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The start of the section of the former L.M.S. railway between Gowerton and Black Pill(looking towards Gorseinon) informally known as 'The Dip'.

Leaving the terminus at Swansea Victoria (SS658927) the high-level lines and lines from the South Dock came in from the left. The line then followed the coast SW with the Swansea & Mumbles Railway alongside but approaching Mumbles Road station it bridged the tramway and turned north. The A4118 was carried over the line just north of Killay and it then dropped down to cross over the River Clyne. It next negotiated a long curve and began to climb, passing under the B4296 to reach the summit of the line at Duvant station (SS594938). It then dropped down at 1 in 72 through a mile long cutting before following an embankment to Gowerton South where the Penclawdd Branch turned away west. Leaving Gowerton it bridged the GWR main line and the Afon Llan and continued north running through an industrial landscape of pit workings and steelworks. Approaching Gorseinon it passed under the A4070 (now B4620) and after bridging the Afon Lliw reached Gorseinon station and a level crossing over the A484. Grovesend Steel Works and Colliery were on the left and after passing under the Swansea District Line and a level crossing over Water Street (A48) it reached Portarddulais station (SN588040) where the line from Llanelli came in from the SW.

Route today

Swansea City Council has converted most of this line into a cyclepath and it forms part of their Bikepath Network and NCN4. In Oystermouth Road, the long and high stone faced embankment alongside the South Dock now forms the northern boundary of the Maritime Quarter. The path starts on the sea wall from where you pass new housing built round the marina, the site of two large warehouses and sidings. Beyond County Hall the trail curves to join the main coast road which it follows fairly closely all the way to Blackpill. Originally the LNWR ran along the sea wall with the Swansea & Mumbles alongside but the road widening here has removed all traces of both lines. From Brymill the LNWR alignment forms the modern promenade and the cycle trail, after following the SMR a short distance, switches to the LNWR which it then follows all the way to Mumbles Road. You are now in the Clyne Valley Country Park where one of the most striking features is the lake at SS613913. The trail continues NW and can be followed to the site of Gowerton South station.

Bygone Lines: Swansea (Victoria) to Pontarddulais

www.lnwrs.org.uk/BygoneLines/Swansea.php

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Housing plans 'will transform Swansea riverside area'

Stalled plans to create a new riverside community from a Swansea wasteland have taken a step forward. Developer Bellway Homes has submitted plans to build 103 houses and flats between the River Tawe and New Cut Road. Another developer, Watkin Jones, said it planned to start work on a large student development at the same site this summer. The Bellway plan, consisting of 58 homes and 45 flats in three and four-storey blocks, replaces a previous scheme by a different developer for up to 300 residential units, which had outline planning permission.

Experts said demand for houses rather than flats helped prompt the fresh set of plans.

Property consultant Savills, which has been involved in developing the 8.5 acre site — formerly owned by Unit Superheater Engineering — said it hoped work could start on the Bellway homes later this year. If given the green light, the Bellway scheme will signal the first phase of a riverside walkway on the west bank of the River Tawe from the city centre up towards the Liberty Stadium.
Council chiefs are keen to lure developers to the area, and in March the authority gave approval for a new road effectively linking the stadium and New Cut Road. It also granted permission for 52 three-storey houses and 84 flats in five-storey blocks at the Bernard Hastie site, off Morfa Road. Further development is proposed at the site of the old Hafod Copperworks, despite concerns from industrial heritage groups.

Andrew Cox, of Savills, said: "Bellway's decision to reduce the number of homes and concentrate on family housing rather than large apartment blocks will be hugely beneficial to the local area. These will be homes that are likely to be owner occupied rather than rented out, which will encourage a greater sense of community. The reduction in residential units will also mean less traffic, which can only be good news for traffic flow in the city centre."

Swansea Bay Futures - Latest developments

www.locations4business.com/europe/uk/wales/south-west-wal...

All images copyrighted ©leecoates 2012

Please do not download any of my images. If you would like to use any of my images, please get in touch by flickrmail or email(profile)

Thank you :-)

All images copyrighted ©leecoates 2011

Please do not download any of my images. If you would like to use any of my images, please get in touch by flickrmail or email(profile)

Thank you :-)

All images copyrighted ©leecoates 2011

Please do not download any of my images. If you would like to use any of my images, please get in touch by flickrmail or email(profile)

Thank you :-)