Neath and Tennant Canal

Neath and Tennant Canal
The exit from Clun Isaf lock, restored in 2007
Specifications
Maximum boat length	60 ft 0 in (18.29 m)
Maximum boat beam	9 ft 0 in (2.74 m)
Locks	15 (originally 21)
Status	Under restoration
Navigation authority	Neath Canal Navigation Co. Port Tennant Navigation Co.
History
Original owner	Neath Canal Navigation Co. Port Tennant Navigation Co.
Principal engineer	Thomas Dadford
Other engineer(s)	George Tennant
Date of act	1791
Date of first use	1795
Date completed	1824
Date closed	1930s
Date restored	1990 onwards
Geography
Start point	Glynneath
End point	Briton Ferry / Swansea Docks

v t e Neath and Tennant Canal
Legend
Glynneath Basin 19 Maesmarchog Lock Maesmarchog Wharf 18 Lamb and Flag Lock 17 Pentremalwed Lock 16 Cae-dan-y-cwmwl Lock 15 Granary Lock B4242 road built over canal bed Lay-by car park 14 Ysgwrfa Lock 13 Maesgwyn Lock 12 Ynys-yr-Allor Lock 11 Aberclwyd Lock Rheola aqueduct 10 Rheola Lock 9 Crugiau Lock 8 Resolven Uchaf Lock Limit of navigation Commercial Road culvert 7 Resolven Lock 6 Abergarwed upper lock 5 Abergarwed lower lock Ynysbwllog Car Park Ynysbwllog aqueduct 4 Clun Uchaf Lock 3 Clun Isaf Lock 2 Lock Machin Aberdulais basin Aberdulais aqueduct Aberdulais Lock Tennant / R Neath / Neath 1 Tyn-yr-Heol Lock, Tonna A465(T) road Neath South Wales Railway Bridge Street - low bridge A474 A465(T) site of Penrhiwtyn furnaces Swansea District line M4 Red Jacket Pill Red Jacket lock Giant's Grave A48 M4 Monkstone Marina / Briton Ferry Briton Ferry Dock Neath Estuary Rhondda & Swansea Bay Rly Glan-y-wern canal (Crymlyn Junction) Tir Isaf Colliery Branch River Tawe • Swansea docks Swansea Marina Tawe Barrage and Port Tennant Prince of Wales Dock Sea Lock to King's Dock Tawe Estuary and Queen's Dock

The Neath and Tennant Canals are two independent but linked canals in South Wales that are usually regarded as a single canal. The Neath Canal was opened from Glynneath to Melincryddan, to the south of Neath, in 1795 and extended to Giant's Grave in 1799, in order to provide better shipping facilities. With several small later extensions it reached its final destination at Briton Ferry. No traffic figures are available, but it was successful, as dividends of 16 per cent were paid on the shares. The canal was 13.5 miles (21.7 km) long and included 19 locks.

The Tennant Canal was a development of the Glan-y-wern Canal, which was built across Crymlyn Bog to transport coal from a colliery on its northern edge to a creek on the River Neath called Red Jacket Pill. It closed after 20 years, but was enlarged and extended by George Tennant in 1818, to provide a navigable link from the River Neath to the River Tawe at Swansea docks. In order to increase trade, he built an extension to Aberdulais basin, where it linked to the Neath Canal. The extension was built without an act of Parliament and there was a long delay while Tennant attempted to resolve a dispute with a landowner over the routing of the canal. Once opened, much of the Neath traffic used the Tennant Canal, as Swansea provided better facilities for transferring cargo to ships.

Use of the canals for navigation ceased in the 1930s, but they were retained as water channels to supply water to local industries and to Swansea docks. The first attempts at restoration began in 1974 with the formation of the Neath and Tennant Canals Society. The section north of Resolven was restored in the late 1980s, and the canal from Neath to Abergarwed has been restored more recently. This project involved the replacement of Ynysbwllog aqueduct, which carries the canal over the river Neath, with a new 35-yard (32 m) plate girder structure, believed to be the longest single-span aqueduct in Britain. Some obstacles remain to its complete restoration. In 2003 a feasibility study was published, suggesting that the canal could become part of a small network, if it was linked through Swansea docks to a restored Swansea Canal.