Govilon Wharf

The village of Govilon is only a couple of miles from Llanfoist, and the journey there on foot, by the canal, is very pleasant. There is thick woodland on the uphill side of the canal and a narrow screen of trees on the downhill side. Our journey was punctuated by numbered stone bridges that took tracks and roads over the canal, and at Govilon we came upon a small, stone-built, former warehouse at the wharf. This appears to have been turned to recreational use by the local boating fraternity. On the day of our visit the boats were still tied up and empty, blue tarpaulins and covers still in place to keep the wintery weather at bay. The only moving boat we saw was a powered dinghy with someone examining the branches that had fallen into canal in recent high winds.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Llanfoist Wharf

At Llanfoist the Monmouth and Brecon Canal snakes across the lower levels of the Blorenge, a prominent hill that overlooks Abergavenny. Today the canal itself is used by pleasure craft, mainly narrow boats, and the towpath is populated with walkers, cyclists and dog walkers. However, after 1812, when the Monmouthshire Canal was joined with the Brecknock & Abergavenny Canal, iron was brought from Blaenavon to Llanfoist's wharf by tramroad for shipment to Newport. Good business and a busy canal prevailed until the second half of the nineteenth century when the railway was built and undercut the cost of transport. The photograph shows the wharf on a day in mid November, with the buildings and wooded hillsides reflected in the still waters of the canal.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100