Pentir Rhiw - Brecon Beacon Remote Disused Station - EP 007 

Love you're enthusiasm Rebecca 🤣🤣

Been watching a number of your films. Am amazed how nature has taken over the stations. Thanks 😁

love this. I walked the disused railway (before it was converted) in the late 80's as a scout (there were 4 of us). We managed from Merthyr to Talybont and then followed the canal to Crickhowell. lots of great memories, it probably created my un-healthy interest in disused railways and OS maps. I returned there with my son last year (2019), we caught the train to the top and then walked back via the Taff trail. Thanks for the video

brilliant as normal thank you

You pair are just so much fun :)

The tramway did not use rails such as we are familiar with. They used L shaped plates which guided the wheels of the trams or drams as they were called in Wales. The wheels were not flanged like modern train wheels.

Another excellent video.

Over this weekend I've watched 20 of your videos of all those old abandoned train lines I love the old tunnels also and all of these old rail lines you guys know your stuff great videos. I'm from America and I have a bunch of old lines by me and the stations still in place tracks are long gone its called the O & W Railroad Ontario & Western Railroad which opened in 1872 and closed its line in 1958. I am enjoying all of your videos you guys must be in great shape all of that walking you both do thanks Mike T

Fabulous vlog as usual. I love the way you film these vlogs and the music. Slowing..coming across more on your channel. Thank you Paul and Rebecca. 🙏🙏🙏🙏

What a treat about the tramway. Real history! Superb video guys. Excellent!

I love your humour and joy with life in doing your adventures. It's great!

Great exploring! You've brought back to mind some of my best childhood memories.

More like this. Enjoy watching and listening to you both on your adventures.

Brilliant as usual - thank you

Y'all are delightful. Thanks for putting this out there.

I’ve walked trough the tunnel many a time. It’s also known as the Devil’s tunnel as it’s 666 yards long..... great video both, thanks for sharing 👍

I stayed at the station 1964, line was still in place along with the water tank and other items. I got a ride on a small work train from Taly y Boat which was preparing for lifting track and equipment. The station was taken over then by the Royal Navy as a training base for treks around Brecon Beacons. Nice to see the place still exists and seems still to be in use. John Gould

Having just watched your "struggles" locating the Torpantau Station, by chance I came upon footage of the "Neath to Brecon & Newport Steam South Wales video" and right at the end it showed live film of an engine & carriages going through Torpantau Station - amazing to see it line being used for real!

Great video again. Thank you.

Cracking vid, awesome sights, had to laugh at 13.40 ish when you said 'That was a hill' welcome to wales lol, there's a lot of hills and mountains. Nothing sad about walking that tramway that was so old, I would be overwhelmed walking it knowing what it was, how old it was and that I'd found it, These things are not ten a penny. Good on you!

Only recently discovered your channel and I love it thank you for taking the time putting these videos together and sharing. Sorry if this comment has already been pointed out but I was surprised that while you were in Merthyr Tydfil you didn't visit the site of the world's 1st high pressure steam railway (albeit not very successful) built by Richard Trevithick

You captured the remoteness of this station well and a good day for filming, the Tramway is a days walk on it's own and lots of stone sleepers still around as your film showed. I am enjoying catching up with your videos (only discovered them last weekend) looking forward to this years exploring.

Only just discovered (and subscribed) to your channel. Thanks, a great video, one of many by yourselves. I was born just down the valley from the old station, which is Pant (as in y-fronts) y (err) Rhiw (Huw). When the railway was constructed in the mid 1800's the station was built where the line crossed the old parish road from the next valley down into the Talybont valley below, so would have been quite accessible. It used to be a popular stop for people wanting to visit a healing well near a church across the valley. Unfortunately, the building of Talybont reservoir in the1930's flooded the parish road and cut off the station which suddenly became quite isolated and was downgraded to a halt. After WWII the Navy took over the station as a training base, part of HMS Collingwood. There are stories from the Winter of 1963 of service personnel driving their Landrovers back from the pub in Talybont (pre breathalyser days) and taking a short cut on the ice across the frozen reservoir - what could possibly go wrong! Going back to Torpantau (Tor-Pant-Eye) station, you struggled with the different levels of the track each side of the road. The railway crossed a bridge over the road at that point. Shortly after the line was closed there was a landslide which took away the road under the bridge. My father drove me up to see it. When the road was reinstated, the bridge embankment on the northern side was bulldozed to straighten the road. As you say, the Brinore tramroad (Actually Bryn Oer - meaning Cold Hill and quite apt) was opened in 1815 to bring limestone to the Brecon and Monmouth canal and is well worth exploring. It can be traced from a point near a memorial marking the spot where Aneurin Bevan's ashes were spread at Trefil quarries and follows the neighbouring Crawnon Valley, crossing over into the Talybont Valley at a point just to the right of where you joined it in the VLOG. There was a short tunnel, long filled in, where it crossed under the road at he top. There also used to be a pub there as operating trams must have been thirsty work. The sandstone blocks were cut to house the plates which held the L shaped rails and these were held together with cast iron ties. Because the horses had to walk between the rails, small limestone ballast was placed between the lines to protect them from the ties, readily sourced from the limestone quarries at the end of the track. You should have passed sections where the white / grey ballast was still present on your walk. The tramroad fell into disuse in the mid 1800's following the opening of the railway.

Your journey through the Brecon Beacons, into Torpantau tunnel stirred memories of a trip with the Scouts in 1961 to attend the Welsh Jamboree, at Gwernyfed, near Hay-on-Wye. The most exciting part of the journey from Somerset was to travel up into the mountains by BR steam train, complete with smuts billowing into the compartment in the tunnels. Torpantau tunnel was the highest standard gauge tunnel regularly used in GB at that time. Once we got down to Talyllyn Junction, the train chugged towards Glasbury-on-Wye, where we alighted to walk to Gwernyfed Park, Three Cocks, where the Jamboree was being held. You probably know, but I did not then, that the passenger services were to end within 12 months.... Keep safe both/all Peter

Really enjoy your Videos, Thank you. As I expect you now know that the Neath & Brecon Railway also joined up with the Brecon and Merthyr, it’s a pet Spot round there. Not far from Pentir Rhiw there was another Station, Craig-y-nos Penwyllt and a famous Opera Singer called Adelina Patti, who lived to Craig-y-nos Castle, built herself her own Waiting Room at that Station. Thank you once again.

amazing film really enjoyed

and the trackbed will linger there for ever i'm sure.. great informative video ..

Rebecca looks really cold coming out of that river at 9:49 - get her some tea in a flask or something. 👍

Another great video! :)

I'm so jealous Paul and Rebecca! I know this area so well and have done for decades. An episode of Sherlock was filmed where you were stood at the top of the reservoir (the one where a body is found in the open). Probably a bit late to suggest it now, but I recommend the White Hart in Talybont - decent beer and proper open fire ☺

Bom dia amigos,, amo trens e estações vamos dar mais valor pois é o mais seguro e econômico, parabéns pelo vidios amigos abraço Jânio Luiz Botucatu sp interior Brasil

Would love to think that in 203 years time the tramway would still be walkable! Great video

I've cycled the loop around Talybont reservoir, I didn't realise the track back down through the woods on the other side was a trackbed !! The gradient is incredible. Wish I'd have known about the even earlier horse drawn route would have gone and had a look. Great Video's.

You may want to look into this...if you haven't already. The Penydarren loco. On 21 February 1804, the world's first ever railway journey ran 9 miles from the ironworks at Penydarren to Merthyr.

Loved the music for this, and a great little companion piece to the Torpantau video.

From the first minute I was wondering if this was a slightly different tunnel exploration when Rebecca jumped on the bed with you. That Tramroad looks great. A two hundred and three (can't forget the three) years old railway is unthinkable, will do some research onto how long it was used. That unpronouncable tunnel looked very wet, but wonderful none the less.... you got to some amazing places Paul and Rebecca, makes me jealous. Keep up the good work producing such quality videos.

My mum travelled on the railway as a child staying with family in Talybont

I like Rebecca's hat.

Torpantau tunnel its a nice one..! gone into that a few time's in the past.

Thank heavens Rebecca made it out of the tunnel without getting wet, because I could imagine you talking and there would be an almighty splash and a shriek from a certain Mrs Whitewick which would not be amusing

Fantastic views over Wales . Thoughts on places to go . I walked the Weymouth to Portland line a few years ago . Very nice walk to do . Mark Clifton

Great video Rebecca and Paul.As a suggestion would you please visit the Flitch Way and in particular Felsted? (No guesses why.lol). I'm told by one of my facebook friends , who lives in Braintree, that the former Rayne Station has a great tea house and refreshment rooms.

Paul, only just found this video, I know the area quiet well. Your right about the station photo, the station was just over the fence in the private land next to the car park. Couldn't see anyone confirm it for you.

Lovely video, The amount of times I went somewhere with a plan and ended up changing it halfway during filming... I lost count lol shame about filming at the disused station but it was made up with the tramway :)

"You stay there while I walk along the dry bit...."

You asked for suggestions for Wales.- As you go west from Abergavenny, towards Brynmawr, on A465,( some of this road has been turned into dual carriageway}. After a place called Llanwenarth, on the left is a rock face which appears to have the remains of a railway carved into it. Would it be suitable for you to explore? It would be great to see. Many thanks.

Pen-tear Roo!

Talybont Station is still there. It is an outdoors centre now

The steam railway ran alongside this reservoir till 1963 i believe

The trevithick trail in Merthyr has all those stone sleepers and more.

Pentir Rhiw station is now a Royal Navy outdoor training centre - hence the vans and minibuses etc.

Those Geometric shapes at 7:40 sure I saw in another of your videos that I watched recent .. they were on the gate way into a tunnel you were shown round by a female guide who showed you the culverts under the rail at the end .. any reason for the patterns, or are they just random ?

If you ever find yourself dreaming of a sunnier climate, the 1860s saw the start of the construction of the Government Railway in Mauritius which was closed to passengers in 1956 and closed to freight in 1964. With a maximum standard gauge length of around 155 miles as well as many miles of narrow gauge track to work the sugar cane fields, many of the bridges, stations and ancillary buildings are still around, silently decaying. You can have an idea of what is left here: www.flickr.com/photos/historicmauritius/collections/72157711434865346/ Mauritius has many ravines and rivers which obviously required bridges and culverts, some of which are quite spectacular. Enjoying your videos, especially the ones like this one of the old country...

How about exploring the Haytor granite tramway or the Lee moor tramway?

For anyone wondering what does Pentir Rhiw means in English Headland on the Hill or Promontory on the Hill

Ah, no the south western end of the reserviour, and yes, the recent series. *spoiler alert* the one where (I think) he was killed by his own boomerang? Anyway, keep up the good work. I dare you to try and trace the route to Dowlais Central including the curve to the LNWR route!

THERE IS A PETER HANDFORD EARLY 196X.S ARGO TRANSACORD EP 45 RPM RECORD MADE ON A STEAM TRAIN VIA TORPANTAU AND A YOU TUBE FILM MADE ON A TRAIN ON THIS LINE !!.

Ah Paul what would your videos be without the delightful Rebecca...brilliant though they are...

"You clear the jungle foliage... I'll hold the camera..."

Lovely. Although, it might have been nice to actually see the remnants of Pentir Rhiw.

11:50 'Meh' moment award lol

Big cat sightings in this area

There's a nice disusedline bed from whitby to Middlesbrough. Along the coast. All lifted but is a public path from Sandsends just north of whitby to Staithes. There is a disused tunnel about a mile north of Sandsend after the disused brickwork I think it is. The Sandsend tunnel has a wiki page entry.

I can try and help you with the pronounciation....... Pentir Rhiw / Pentear Roux (don't forget to roll the R's!) Torpantau was perfect. I heard you mention Dowlais - Dowlice. Talybont - Tal a bont

You may already be aware of this, but it's handy for seeing where old railways were: www.npemap.org.uk/

Rebecca you walking in that little creek and all that mud I could see yourself slipping and ending up soaking wet get the careful where that Narrow Gauge railway line ended up I was with friends from Usk Over the side of the road there was an entrance of the tunnel portal and there was some talk about they were gonna open it up at the railway line you’re the expert on tunnels Paul so you would know what I am talking about I was there back in 2000 approximately 22 years ago yours do you have Rosebud Melbourne Victoria Australia

Yes the stone blocks are for holding the chairs for the rails They used these because the horses walked in the center of the line

Any construction pictures

If you lived anywhere else in the world you could have brought a tool to help clear the way.

Bit late and probably commented on already but... Penteeroo would be closest I think :) .. Now watch everyone shouting at me cos it aint :()

What is he calling the rubber boots

It's pronounced like penteer roo.

TorPANTeh.