Pontrhydyfen

Pontrhydyfen (or Pont-rhyd-y-fen) is a small village in the Afan Valley, in Neath Port Talbot county borough in Wales. It is situated in the Afan Valley at grid reference SS794940, at the confluence of the River Afan and the smaller Afon Pelenna, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) north of the larger village of Cwmafan and not far from the towns of Port Talbot and Neath. This former coal mining community is distinguished by two large 19th-century bridges that span the valley: a railway viaduct (the red bridge) and a former aqueduct, known in the Welsh language as Y Bont Fawr ("The Big Bridge"). The latter, built by John Reynolds and completed in 1825, is 459 feet (140 m) long and over 75 feet (23 m) high. It supplied the water which powered the giant...