The industries of the area necessitated good transport links. A network of tramroads was established throughout the Pontypool area to connect sites of extraction to the centres of the production and subsequently to export, and market routes. The construction of the Monmouthshire Canal during the 1790s connected Pontnewynydd to Newport and later connected with the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal at Pontymoile in 1812. Tramroads leading from industrial areas within an eight-mile radius of the canal converged at either Pontnewynydd or Pontymoile.Cadw (2012), pp.16–18
