Penydarren Ironworks
Penydarren Ironworks
Penydarren was the site where the World's first Steam Engine ran on rails. Designed by Richard Trevithick, in 1804 his steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil.
A full-scale working reconstruction of the Pen-y-darren locomotive was commissioned in 1981 and delivered to the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum in Cardiff; when that closed, it was moved to the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Several times a year it is run on a 40m length of rail outside the museum.
Merthyr's Monument to Richard Trevithick
Built of chair stones and rails recovered from the old Penydarren tram road and designed by Mr Isaac Williams, was erected in 1934. The monument stands on the site of the tram road, and therefore upon the very spot over which the famous locomotive travelled.
The Trevithick Trail
The Trevithick Trail runs for nine miles from Penydarren in Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon, an ex-mining village at the confluence of the Taff and Cynon rivers. It follows the line of the early nineteenth century Merthyr or Penydarren Tramroad which linked three of Merthyr’s ironworks to a loading point on the Glamorganshire Canal at a place then called Navigation.
Two years after the completion of its construction in 1802, the Cornishman Richard Trevithick ran a steam locomotive along its length, an event that was to establish a landmark in the history of railway development and forever link the tramroad with the name of the locomotive’s constructor.
The route the trail follows, as well as offering the walker/cyclist the opportunity to enjoy some unrivalled natural habitats, visits sites that were significant in the industrial and social history of the area. The eleven chosen locations marked on the map offer information, which will help the traveller to gain a better understanding of the area’s past, and hopefully a greater enjoyment of the experience.