A FEW years ago, the museum was sent a copy extract of American industrialist, James Patterson’s diary.

He sailed from New York in October 1827 to visit relatives in Ireland and then onwards to industrial sites in England and Wales – where he hoped to gain information ready for the opening of tinplate works in Pennsylvania.

The diary extract is fascinating reading and highlights of the Patterson’s trip are visits to all Capel Hanbury Leigh’s works and others around Pontypool, Abersychan (The British) and Blaenavon.

Patterson describes in great detail the work and equipment at the Osborne and town forges as well as the tinplate rolling mills of Pontypool.

The diary also relays James Patterson’s and his friend and travelling companion Mr Large’s experience of months spent travelling in the British Isles from Liverpool, Dublin and Belfast to Birmingham, Bath, Abergavenny and as far west in Wales as Neath.

The two travelling companions reached the eastern valley just before New Year 1828.

December 30, 1827:

“ ... at half past one pm, [we] took seats in the coach as it was raining very hard, for Ponty Pool, twelve miles from Newport through Caerleon, where there are large tin works. The country [is] wild and hilly, with some very pretty valleys. Arrived at Ponty Pool at half past four in the evening. Took a walk down to one of the tinworks belonging to [Capel Hanbury] Leigh… they make and finish between 600 and 700 tons every week…”

January 1, 1828:

“New Years Day very wet and rainy and spent morning and greater part of day indoors… during a short cessation of the rain, were up the river and saw Leigh & George forge, where they make the iron for the tinworks. They have five or six establishments, which are all connected by railroads…”

January 7, 1828:

“From here [Blorenge Mountain] we went back to P[onty Pool] - along the canal and went up the railroads to the (blast) furnace belonging to [Capel Hanbury] Leigh… it is a single furnace – blown by a waterwheel about 30 feet high, 3 ft wide and 12inches deep – an overshot wheel… it was all day a cold day and found our topcoats very comfortable and as we returned [to Pontypool] about dark it commenced snowing…”

James Patterson was not the only industrial spy to visit Torfaen; several years earlier a Swedish industrialist, R R Angerstein also visited the valley and his illustrated diary was translated into English and (re)printed in 2001.

Both transcriptions are available to view (after lockdown) by appointment at the museum’s Dobell-Moseley Library and Archive.

The picture shows the Pontypool to Crumlin canal at Trosnant in a late eighteenth (1790s) print - how James Patterson would have seen the canal. The large building on the right of the picture is the old Trosnant Brewery and the curve of the canal is approximate to the road way which today leads past Ray Coles' motorbike shop towards the turn off to the Pontypool Active Living Centre.

Nostalgia is provided by Torfaen Museum.