Recent from talks
River Taff
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
River Taff
The River Taff (Welsh: Afon Taf) is a river in Wales. It rises in the Brecon Beacons as two rivers, the Taf Fechan ("little Taff") and the Taf Fawr ("great Taff") before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. At Cardiff, it empties into the Bristol Channel.
The river supports several species of migratory fish, including salmon, sewins (sea trout), and eels.
From its confluence at Cefn-coed-y-cymmer, the river flows south, passing several towns. It picks up a few tributaries, such as the River Cynon, River Rhondda, Bargoed Taf and Nant Clydach. It flows through Pontypridd and through to Taff's Well, the site of Wales' only thermal spring. It flows underneath the M4 Motorway, before turning southeastward and flowing past the Cardiff suburbs of Radyr, Whitchurch, Llandaff, Pontcanna, the city centre and Grangetown, before emptying into Cardiff Bay, near to the mouth of the River Ely.
The Taf Fawr rises below the peak of Corn Du, south-west of Pen y Fan and soon flows in a generally southerly direction through a steep-sided valley, which was identified by Cardiff's Borough Engineer John Avery Brandon Williams as the best source of water for the town when he assessed all possible sources of water for the newly formed Cardiff Corporation Waterworks in 1881. A bill was presented to Parliament in November 1883, and despite serious opposition from riparian landowners, Royal Assent was obtained for the Cardiff Corporation Act 1884 on 7 August. It allowed the corporation to build three reservoirs.
The catchment of the upper Taf Fawr was 10,400 acres (42 km2) but it was split into an upper area of 4,000 acres (16 km2) and a lower one of 6,400 acres (26 km2). Any works had to provide compensation water to maintain the flow in the Taf Fawr, and working on the upper area first meant that the Corporation only had to supply 3 million imperial gallons (14 Ml) per day of compensation flow until work started on the lower area. Cantref Reservoir, the lower of the two in the upper area, was constructed first. Work began on 4 May 1886 and was completed on 14 September 1892. Construction of Beacons Reservoir, the highest in the chain, began shortly afterwards, in April 1893, in advance of the Corporation obtaining a second Act of Parliament to increase the capacity of the reservoir and to move the dam further upstream, where the foundations would be better, in the light of geological investigation. Impounding of the water began on 17 September 1897.
Construction of Llwyn-on Reservoir, the third in the chain, did not start until 1911, and again, its capacity was increased by an Act obtained in 1909 to 1,260 million imperial gallons (5,700 Ml), almost double that specified in 1884. Impounding of water began on 23 June 1926, and the reservoir was full by November, but formal commissioning did not take place until May 1927. Once built, it supplied 7.75 million imperial gallons (35.2 Ml) of compensation water per day to maintain the flow in the river.
Below Llwyn-on, the river is crossed by the A470 Brecon to Merthyr road, the A465 Heads of the Valleys road, and as it passes to the south-west of Cefn-coed-y-cymmer, the Cefn Railway Viaduct. which consists of 15 arches built on a curve. It was to have been built of stone, but a masons strike in 1866 resulted in the Brecon and Merthyr Railway buying 800,000 bricks to complete it. It is grade II* listed as its history and architecture surpass that of most other railway viaducts in Wales. On the west bank are the remains of a leat, constructed in 1766 for the Cyfarthfa Ironworks. It is fed by a stone weir with a cast iron sluice. Parts of the leat are cut into solid rock, and parts have stone walls and buttresses. The river is joined by the Taf Fechan near Cyfarthfa Castle.
The Taf Fechan rises immediately to the south of Pen y Fan and runs southwards through three reservoirs and a former fourth, now abandoned. Whereas the Taf Fawr was the preserve of Cardiff Corporation, the Taf Fechan was used to supply water to Merthyr Tydfil Corporation. Of the Upper Neuadd and Lower Neuadd reservoirs, the lower one was built first, authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1876. Like those on the Taf Fawr, it had an earth embankment with a clay core. The clay had to be imported, and for this purpose a private branch line was built from the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway near Torpantau railway station. The contract for the work was given to William Jones of Neath, and the project was completed in 1884. Now decommissioned, the water level when the reservoir was full was at 1,413 feet (431 m) above Ordnance Datum, and it held 74 million imperial gallons (340 Ml).
Hub AI
River Taff AI simulator
(@River Taff_simulator)
River Taff
The River Taff (Welsh: Afon Taf) is a river in Wales. It rises in the Brecon Beacons as two rivers, the Taf Fechan ("little Taff") and the Taf Fawr ("great Taff") before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. At Cardiff, it empties into the Bristol Channel.
The river supports several species of migratory fish, including salmon, sewins (sea trout), and eels.
From its confluence at Cefn-coed-y-cymmer, the river flows south, passing several towns. It picks up a few tributaries, such as the River Cynon, River Rhondda, Bargoed Taf and Nant Clydach. It flows through Pontypridd and through to Taff's Well, the site of Wales' only thermal spring. It flows underneath the M4 Motorway, before turning southeastward and flowing past the Cardiff suburbs of Radyr, Whitchurch, Llandaff, Pontcanna, the city centre and Grangetown, before emptying into Cardiff Bay, near to the mouth of the River Ely.
The Taf Fawr rises below the peak of Corn Du, south-west of Pen y Fan and soon flows in a generally southerly direction through a steep-sided valley, which was identified by Cardiff's Borough Engineer John Avery Brandon Williams as the best source of water for the town when he assessed all possible sources of water for the newly formed Cardiff Corporation Waterworks in 1881. A bill was presented to Parliament in November 1883, and despite serious opposition from riparian landowners, Royal Assent was obtained for the Cardiff Corporation Act 1884 on 7 August. It allowed the corporation to build three reservoirs.
The catchment of the upper Taf Fawr was 10,400 acres (42 km2) but it was split into an upper area of 4,000 acres (16 km2) and a lower one of 6,400 acres (26 km2). Any works had to provide compensation water to maintain the flow in the Taf Fawr, and working on the upper area first meant that the Corporation only had to supply 3 million imperial gallons (14 Ml) per day of compensation flow until work started on the lower area. Cantref Reservoir, the lower of the two in the upper area, was constructed first. Work began on 4 May 1886 and was completed on 14 September 1892. Construction of Beacons Reservoir, the highest in the chain, began shortly afterwards, in April 1893, in advance of the Corporation obtaining a second Act of Parliament to increase the capacity of the reservoir and to move the dam further upstream, where the foundations would be better, in the light of geological investigation. Impounding of the water began on 17 September 1897.
Construction of Llwyn-on Reservoir, the third in the chain, did not start until 1911, and again, its capacity was increased by an Act obtained in 1909 to 1,260 million imperial gallons (5,700 Ml), almost double that specified in 1884. Impounding of water began on 23 June 1926, and the reservoir was full by November, but formal commissioning did not take place until May 1927. Once built, it supplied 7.75 million imperial gallons (35.2 Ml) of compensation water per day to maintain the flow in the river.
Below Llwyn-on, the river is crossed by the A470 Brecon to Merthyr road, the A465 Heads of the Valleys road, and as it passes to the south-west of Cefn-coed-y-cymmer, the Cefn Railway Viaduct. which consists of 15 arches built on a curve. It was to have been built of stone, but a masons strike in 1866 resulted in the Brecon and Merthyr Railway buying 800,000 bricks to complete it. It is grade II* listed as its history and architecture surpass that of most other railway viaducts in Wales. On the west bank are the remains of a leat, constructed in 1766 for the Cyfarthfa Ironworks. It is fed by a stone weir with a cast iron sluice. Parts of the leat are cut into solid rock, and parts have stone walls and buttresses. The river is joined by the Taf Fechan near Cyfarthfa Castle.
The Taf Fechan rises immediately to the south of Pen y Fan and runs southwards through three reservoirs and a former fourth, now abandoned. Whereas the Taf Fawr was the preserve of Cardiff Corporation, the Taf Fechan was used to supply water to Merthyr Tydfil Corporation. Of the Upper Neuadd and Lower Neuadd reservoirs, the lower one was built first, authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1876. Like those on the Taf Fawr, it had an earth embankment with a clay core. The clay had to be imported, and for this purpose a private branch line was built from the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway near Torpantau railway station. The contract for the work was given to William Jones of Neath, and the project was completed in 1884. Now decommissioned, the water level when the reservoir was full was at 1,413 feet (431 m) above Ordnance Datum, and it held 74 million imperial gallons (340 Ml).
Recent media