Horeb Brickworks.

Horeb Brickwork's Chimney Stack, from a distance.

The impressive chimney stack of the old Horeb brickworks is 30 metres high and can be seen from miles around, high above the tree canopy like a Nelson's column standing above a raging sea. The Brickworks were opened in 1907 alongside the old  Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr railway line, (which is now the Swiss Valley Cycle track). It began as the Blackthorn Brick company, later becoming the Eclipse Brick Company and finally closing in 1967 when it was known as the Horeb Brick Company.

Since its closure nature has gradually taken back its own, covering the spoil heaps and piles of discarded ash and gradually merging the works back into the countryside. So much so that although the chimney can be see from far away, in the summer you can stand on the cycle track 10 metres away  and not know its there. Apart from the chimney, which is a listed monument, the site is also industrially important because of its Hoffman Kiln, used to bake the bricks.  This still survives almost intact and is thought to be the only example of such a kiln in Wales.

Inside the kiln. Horeb's own Caves of Mordor.

Visiting any deserted industrial site has evocative overtones, as you can image the general hustle and bustle that was a part of life there many years ago. Horeb Brickworks is no exception. The loading platform and its railway siding are more or less alongside the cycle track and there is a short improvised pathway from the cycle track into the site itself. It is not recommended to enter the kiln because of health and safety issues but if you did I've heard it is a surreal experience standing inside as the sunlight streams through its many entrances.