Restoring the Crumlin Arm of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal

I blogged the other day about the threat to the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. Here is a more hopeful story: the restoration of its Crumlin Arm, which once linked the canal to Newport and its docks.

That Wikipedia entry makes it sound enticing:

The canal started at a basin in Crumlin and ran through the villages of Newbridge, Abercarn and Cwmcarn now under the A467. The canal then reached Cwmcarn lock now under the grass at the end of the present canal. 

The canal crosses the Pontywaun aqueduct and follow the side of the mountain above Crosskeys and Risca this section is the longest lock-free pound on the system until the Fourteen Locks. The canal descends the fourteen locks and turns sharp along the hill side. The canal now flows next to the M4 into urban Newport to Barrack Hill tunnel (now disused and culverted). 

The rest of the canal through the city is lost beneath modern roads and buildings. The Kingsway dual carriageway follows the route of the canal to the now-filled-in Old Town Docks near the Transporter Bridge.

The Crumlin Arm was abandoned in 1962 and had long been in decline before that.

This video is from the excellent Court Above the Cut YouTube account.