Recently ten walkers joined Geraint and his sheepdog Patch to take in the delights of the south-western side of the Sirhowy Valley with its glorious woodland and outstanding views beginning from Machen.
The village lies just above the Rhymney River which rises to the south of the Brecon Beacons before descending through New Tredegar towards Ystrad Mynach and along the flat plain to enter the Severn Estuary east of Cardiff.
Leaving the residential area they climbed up Lewis Street before crossing the old railway bridge above the disused Newport to Caerphilly line where the old track bed has now been built on.
They continued steeply up Penrhiw Lane which looked as if it had been newly re-surfaced and further on passed the time of day with two friendly farmers whose tractors were blocking the lane.
At the top they paused to get their breath back and enjoy gorgeous views over the beautiful countryside toward Caerphilly and out over the Bristol Channel before crossing fields containing sheep and stocky lambs, then joining a track beneath lovely old beech trees.
Going downhill they followed a broad track with lots of beautiful foxgloves in the hedgerows and amongst the ferns before a gentle climb past old woodland led on towards a cattle grid and a lane.
Making towards the direction of a conifer plantation and spoil tip there were fantastic views of the surrounding countryside and pausing for a coffee break in brilliant warm sunshine on the ridgeway the surrounding views were fantastic as well as the views out over the Bristol Channel and Penarth Head and St Augustine’s Church could clearly be identified.
As they continued along Mynydd y Grug Common with views back to the tips at Llanbradach there were brilliant uninterrupted stunning views across the lovely old dry stone walls and farmland to Corn Du, Pen y Fan and Cribyn in the central Beacons.
Continuing along a broad stony track they turned off down a lane past farm buildings following the boundary wall of an attractive house set in immaculate gardens to cross a stile and follow a narrow track downhill between almost shoulder high ferns.
Joining part of the Sirhowy Valley Walk they dropped downhill through woodland passing concrete bases of an old aerial ropeway that linked the mine in the valley with the spoil tips above and after passing a ruined building they entered a conifer plantation where pathways were carpeted with pine needles.
Reaching a dismantled railway that was originally a tram road bringing iron and other goods from Tredegar to Newport they stopped in a pretty cwm beside a babbling stream for an enjoyable lunch. During that time Will suddenly piped up with a quiz question open to all which was fitting for the moment.
‘Who sang – In a shady nook by a babbling brook?’
Even though most people could remember the song, well the first line anyway, the singer was somewhat forgotten until he declared triumphantly ‘Ronnie Ronalde’! Considering he was born in 1923 it was understandable that his name was not on the tip of most of the group’s tongues even though the name may have been lurking somewhere in the recesses and as everyone was eager to point out, none of them are that ancient! Anyhow it made for light entertainment before they moved on.
Following the flat path it wasn’t long before a steep climb led them uphill via steps in woodland onto part of the Raven Walk with views across the Sirhowy Valley to Cwmfelinfach built to house the workers at the Nine Mile colliery. Considering much of the area was once heavily industrialised it is hard to picture as looking around at the hidden beauty of the Sirhowy Valley and crossing wooden footbridges over streams under the conifers they passed through ancient oak and beech woods before arriving at the Ynys Hywel Countryside Centre.
This site hosts activities such as mountain biking, gorge walking, hill walking orienteering, abseiling, camp craft, survival and archery and team building – to name but some and a steep climb up steps led them to the camping barn.
During the 1950’s Welsh miners lived in a row of cottages on the hillside above Ynys Hywel and after going on strike against the appalling working conditions they were forced to endure their landlord, the mine owner, knocked the cottages down.
In the 1980’s from what was left of the cottages a camping barn or bothy was constructed and in later years been renovated and has a log burning stove inside and now a pagoda and pizza oven situated outside for summer use.
Continuing along the track which eventually opened out they reached the outbuildings of Ynys Hywel Farm with its lovely farm sign highlighting some of the farm animals. Owned and run by Caerphilly Borough Council it is a working farm with cows, pigs, chickens and ducks and over 100-Welsh mountain sheep where members of the public and schools can visit and feed the animals to understand where food comes from and even watch the lambs being born in springtime.
A steep climb up the road was followed by another steep trek to the top of a grassy mound where they paused in a lovely cooling breeze to take in the views and get their breath back and to enjoy the wonderful scenery.
Moving on towards a tall television transmitting mast and passing another high spoil tip they reached the mountainside known as Black Vein and heard about the colliery that was opened there in the 1840’s. The pits were filled with gas and were known as fiery pits and many underground explosions occurred over the years. In 1846- 35-miners were killed; in 1849 another two died; in 1850 three men were killed and 8-were badly burned in a gas explosion and a year later another 10-men died in the same way, so it comes as no surprise the pit was nicknamed the ‘death pit’. In 1858 underground ventilation was installed but naked lights were still being used underground and on 1 December 1860 another explosion killed 146-men and boys. The blast caused a huge rock fall trapping many of the miners who were so badly burned they could not be identified and were buried without coffins in a communal grave on the mountainside above Risca.
Reaching the 364- metre trig point on Mynydd Machen and the highest point of the walk they gazed across the valley to Mynydd y Lan and the fort on Twmbarlwm standing high above the wooded slopes.
A Bronze Age burial mound is also sited on Mynydd Machen and is one of a line of mounds stretching for several miles along the ridgeway. After enjoying the breeze and the views it was time to think about descending.
They followed a rough rocky pathway near a huge quarry and began dropping down through gorse bushes continuing steeply downhill through a wood to a stream and wooden footbridge before re-crossing the old railway line.
The group walked past the pretty St John the Baptist Church set in a well-kept churchyard behind strong gates, before the return through the streets of Machen brought them back to their start after what had been a delightful walk.
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