The Pontymister ironworks were established in 1801 at ST 243897, being connected to the canal and Sirhowy Tramroad by a branch tramroad across the River Ebbw. Unfortunately the works appear to have seriously unsuccessful, going from bankrupcy to bankrupcy. It became much more successful as a tinplate works from 1845 and the tramway became a railway in 1850 with the mainline. Another bankrupcy hit the works in 1896 after an acrimonious strike, a merger with the adjacent Pontymister foundry and more changes to ownership followed. The building of the Llanwern steelworks ended steel production in 1962 with the foundry finally closing in 2004 as part of the Birds scrap merchants operation. From the Commercial Street level crossing, the railway went through the right -hand gate past the gasworks to the ironworks and the site is currently occupied by a number of small industrial units and derelict land, now a Tesco supermarket. In the other direction, the line crossed the main road to pass the Rolling Mill pub and up Maryland Road to the Ebbw Vale line.

Pontymister gasworks was at ST 243899, had one gasholder according to the OS map for 1886, two by 1902, three by 1922 but back to two by 1953. It was served by sidings off the tinplate works railway. It probably closed in the 1960s with the coming of North Sea gas and is now a car park.

The Britannia Foundry, lying beside the Ebbw Vale line at ST 243903, opened in 1854 under the ownership of Charles Jordan, making iron and brass castings. In 1891 it is listed as Henry White & Co and was in production until quite recently, but is now housing.

An iron-founders blacking factory at ST 246903 producing the lining for the foundry moulds is shown on the OS map for 1886 but was not marked on the 1902 version. Another blacking factory existed by the Britannia Inn, Pontymister. Both are understood to have become flannel factories.

There were two corn mills, Risca Mill near the Britannia Foundry and Maesiter Mill near the Pontymister ironworks.

Ochrwyth limestone quarry (ST 233898) was worked from 1954 but was classed as dormant in 2003. Later it was described as disused and 'no workings have taken place for some considerable time'. There are quite extensive remains of the concrete tipping docks are on the opposite side of the access lane, but very overgrown, and what appears to be two 'sentry boxes' at either end of the lane, the one close to the entrance is complete, the other at the top has collapsed. Ochrwyth quarry is sometimes referred to as 'Pontymister' or 'Ochr Chwith' quarry.

Ochrwyth leadmine (ST 235895) may date back to Roman times as it worked the same seams as those in the Machen area. There have been proposals to re-open it as a tourist attraction. In 2007 there were old coal drams in the yard of Castle Farm just below it.

The Union Copper Co opened the Danygraig copper works at ST 235907 in 1807 on the site of Roman lead mines, becoming a chemical works run by David Morris in 1816. A further change of use occurred in 1895 saw it become Southwood Jones' brickworks. This is still in operation in 2008 for pre-cast concrete products. There is a very derelict double limekiln deep in the undergrowth at the North end of the site. A tramway is shown on the 1902 map running up to an unusual narrow and shallow working at ST 229903. A concrete base remains opposite the working's entrance but no sign of the tramway. This photo dates from c1895 and was supplied by Mr S Campbell who lived in the cottages in the 1950s, where the photo was framed over the mantelpiece. The door and window in the end elevation were used as the weighbridge office where a tank loco passed regularly with the pick-up goods train.

The Sirhowy Tramroad crossed the Ebbw valley from the copperworks at ST 235907 to the appropriately named Bridgend Inn next to Halls Road Tramroad at ST 238906 on the solidly-built 32 arch viaduct built in 1805. It lasted for 100years, being superceded by the LNWR Sirhowy branch embankment and demolished in 1905. The western bank has been completely replaced by the Risca by-pass.

There are records of small-scale coal-mining in Waun Fawr going back to the 1670s. Situated at ST 228912 Waun Fawr Colliery was opened in circa 1796 as a whimsey shaft when Edward Jones built a double incline tramway across the valley from the canal. Later, in 1841, with the expansion of Black Vein, it became known as the Old Ventilator shaft. Risca Black Vein Colliery opened in around 1841 at ST 231912 when Waun Fawr was acquired by John Russell. It was a notorious pit, known as the death pit, due to the serious gas problems and frequent fatal accidents. The most serious occurred in 1860, under the Risca Colliery Co, resulting in 146 deaths, commemorated by the memorial on the opposite side of the valley. In all, around 200 lives were lost in the early 1800s. The explosion was a major factor in the bankrupting of the company and in 1872 it became the London and South Wales Coal Co. They decided to sink new shafts further north, the New Pits, and in 1878 Black Vein became the ventilation shaft for the North Risca Black vein Colliery. The Black Vein Colliery complex closed in about 1921 and the whole area has been landscaped beside the Risca bypass.

The sinking of the New Pits, ST 216916, subsequently the North Risca Black Vein Colliery began in 1875 and the first coal was wound in 1878 from the original Black Vein seams. These were just as dangerous as at Waun Fawr and in 1880 another 120 colliers were killed in a gas explosion. The colliery closed in 1967 and the site is now the North Blackvein Industrial Estate though there are scant remains of tramway inclines to the quarries above the site.

The Darren Valley and Cwm-byr area was a hive of activity at the end of the Victorian era, containing three brickworks, tramways, a number of clay levels, around a dozen small coal levels spread up the valley and probably the biggest quarry in the Western Valley.

Many photos of the Risca area, including the Waun Fawr and Darren levels and quarry are on my photo gallery website :-
'Transport and Industry - The Leftovers'

Risca, Pontymister, Danygraig and Darran - The Pontymister and Risca gallery

The Risca Blackvein Colliery and its levels and tramroads - the Risca Blackvein Coalworks gallery

Crosskeys and Pontywaun - The Crosskeys gallery

A comprehensive sortable 'Excel' spreadsheet of all known sites is on The Home Page