch peasant to her and, after some discussion in their own language, consigned us to her care. The bargain was made so rapidly that we were in Betty's hands before we had though on the subject; and when asked by her in broken English to walk up a path leading to the road, scarcely knew for what purpose. Then Margarita laughed at us and explained that she had turned us off; and Betty with great simplicity assured us she " would put us in the way, inteet she would". We followed her across a field or two, and soon entered a dingle in the mountain on the North side of the vale. The scenery immediately became extremely beautiful, our path lying midway between the summit of the hill and the streams in the dell beneath. Trees overshadowed us; roses and woodbines and the gay foxglove, with a thousand other flowers, ornamented our way, and little Betty, with her broken and mixed English added interest to the scene. Frequently she stopped short to describe something to us;but was always obliged to conclude with " I can't tell inteet I don't know". Every now and then she would ask us the English for a Welsh word, that she may complete in some way the information she wished to give us.After an ascending walk of some length up the course of a stream and after crossing a bridge or two of a very sylvan character, which Betty marked as being " Very good bridge, yes inteet" we reached the moss house, a little stone hut thrown across the path, from which a beautiful view of the waterfall is seen. The dingle here is finished with a round termination, fashioned probably by the descending waters, the rocky sides of which were 50 or 60 feet in height. From above, at an opening between the trees, a small divided stream of water fell 10 or 12 feet on to a ledge which projected outward, and resting there a moment, descending afterwards in parts still more separated than before, to the rocky channel beneath. Varying our position that we might the more perfectly enjoy the sight and satiate ourselves with its beauties, we moved round to the left and suddenly came upon another cascade, smaller but almost as beautiful as the first. It unfortunately cannot come into the same view with it, but each would make a delightful picture.

Crossing a few spars laid over the bed of the latter stream, we followed our lively guide to a ledge in the rocks immediately behind the sheet of the first fall. Here the rock was behind us, the river roled over our heads and descended before us and long and luxuriant drapery of ivy, dropping from above, closed the sides. After having sufficiently gratified ourselves with this place, we followed our guide  and the path, plucking strawberries and obtaining a "yes, sure"  every now and then from Betty. She took us to various beautiful spots in the different recesses of the mountains; in one place was a rocky seat behind a veil of ivy; in another a sofa and chair made out of rough tree trunks round a large boulder of stone which was the tea table and near at hand a gipsy fire place was intended for the kettle. On one small insulated spot, situated on a projecting cliff and which Betty cleared of weeds as she, with difficulty, talked to us, we rested, whilst she told us, half in welch and half in English, about a " little pony put in the ground there", " Yes inteet, Poney Mr Williams" last year" " always take flowers" " poney die, buried there", and we found on returning home that old Mr Williams had a little poney of great age which he always rode during his lifetime. A short time after Mr Williams death it died too and his son buried it on this spot and, considering the ground sacred, had ordered it to be kept clear of weeds.

The walk we got in this enchanting neighbourhood was nearly a couple of miles in length. The path, tough artificial, was still so little so as not at all to disturb the idea of natural simplicity and beauty which everything else assisted in raising and it afforded easy and agreeable access to the most romantic spots. At the lower part of the dingle we passed the house where Betty lived, but the good natured girl would still "put us on our way" and guide us out of this labyrinth of beauties. At last we bade farewell, well pleased with her success, and we returned to our friend Mr Price to tea and bed.

On Saturday morning we rose early. At 6 o'clock we descended from above, having left our parcels in the rool and furnished each with a cravat and an umbrella prepared for a tramp to Swansea. Our host was not up but we managed to make him understand that we should return on the morrow. At a short distance from the house we met Margarita and a gamekeeper, apparently in very interesting conversation. She had not however, forgotten us but bade us good morrow and hoped we had found the fall and the dingle.

The vale of Neath, up which we now walked abounds in beauties both of wooded and cultivated scenery. It is formed by two ridges of high hills or mountains running east and west which, commencing at Pont-neath-vaughan, continue on to the sea shore. It varies in width, being sometimes nearly a mile wide, sometimes scarcely a hundred yards, and at its termination on the coast of the channel, it opens out very considerably. Its length is about 20 miles. The River Neath, formed by the junction of two or three mountain streams on the north side of Pont-neath-vaughan runs through it and contains plenty of trout which, however, are small, from the frequency with which the country people net the stream. The bed of the river is very pebbly and extends far on each side of the present stream, though frequently it is too small to retain the swollen torrent.. Here and there it is crossed by bridges, some of which are of very curious and rustic architecture and,  tremble beneath the feet, appear as if they would mock the passengers' attempts and plunge him in the river. A canal has been cut in the bottom of the valley, commencing at the end of a tram road about a mile up from Pont-neath-vaughan and continuing to Neath. The tram road connects it with the Aberdare Iron Works and with the colliers and other works in its passage; and there are many inclined planes with tram roads setting off down the hill, which convey coal to the barges and increase the navigation. There are several locks on this canal many of which are in bad order, and exhibit beautiful fountains of water from their leaks and apertures. The path on the bank is very beautiful and frequently runs under the overhanging sides of the hills which bound the vale. In one place the canal crosses the Neath river by a small aqueduct.

The Lamb and Flag, a very neat, clean and excellent house, with an extremely obliging master, is about 2 miles from Pont-neath-vaughan up the vale, and near to the road side. From this spot the road is a garden walk the whole way to Neath. It runs up and down the hills, continually giving new views of the beautiful surrounding country. It is shaded by a bower  the whole of the way. It frequently hangs over the river and is ornamented here and there by seats and by a profusion of white and red roses, woodbines, foxgloves and the most romantic ivy and mosses. There are several cascades in the way from the Lamb and Flag to Neath; we stopped however, to view one only a small but beautiful ornament a few yards from the side of the road, intending to see the others more at our leisure as we returned.

We crossed Neath bridge at 9 o'clock. An innkeeper of the town who was entering it on horseback, saluted us on passing and put his card into our hands, and so slight was the impulse which directed our course that this was sufficient to take us to his house. I think there cannot be a more pleasurable feeling belonging to existence than that which a man has when no artificial circumstance confines him. Every place is a home, every being a friend. He is always in possession of his object, he runs no risk of disappointment. Wherever we went was the same to us; wherever we went we were sure of novelty and pleasure.

We found our Host of the Mackworth Arms at Neath very attentive. A hearty breakfast rejoiced us after our walk of 10 miles and we were soon in excellent traveling plight again. On leaving the town, the ruins of an antient castle came before us but we had not natural inclination nor artificial respect enough for antiquity to trouble ourselves about them. About a mile out of Neath there were some fine ruins of an Abbey on our road. The Abbey had been built, I think, in the time oif Henry 1, and many parts of the Architecture and some of the chambers remain pretty perfect. Some iron works are established on the spot. After three or four miles of walking, we turned off to the north west out of the Neath Vale and wound round into the Vale of Swansea, or rather of Towey. Here appearances varied very much. The extensive copper works towards Swansea sent up an  immense cloud of sulphurous smoke, which, drawn up the Vale by a south wind, obscured and hid the scenery and gave an entirely new character to the parts around. The vale beneath was intersected by a river and canal, the banks of which, here and there, were varied by works, either copper or coal..

After a tantalising walk around the town on the bank of a river which there was no means of crossing. we arrived at a ferry: and after waiting a due time were thrust across the stream by the Charon of Swansea.

Spelling and grammar as Michael Farady's diary.

The end of Michael Faraday's perambulations in the Vale of Neath.

 


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