As per usual on the late summer bank holiday Monday the group stayed close to home journeying just outside Cardiff to Tongwynlais where they began their walk on a beautiful morning from Castell Coch.
Nineteen walkers set off including leader Joy and Dorothy, a long-time member who was just a couple of weeks away from her 80th birthday and who proved beyond a shadow of a doubt to the group that regular exercise (she also participates in badminton and line dancing) keeps you active, fit, healthy and trim as she tackled the route with gusto only stopping a few times during the climbing to take on water.
Setting out from the car park and going downhill through the village to the underpass below the A470 a path beside the River Taff led them to a bridge from where they had glorious views upstream towards Castell Coch high up in the trees.
Passing through a farmyard with a vinery attached they carefully crossed the railway line pausing to view several horses in a field beyond, one wearing a hood as protection against horseflies which was adorned with the outline of sunglasses that raised a ripple of laughter.
Following a lane uphill they climbed steps and reaching Morganstown continued past an old disused empty chapel to walk beside the noisy M4 motorway at the rear of a housing development. The path ran adjacent to Coed Pant-tawel before they turned away from the motorway crossing the bridge over the disused railway line and entering a narrow path which was overgrown in places. Crossing a stile to enter fields the group began to climb uphill towards the next stile where a group of calm young cattle suddenly broke into a gallop as the group approached them, which thankfully left the stile free and crossing over they stopped at the top of the hill for morning break, whilst overlooking the mist covered City of Cardiff, the Bristol Channel and the cattle who were still galloping in the field below.
As the heat rose they continued on through meadows containing more young cattle and overlooking the disused quarries before reaching the outskirts of Pentyrch from where there was a glorious view across the valley to Garth Hill.
Dropping down a steep track the busy road at Heol Goch was negotiated with care, before a rough path led downhill through a field where the Nant Cwmllwydrew stream was down to a trickle and the fields beyond which are normally boggy underfoot were completely dry.
Climbing gradually through pasture, a newly installed kissing gate with steps placed into the steep bank led them down to a lane which they followed uphill crossing a cattle grid to begin the climb up to Mynydd y Garth or Garth Hill or ‘The Garth’ as it is commonly known.
The Garth which is a well-known landmark can be seen on the horizon from Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan and on a clear day from the top, the views stretch across the Bristol Channel to Weston-Super-Mare and the Somerset coastline and up as far as the central Beacons to the north.
The heat haze that still hung over the fields unfortunately prevented long distance views but climbing to the top they paused at the trig point and heard how five tumuli that lie on the ridge date back to the middle Bronze Age, around 2000BC and are burial mounds.
It was also interesting to note that Garth Hill and Taff’s Well were the inspiration for the fictitious hill or mountain and the village of Ffynnon Garw written about in the novel and later film of The Englishman who went up a Hill but came down a Mountain, by Christopher Monger.
Until the 19th century the valley below was extensively quarried and mined for iron-ore and coal which fed the ironworks in the Taff Valley opposite Taff’s Well and standing at 307 metres, Garth Hill is the highest point in the area.
Young cattle and a variety of sheep were grazing on the open common land and barely gave the group a second glance as they crossed the ridgeway dropping downhill into a grassy field where they stopped for lunch in warm sunshine whilst overlooking Llantwit Fadre, Efail Isaf, Beddau, Church Village, Pontypridd and Treforest.
Refreshed they continued downhill passing through a gate and following a track to a quiet lane before deviating along a rough track to Lan Farm. Beyond the farm a path leading downhill through woodland, where the shade was much appreciated, led to the road at Gwaelod-y-garth and they descended steeply past the village pub.
A series of steps led them downhill and through an underpass where they re-crossed the River Taff by footbridge into Taff’s Well, named because it sits on the banks of the River Taff. Passing through houses and crossing the main railway line towards an industrial estate, the bridge over the A470 led on past a sports field to a path beside the Nant y Brynau stream and up through a well-worn track in the woods to reach part of the long distance Taff Trail that makes its way from Cardiff Bay up to Brecon.
Making their way gradually uphill through Fforest-fawr which is ancient mixed woodland that still contains the remnants of old iron mines and is owned and cared for by the Forestry Commission and with no more climbs to contemplate, the short descent was made to bring them back to Castell Coch which was fairly busy it being a bank holiday!
Castell Coch or the Red Castle is a 19th century Gothic style castle built on the remains of a 13th century fortress and situated on the steep hillside of the Taff Gorge. It was actually built as a romantic folly for John Patrick Crichton-Stuart the 3rd Marquess of Bute and designed by William Burges who actually died ten years before his dream was realised. In actual fact the Bute family never used the castle as a home, preferring Cardiff Castle but the building still remained a great Victorian triumph because of its architecture and is cared for by CADW.
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