ARCHIVE PHOTOGRAPHS.
Friday 18th May..... Aberdulais Falls..

Weather: Cloudy. Temp: 15C


Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind
permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland

Aberdulais Falls has long been known as a place of natural beauty. There has also been a succession of industries on this site beginning with copper smelting in 1584 followed by flour and grist mills. Later, in 1830, a tinplate works opened on the site and closed about 1890. The industrial remains visible today belonged to the tinplate works.

This well preserved 18 metre high smokestack was part of the tinplate works..

A footbridge over an old water course leads to the falls.

In the mid eighteenth century artists came to paint the falls and the corn mill. Turner came here in 1796. In the Information Centre is an engraving made in 1765 by T. Bonnor, which is the earliest reference to mill on this site.

The average daily flow of water over the falls is 160 million litres. It was this constant flow of water to drive the waterwheels that attracted the copper, milling and tinplate industries. The falls have been the site of various power schemes over the last 300 years. Ranging from water power in the 16th century to hydro-electricity today.

The new waterwheel shown in this photo matches the specification of the wheel that worked here in the 19th century. It drives an alternator which generates 20kw of electricity sufficient for the needs of the property. The waterwheel is the largest currently used in Europe to generate electricity, which makes Aberdulais Falls self-sufficient in environmentally friendly energy.

To get a view of the waterwheel from above we climb the metal stairway.

The wheel is top fed with water extracted from the river above the weir .

Water is also taken from above the weir to drive a specially installed 200kw turbine. This electricity is sold to the National Grid. A fish pass has been constructed to enable sea-trout and salmon to swim to the upper reaches of the River Dulais.

At the top of the metal stairway there is a pleasant small wooded area where the last of the spring daffodills are in bloom. .

For visitor information contact The National Trust.

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All photographs Copyright © 2000 Alex Thomas. All rights reserved.