Welsh Journals

attention of an historian, and, for this reason, Mr. Hadfield's book is to be welcomed. Starting with the 'navigations' west of Swansea, he gives an interesting and succinct account of each in turn. There are a number of factual errors. Penrhiwtyn, for example, is not fifteen miles from Giant's Grave: the proportion of coal shipped at Swansea which was canal-carried in the early decades of the nineteenth century is over-estimated: and the dating of early developments at Merthyr Tydfil is inaccurate. But on the whole these are minor blemishes, and the work is very useful as a chronicle of canal construction in the area. Mr. Hadfield's interests, however, are mainly in the technical aspects of canal construction, and this explains the major weakness of the work for the general historian. The author nowhere fully explores the impact of this activity upon the development of the region. Welsh canals were, to a large extent, the reflection of a country-wide canal mania. This was especially true of the 'navigations' originating in Swansea, Neath, and Brecon, which, by contrast to the Cardiff and Monmouthshire canals, were not the result of large industrialists seeking access to the sea. But in both cases, local capital was mobilized for investment in substantial capital projects which powerfully affected local employment, food prices, and the value of property. Some clues to these effects already exist. At the height of the boom, for example, it was impossible to obtain masons in Swansea to work on harbour improvements; farmers near the works and canals were neglecting husbandry for haulage; while at Neath rents and the value of house property were reported to have risen sharply. Much remains to be done along these lines. Who were the 'navvies'? Who built and serviced the barges ? Once the canals with their systems of tramroads were constructed their impact on the development of the coalfield was immense. They facilitated the continued expansion of the iron industry and they initiated coal-getting in the Neath and Swansea valleys. The control exercised by the Merthyr iron-masters over the Cardiff canal enabled them, as Mr. Hadfield shows, to use cheap canal transport as a weapon in the difficult times which followed the Napoleonic war. And not the least interesting of his facts in this regard are the figures which show that, despite the coming of the railways, the hey-day of the canals continued until the eighteen seventies. It is as the basis for economic explorations of this kind that Mr. Hadfield's book is of value. London School of Economics. A. H. JOHN. THE MINERS OF SOUTH WALES. By E. W. Evans. University of Wales Press, 1961. Pp. x + 274. 21s. The title of this book is a little misleading, for it deals with only one aspect of the history of the miners of south Wales-the rise of trade