Maesbury Walks
Route 1a
Leave
Canal Central via the car park and turn right into the lane
The field now on your left is marked on 19th century maps as a saw pit
Just past Iain's workshop is Coed y Rae, now Iain & Fiona's home.
During much of the 19th century this was occupied by various members of
the Bowyer family - usually three generations with up to 7 children and
a total of 11 occupants. The adult males in the family were described
a sawyer, steam sawyer, and timber merchant. By 1890 they had gone, along
with the sawpit, and were replaced by families described as agricultural
labourers.
The farm on the left is entirely 20th century, with nothing there at all on the 1890 OS map.
A little further along on the left is a rough track which just becomes an overgrown dead-end. In the 19th century this was known as Dol Alice Lane, or sometimes as Marsh Back Lane. Before the land was drained, around 1800, it would have gone down to the marsh, but by 1890 there were footpaths leading from it. None of these have survived as public footpaths so it now goes nowhere. There was also a farm on the west side of the lane, clearly shown in 1839 and 1890, with one or two families in residence. This seems to have gone early in the 20th century, probably moving to the new farm mentioned above.
On the right of Coed y Rae Lane is the new orchard belonging to Canal Central and stocked with old varieties of apples, pears and plums, with quaint sounding names, and even quince and medlar trees.
Past the orchard is a pair of semi detached cottages which were on the 1839 map with the same garden boundaries as today. In 1851 one of them was occupied by Thomas Davies, a taylor, with his wife, five children and a niece. For the rest of the 19th century they were occupied by farm labourers, often with equally large families.
Further along the lane the main arm of the Morda Brook runs along the right hand side, then crosses the road as a ford. There is a footbridge as the ford can get quite deep after heavy rains over the Welsh mountains, depths of up three feet have been seen. If the water is too high to reach the footbridge, there is a gap in the hedge on the left and another gap by the bridge.
Just past the ford on the right is Bridge House. This has a date plaque stating 1795, the year the canal was built, which would be consistent with the older stone part of the building. There is no sign of it on the 1839 map but that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't there as the map seems to be a little inaccurate in places. The first clear mention of Bridge House in the census records was in 1871 when it was occupied by James Morgan, a turnpike road inspector, and his wife Mary.
To the left is the house known as The Croft. This one is on the 1839 map but in a slightly different position - whether it was rebuilt or the map is inaccurate in not clear. In 1901 The Croft was occupied by John Evans, a road labourer, with his wife Mary and four children.
The
end of Route 1a is at the bridge, known as Croft's Mill Lift Bridge, though
there is no known record of a mill at The Croft, or bridge no.81 for the
canal enthusiasts.
The current bridge was built early in the 21st century, replacing a similar, much older, structure.
Right: a mallard family from the lift bridge
You now have a choice of 2 routes: