Pontneddfechan, spelt Pontneathvaughan in English is the southernmost village in the county of Brecknockshire, Wales, within the Vale of Neath, in the community of Ystradfellte and in the unitary authority of Powys. It stands at the confluence of the Rivers Mellte and Nedd Fechan and provides access to the series of waterfalls that adorn the upper Neath valley. Dinas Rock, a pitched anticline in the limestone rocks at Craig-y-Dinas, is coveted by rock-climbers.
History
Industrial activities in the district started with a 21-year lease of an area of land from the Marquess of Bute by the Quaker entrepreneur William Weston Young, for the sinking of silica mines around Craig-y-Dinas from 1822 onwards. The silica was extracted to make firebricks at the Dinas Firebrick Co. in Pont Walby. In 1843, Young's lease ran out and the then Riddles, Young & Co.firebrick manufacturers moved to new premises on The Green, Neath. The stone sleepers for the silica mine tramway were never removed and can be seen set into the path of the waterfall walk. In 1857, the Vale of Neath Powder Co. built a "gunpowder manufactory", having obtained "a licence to erect their mills over a space of two miles including the Upper and Lower Cilliepste Falls". The site on the River Mellte was chosen for its remoteness and the availability of both water power and timber for the production of charcoal, one ingredient of gunpowder. An inclined tramway was built from a siding on the Vale of Neath Railway near Pen-cae-drain, to bring insulphur and saltpetre, the other ingredients. A horse-drawn tramway linked the various buildings. The horses were fitted with copper horseshoes to reduce the likelihood of sparks. In 1862, Curtis & Harvey took over the site. It later merged with Nobel's Explosives Co. and finally became absorbed by Imperial Chemical Industries in 1926. The works closed in 1931, but the site is still known locally as the Gunpowder Works. It is now administered by the National Park Authority and has a network of footpaths. The Welsh-language poet Evan Bevan died at Pontneddfechan in 1866.
