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David Gorvett was in the Dynea Dock area doing boat repair and working the
lock, I believe.
is is an excerpt from a book by the late Don Powell, which he has kindly
allowed me use, that contains information on the area and a Gorvett. The title
is Victorian Pontypridd.
Glamorganshire Canal
Meanwhile, the Glamorganshire Canal continued along what is now llan Avenue to
reach the picturesque Lock Lewis at Gellidawel, Rhydyfelin. Prior to its growth
in Victorian times, the hamlet of Rhydyfelin was the home of several families
with the surname of John - after two brothers of that name gave up working on
farms at Eglwysilan and became boatmen on the canal in 1794.
Lock Lewis is possibly named after its first lock-keeper who lived in a nearby
cottage. Mrs. Mary Powell lived there for 50 years until 1972 and made many
shopping trips by canal boat. Her husband, JohnPowell, was a Pontypridd U.D.C.
transport manager and his father
Morgan Powell was a lock-keeper at Lock Lewis. Boats used on the canal were
usually 60ft long by 8ft wide and carried 20-24 tons of cargo. They had a crew
of two: one led the horse on the towpath whilethe other steered the boat by a
wooden tiller, which fitted into the largerudder. A steam-powered boat was used
on the Pontypridd to Cardiff section of the canal in 1890 but its speed created
too much wash and steam boats were not used generally until 1911.
After passing under the Dyffryn Road bridge at Rhydyfelin, the canal ran behind
the length of today's Sycamore Street, the playing fields of Heol-y-Celyn school
and Cardinal Newman Roman Catholic school to reach the wide basin at Dynea,
where it was joined by the
Doctor's Canal at Blaen-y-Llyn on which the Rhydyfelin Non-Political Club is now
situated. Gorvett's boat-repairing dock was here and the walls of Dynea Lock and
the lock-keeper's cottage by a little hump-backed bridge could be seen during
recent excavations for flood
prevention measures.
In Victorian times Dynea was spelt Denia ('attractive location') and the area
was a favorite spot for picnics and rambles. Up to a hundred people would sit on
cross-planks on a boat destined for Dynea to enjoy the views and walks over the
wooded hillsides below Mynydd
Eglwysilan and Mynydd Mayo. Sunday Schools from Pontypridd and Cardiff hired
boats and met at Dynea to join in organized games and community hymn-singing in
the fields near the lock.
From Dynea, the canal ran through the fields of Gellihirion Farm
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