Description of the contract
1. Purpose
A partnership of public and voluntary sector bodies coordinated by Brecon Beacons National Park Authority wishes to appoint a professional animation company suitably qualified and experienced to produce a story through the media of animation the subject being the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal (Mon & Brec).
We would like to reflect how the Mon & Brec was one of the key drivers of change in this area during the industrial revolution. It changed the local population’s lives forever along its whole length with people finding employment in the iron & steel industries, coal mining and the transport of all these materials to the South Wales ports. Equally it allowed the transport of materials from those ports to the rural hinterland and particularly grain transport to Brecon was critically important in this landscape dominated by grazing rather than arable agriculture.
We would like to portray how people would have worked in the industries, their living and working conditions and those of the wealthy Iron masters all of whom are hidden in the landscape. However there are still clues in the landscape which are visible today, plus there is a lot of recent interpretation on panels along the canal.
We would like to tell the story of the past and bring the story back to the current use of the canal. This will enable visitors and communities to understand how crucial the canal was and how the materials were transported down to the sea and out to the world.
The target market for this is the family market with children aged 7-10 years old.
The focus has to be on increasing visitors to Wales and the Brecon Beacons particularly the family market.
Another aspect to the whole project is the highlighting of existing easy walking routes which can be enjoyed by families which take them to some of the main points of interest linking them to the past.
There are five tramroads which are in the National Park and it is those which we want to be included in the animation, each have a different story to tell:
The Hay Tramroad – Mainly used to transport coal and building materials from Brecon to Hay on Wye. On the return from Hay to Brecon, Lime, farm cereals, woollen, leather goods.
A story tells of a Mrs. Elizabeth Smith who was carrying a sack of potatoes across the tram road in Hay on Wye and was sadly knocked over and killed by a tram.
The Brinore Tramroad – Coal & Lime was transported from Rhymney Colliery and Trefil Quarry to Talybont on Usk. A story tells of a bar tab from The White Hart Inn which was titled “snow throwing bill” for 61 quarts of ale drunk by a dozen or so men clearing snow.
Baileys Tramroad- Clydach Ironworks-Gilwern- Limestone needed for Clydach iron works
Govilon- Baileys Tramroad- Iron was transported from the Nantyglo ironworks onto the canal and down to Newport. There is a story about how cannon balls were made at Nantyglo Ironworks and shipped over to France only to have the cannon balls fired back at Great Britain!
Hills Tramroad- Named after Ironmaster Thomas Hill, Coal transported from Big Pit to Blaenavon iron works which was used to melt the iron which was then transported to Glynderrys forge where iron rails, tyres for railway wagons and carriages and plates for boilers and ships were made. The wooden trams, loaded with iron ore, coal, limestone and finished iron, were attached to continuous chains which passed around a brake wheel. The full trams descended under gravity, pulling empty or trams lightly laden with agricultural produce or beer from the brewery at Llanfoist back up the hill.
2. Background
The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is an increasingly popular visitor destination – one of the 'honey-pot' destinations within Brecon Beacons National Park. It is easily accessible and has a national profile that attracts both staying and day visitors. It has been used by tourism promotion agencies for many years in view of its spectacular scenery and relative accessibility.
It is managed by the Canal and Rivers Trust who are the key partners in this project.
It is used by cyclists, canoeists, walkers and visitors who hire out canal boats for their holiday. Along the canal there are small villages with facilities such as pubs, shops, cafes, and a variety of accommodation. These villages grew up in the early 1800’s when the canal was built.
There are still lime kilns, which can be seen along the canal and a local artist Michael Blackmore (deceased) was commissioned by various organisations to illustrate what these and other industrial sites would have looked like.
In 2018 Visit Wales’ theme is “The Sea” destinations such as the Brecon Beacons were invited to come up with some innovative ideas and apply for funding which would enable the destinations to express the theme. This was somewhat of a challenge as the Brecon Beacons are land locked, however the Mon & Brec Canal starts at Brecon and although not all is navigable now it used to run down to Newport.
A team met, which was led by Brecon Beacons National Park Authority and came up with the idea of interpreting the story of why the canal was built, which was to carry lime, coal and iron from the industrial valleys cheaply, transported by tram roads which led to the building of the Mon & Brec Canal.
We would like to tell the story in a simple way to show visitors and the community why the canal is there and the important role it has played in the past which has great pleasurable benefits today.
We felt that the most effective way of telling the stories of the past and relating this to the future and the enjoyment that we now enjoy was to use animation.
|