{"id":14948,"date":"2024-12-14T16:47:12","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T15:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14948"},"modified":"2024-12-14T17:00:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T16:00:49","slug":"14948","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14948","title":{"rendered":"Brecon"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Brecon<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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We started at the Canal Basin, home to Brecon theatre and car park, although you must pay there is a caf\u00e9 and good toilets. The theatre was built near the site of the town\u2019s racecourse in 1996. Theatre in Brecon goes back to 1699, after the restoration of Charles II Brecon was one of the first places to have a theatre. The Canal Basin was once a busy industrial area with wharfs, a saw pit and a brewery but it is now a place to escape the busyness of life and enjoy peace and wildlife. There were several barges moored.<\/p>\n

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We left the Basin via a tunnel to follow the canal, the route was east, returning via the river Usk. The canal began as the Brecon and Abergavenny canal in 1800 and in 1812 joined the Monmouthshire canal providing access to Newport and the sea. The men who constructed the canal were called Navigators, now known as \u2018Navvies\u2019,<\/p>\n

There are 27 historical plaques around the town and one house on the canal bank at Eliot St has added their own \u2018NILOC ESMAJ 1703-1784 Time Traveller Lived here 2041-2046\u2019! Dozens of ducks gathered around a young family who were feeding them.<\/p>\n

At Watton Wharf, one of seven on Brecon canal, coal, lime and limestone would have been loaded on trams bound for Hay-on-Wye and beyond. Deliveries of wood, farm produce and beer would also have arrived here. As quantities carried increased, compared to horse and cart, some items became cheaper. In the early 19th century, the tramway from here to Hay-on Wye connected with the Kington tramway, Hereford; their combined length was 36 miles making it the longest rail network in the world at that time. Although steam locomotives had been invented this tramway was operated by horse drawn trams. The tramway has now disappeared but an arch across the canal indicates the site of the tramroad. The last commercial traffic was carried on the canal about 1915 and the final toll collected on the canal was at Llangynidr in1933.<\/p>\n

On the Hay tramway there is a delightful wooden sculpture of a man with a trammer or draft horse. It has a list of fines for various misdemeanours, such as moving faster than walking pace, which range from 10 -20 shillings (50p-\u00a31). The 20 shillings fine would be worth about \u00a3500 nowadays and any informant got half the fine!<\/p>\n

Continuing along the canal we came to a row of limekilns. The day was now sunny and reflections of the greenery along the banks of the canal were clear<\/p>\n

We walked through several tunnels and began to get glimpses of the river Usk. An information board had fascinating pictures of people, some with amazing headwear, working on the barges and tramway. The canals are now used for leisure and pleasure we came across a restored lock in good condition. Did you know that Victorians enjoyed pleasure boat trips on the canal and coracle fisherman used it.<\/p>\n

We reached a point where the canal passed over the river and nearby, we saw lots of barges tied up along the canal bank and a man paddling a canoe at speed. Trees had long exposed roots which looked as if they were \u2018walking\u2019 towards the water. In an open area we could see the hills outlined around us.<\/p>\n

Now we climbed onto a bridge and walked through some fields. At Llanfrynach we briefly visited the church with its lovely wooden beams supporting an arched ceiling and metal signs with the words of the Lord\u2019s prayer and Creed. We stopped for lunch at a small playground where we spread ourselves around (a swing proved comfortable but a bit creaky with my weight!).<\/p>\n

After lunch we crossed a field to reach the river and found a variety of fungi – King Alfred\u2019s cakes, parasol mushrooms and shaggy inkcaps<\/p>\n

Brecon appeared above us and in no time at all we were back in town. We came to the Usk bridge with its seven span arch bridges, which was built in 1563 and has been enhanced to carry modern traffic. Christ College, a successful private school is nearby. A Dominican Friary was established here c1250 and a collegiate church in Abergwlli, Carmarthenshire was moved, under a charter of Henry VIII, to this site in 1541.<\/p>\n

The theatre caf\u00e9 supplied us with drinks as we eschewed the town\u2019s pubs of which there were 47 in 1834.<\/p>\n

Walk 8.5m 200ft. Map OL14<\/p>\n

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Brecon We started at the Canal Basin, home to Brecon theatre and car park, although you must pay there is a caf\u00e9 and good toilets. The theatre was built near the site of the town\u2019s racecourse in 1996. Theatre in Brecon goes back to 1699, after the restoration of Charles II Brecon was one of the first places to have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-14948","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8557,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8557","url_meta":{"origin":14948,"position":0},"title":"Pontypool","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Footsteps To Pontypool We started from the Pontypool active living centre. Soon we were walking through Pontypool park to climb up to the shell grotto (groto cregyn) and the Folly tower. It was uphill to the grotto. As we climbed, we had good views of Pontypool behind us. The grotto\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture4-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11946,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11946","url_meta":{"origin":14948,"position":1},"title":"The Usk Valley Walk","author":"Alan Williams","date":"8th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"THE USK VALLEY WALK A couple of months ago Isobel and I were camping in Pencelli a lovely little village Southeast of Brecon. One day we walked down the canal to Talybont on Usk and we came across signs for the Usk Valley Walk (UVW). When we came back to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Picture23.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15241,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15241","url_meta":{"origin":14948,"position":2},"title":"Railway 200 And The 250th Anniversary Of George Overton","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th March 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"RAILWAY 200 AND THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF GEORGE OVERTON This year is being celebrated as the year of the railway \u2013 RAILWAY 200, a nationwide celebration marking 200 years of the modern railway, from the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) of 1825 to 2025, and inspiring a new generation of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for March 2025"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for March 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=420"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Picture10.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15578,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15578","url_meta":{"origin":14948,"position":3},"title":"Brecon & Llanthony Priory","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Brecon\u00a0 This was a delightful walk, we parked north of Brecon and took a footpath through the cathedral grounds. The mixed woodland (oak, beech, hazel and alder trees) of Priory Groves borders the river Honddu, and is about a mile long. Birds sang, the river tinkled, the scent of bluebells\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Footsteps1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14655,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14655","url_meta":{"origin":14948,"position":4},"title":"Brecon Beacons \/ Bannau Brycheiniog – Craig Cerrig Gleisiad","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th September 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Brecon Beacons \/ Bannau Brycheiniog Brecon Beacons \/ Bannau Brycheiniog Craig Cerrig Gleisiad\u00a0 We parked near Forest Lodge cottages and set off along Sarn Helen, the 2000-year-old Roman road which runs from North Wales to Neath. The route would take us around Craig Cerrig Gleisiad Nature Reserve, Fan Frynych, climbing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Picture6.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11888,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11888","url_meta":{"origin":14948,"position":5},"title":"Bluebells at Wentwood and Brecon Beacons","author":"Alan Williams","date":"8th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Bluebells The appearance of the first spring flowers always has Wenvoe walkers thinking about the arrival of bluebells. Spring this year was cool and we enjoyed wood anemones, daffodils, primula etc. for longer than usual. Then the blue bells arrived. You can spot them in lots of places in Wenvoe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bouquet.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bouquet.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bouquet.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14948"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14948"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14951,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14948\/revisions\/14951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}