Photograph courtesy of Mr John Cornwall.
This photograph shows the Water Balance Wheel which stood at Cwm-Byrgwm in 1968, linked by a tram road to the nearby British ironworks, at Abersychan, Pontypool, Gwent. Today the water wheel has been dismantled and left near its original position, but unfortunately, one side of the supporting structure, an 'A' frame, has vanished along with the chains and brake band. This balance wheel when in operation relied upon a braking system which was constructed of a steel brake band (seen in the picture surrounding the wheel, and minus any brake blocks. Usually these brake blocks were made of 'elm' hard wood attached to the brake band with bolts counter-sunk into the working face of each block. This type of braking system was common- place on early mining machinery. The operation of this balance wheel was by way of a cage consisting of a tank of water, the top of which carried tram rails to accommodate a tram. When at the surface, an empty tram was manually pushed into the cage, and the tank filled with water, the weight of which was sufficient to start the cage downward, hoisting the other cage from the shaft bottom, with a full tram and empty tank, to the surface. Once at pit bottom, the other tank was then drained in readiness to complete another cycle.
