Tramway Tunnel and Tram Road

The tramway was part of a wider, local system which included tinplate works and forges which produced the Pontypool Japanware. This became famous as a new technique for applying decorative panels onto a variety of everyday items including trays and teapots.

The tunnel was originally constructed around 1825 to link the Pontymoile tinworks to the Park and Osborne forges and probably supplied them with their iron.

The tram road continued to run alongside the river, now a footpath and further downstream there is evidence of a weir and sluice gates which would have been used to control water into the forges.

The tunnel is now blocked up but it is rumoured that it originally exited close to the Town Bridge.

The tunnel came back into use as an air raid shelter during World War II and there are some local residents who remember sheltering there during bombing raids.

Today the tunnel is unused but remains as a poignant reminder of the industrial past of Pontypool and its association with Japanware.