Aberdare Canal

| repeal_date = | repealing_legislation = | related_legislation = | status = Current | original_text = https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XwbC08mcZ-4C&pg=PA362 | collapsed = yes }} By the 1780s, industry in the area around Aberdare was developing. John Maybery and Thomas Wilkins owned an ironworks at Hirwaun, which was leased by Anthony Bacon. He died in 1786, and the lease was taken over by Samuel Glover from Birmingham, who built a tramway. The nearby Neath Canal was authorised in 1791, and from its terminus at Glynneath, a tramway could be constructed to reach Hirwaun. Glover joined several others who were promoting the development of the Taff Valley, and plans for a branch canal from…

With the increasing coal production, railways were attracted to the area. The Aberdare Railway was the first in 1846, branching off from the Taff Vale Railway's line from Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil at Abercynon, and running up the valley to Aberdare. Many of the collieries were linked to the railway by branch lines and sidings, but the canal company withheld consent to build bridges over the canal, and it was not until 1851 that a court ruling allowed the Wyrfa Coal Company to build the first, after which others followed. A second railway, the broad gauge Vale of Neath Railway, reached Aberdare in the same year. Despite the competition, the canal continued to carry a good volume of coal,…