Pencaedrain Tunnel
Pencaedrain Tunnel
![The extant western portal loiters in a muddy cutting alongside the Heads of the Valleys road.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-176.jpg)
![Silt and ankle deep water is encountered for the first few yards.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image2-176.jpg)
![The masonry lining gives way to brick at the crown of the arch.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image3-176.jpg)
![Close to the tunnel's centre is a mystery entrance - possibly a drift mine, possibly an access route driven during construction.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image4-175.jpg)
![Light is spied at the end of the gloomy narrow passageway.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image5-175.jpg)
![Thin stalactites - some three feet long - are found in places. The tunnel's sidewalls are masonry but the crown of the arch is in brick.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image6-170.jpg)
![Dumpy stalagmites rise up from the tunnel floor.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image7-161.jpg)
![Although most are masonry-built, exposed rock backs this refuge.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image8-145.jpg)
![A spoil slope marks the tunnel's eastern extremity, now buried beneath the embankment for a dual carriageway.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image9-124.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-176.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image2-176.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image3-176.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image4-175.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image5-175.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image6-170.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image7-161.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image8-145.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image9-124.jpg)
Authorised by an Act of Parliament on 3rd August 1846, the first section of the Vale of Neath railway to open was the main line to Gelli Tarw Junction. Its first traffic rumbled over the broad gauge line on 24th September 1851. Mixed gauge arrived in 1863, with standard gauge completely taking over on 11th May 1872.
Mr Ritson was superintendent and contractor for the construction of a curved 526-yard tunnel near Cefn Rhigos. Although its eastern entrance is now buried beneath the Heads of the Valleys dual carriageway, the west portal survives. Like the bore’s sidewalls, it is a masonry structure. Inside, the crown of the arch is brick.
A stream now runs down the middle of the tunnel and the standing water is ankle deep at the portal. There are several refuges and close to the centre is the entrance to a passageway which might have been driven as an intermediate access gallery during construction.