As part of the annual Festival of Winter Walks and in the midst of all the heavy and persistent rainfall and high winds, for the nine walkers who joined William at Tredegar Park, the black clouds lifted and they set off in lovely sunshine which remained for the whole of the day, but underfoot conditions in places were very tricky with surface water and mud almost everywhere.
They set off past the Life Trail containing outdoor gym exercise equipment where suddenly an announcement came from an unseen loudspeaker asking someone to wave if they could be heard, so everyone waved!
They tramped across playing fields once part of the deer park owned by the Morgan family of nearby Tredegar House and below the M4 underpass, straight into thick slippery mud on the banks of the swollen River Ebbw.
Further along they crossed a footbridge over the thundering water of the Ebbw River where land on the flood plain has been cleared and the building of a residential estate right beside the river has already begun, despite the fact the land was already flooded and everyone agreed they would not really want to live there.
Crossing a tall metal footbridge with a lovely view of the old railway bridge spanning the river they reached the 11th century St Basil’s Church with its surrounding huge churchyard and passing the old railway station, which is now a restaurant a path led through a housing estate.
Entering a nature conservation area, slippery pathways led them through a lovely old wood and downhill to cross the old Newport to Ebbw Vale railway line, which appeared to be rarely used.
Then trekking through more thick mud, a bridge over a small stream led on through fields to a stile where they joined part of the long distance Sirhowy Valley Walk gazing across green fields containing horses.
A waterlogged valley led them downhill to re-cross the river and they made their way along a wet boggy path to the Rogerstone recreation ground and utilised the wooden picnic tables for morning coffee in bright sunshine, where close to the toilet block newly planted bedding plants added a touch of colour to the scene.
Then after climbing uphill past the Tredegar Arms pub they pounded pavements past traditional terraced houses before a steep climb led to the Brecon and Monmouth Canal, where this once thriving waterway is now neglected and overgrown and was playing host only to moorhens and mallard ducks.
They followed the towpath to some lock gates and crossed a road into the Fourteen Locks Canal Centre where the information centre was unfortunately closed for the Christmas season, then the route continued downhill past what was constructed as the Cefn Flight of the Fourteen Locks.
Because of the Industrial Revolution canals became an important way of moving merchandise and because of the surrounding industrial towns like Nantyglo and Blaenavon canal systems were built in the area. The lock system at the Cefn Flight was completed in 1798 and it is classed as a ‘flight’ because no set of gates is shared between the individual locks. It was one of the steepest lock systems in Britain raising the water level 50-metres or 160-feet in 800-yards and the run of locks also included a series of ponds, sluices and weirs in order to control the water supply.
Having reached a stone bridge over the canal, a muddy track led them to a gate where they encountered a group of walkers who had just descended the hill they were about to climb and several of them had taken tumbles on their way down judging by the state of their muddy rear ends!
Their slippery climb up the muddy hillside led to the Newport Ridgeway where seats placed in front of a neatly cut hedge line made for a comfortable lunch break whilst drinking in the panoramic views, north towards Mynydd Machen and Twmbarlwm and with Sugar Loaf Mountain and Ysgyryd Fawr covered in mist to the east.
Following lunch William recited a short poem by his favourite and very aptly the Newport born W H Davies, entitled Days and Years.
How softly now my Days go by –
How quietly the moments glide!
Yet, underneath, I feel the rush
Of a swifter, stronger tide.And though my Days glide softly by,
I ache from throbs and fears
Of a terrible tide that, underneath,
Is carrying off my years.
Heading off the ridgeway past flowering daffodils beside the road and then steeply downhill through an urban area into Coed Melyn Park, a boggy grassed area led them to the busy Bassaleg Road and on through metal gates for the short but steep and slippery climb to the Gaer, an ancient Iron Age hillfort.
Heading down across the edge of the common with views across the city of Newport, then through the Gaer estate where many of the roads are named after authors, writers and poets and which received a Merit Award in 1951 at the Festival of Britain for its well-designed housing, they crossed a bridge over the railway line before re-crossing the Ebbw River for the last time and made their way back to their start.
