Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For many years the navigation ended at a 2.4m diameter culvert at Sebastopol. Crown
Bridge has been rebuilt and powered boats are now able to continue along a broad reach to
Five Locks.
The 80m Cwmbran Tunnel, with no towpath, lies below a golf course. The water after the
far portal is shallow at first but deepens towards Pontnewydd Locks. Five Locks Moorings
were opened in 1998. Restoration of the rest of the canal is under way. The canal fell 103m
in 14km through 31 locks.
Below Five Locks, the canal is controlled by anglers who claim that any boats other than
their own on the navigation create disturbance and so are not permitted.
As a landscaped water garden, the ten locks of the Cwmbran Flight begin very attractively.
As a canal they have less to recommend them. The long walk down to Forge Hammer passes
the Old and New Bridgend Inns and a selection of modern industrial units. Launching is pos-
sible among the shopping trolleys but the water comes to an end again where 500m of canal
has been covered by a roundabout and a busy road. A vertical cutting for the road means that
the line of the canal cannot even be followed on foot. Instead, a diversion is required up the
footpath to the right from the roundabout, along a residential road, left past some shops and
right at the bridge crossing the new road.
The canal begins again where an iron beam from the Halfway Bridge of 1847 has been
erected across the end of the reach as a feature. A swan's nest has been visible at a surprising
site in the middle of a housing estate with only 300m of clear water. A low bridge crosses
halfway down this reach. Another short walk is required where a housing estate road has been
laid along the line of the canal. Further walking is needed at the Waterloo Lock, two Oakfield
Locks and then, from Ty-côch, ten locks dropping away in open country.
The canal comes to a sudden end at the ivy-covered Barrack Hill Tunnel, where a screen of
mesh confronts the boater and the noise of water can be heard tumbling away into the dark-
ness. The canal used to serve Newport Docks but sections were closed in 1879 and 1930,
making any further restoration extremely difficult.
