TAL-Y-PONT BRIDGE c. 1822 Brecon/Monmouth Canal N51o 53’ 38.8” W3o 17’ 14.2”
In the little town of Tal-y-pont near Brecon, this simple bridge with solid parapet of bolted cast iron sheets once carried Hill's Tram line tracks across the road and the Brecon/Montgomery canal. It is a twin of the Llanfoist Tram Bridge over the canal ten miles or so east which is also almost 200 years old. The Hill's tram cars came down off the mountain fully loaded and powered by gravity alone. They had no brakes: the operator slowed their progress as best he could by dragging a thick pole along the sleepers. Their load of ore or coal was then transferred to canal barges.