A very pleasant walk in the hills between Cardiff and Caerphilly through old Beech woods and some historic sites of industry.
Date walked: 27th March 2015
Distance: around 9 miles
Map used: OS Explorer 151: Cardiff & Bridgend
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My friend Neil and I have been going for walks together since we were in our late 20s – and we are both now 60 (though I wasn’t at the time!) Neil moved to Southerndown a couple of years ago and we are beginning to explore territory that we might not, at first glance, think of as ripe for a good walk. We are both drawn more to the coast and to the hills. The coast is fabulous near where he lives; today’s walk between Cardiff and Caerphilly is a hills one that I found via the Cardiff ramblers website.
We met at the Caerphilly Mountain Snack Bar, situated just off the A469 at a very modest 850 feet above sea level (the Welsh have a tendency to exaggerate the status of their hills).
This place does the biggest burgers I have ever seen at really low prices. More of them anon.
This was the first outing for my new Lowe Alpine Air Zone Z 20 day pack. I had been quite happy with my Deuter Speedlite 20 apart from the fact that it sits on the back and in warm weather this makes for a sweaty back; the Lowe Alpine has a frame and mesh that holds the pack off the pack so should be more comfortable in this respect.
And no, this isn’t a freebie
I had printed off the directions for the walk, which started on the far side of the car park.
Neil like having his picture taken so I humoured him to start with
As the directions promised, there were, indeed, good views over Caerphilly.
Not a bad day
In less than half a mile we entered a beech wood called The Warren.
Love them mossy trunks
We had a little difficulty working out which track was which, but our intuitive navigating brought us to a brick built arch….
The trouble is that he insists on smiling when I take his picture
… which had a brick path coming down to it that was referred to in our directions. See, not lost yet!
We took the scenic route to get there.
It is difficult to imagine but from the mid C19th to the early C20th this area was mined for coal and brickworks were also sited here.
That’s what this sign says, anyway
We crossed a stream and then were directed to walk up an old asphalt-surfaced road that led to a track climbing the side of the valley to the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk.
Just a gentle climb; nothing too strenuous
We were still in Beechwood; a ground cover of wild garlic was just beginning to break into leaf ……
…..but the trees themselves were bare, save for the occasional decoration.
A message in code?
Our walk opened out as we skirted a worked out quarry that had then become a tip and was now seemingly returned to agricultural use.
I say that because there was a feeding cage for cattle in one corner
This rather good track passed though grazing land….
….where a small herd of cattle with some calves were discussed, admired, and given a wide berth.
Maximum focal length and cropped so you get a nice animal pic
The cattle belonged to Coed Cefn Farm, where the occupants were shoeing horses and gave us a nod.
More Beechwood followed the farm, now named after the farm and temporarily occupied by some sheep.
Our directions referred to a large pylon which we reckon had been moved as we felt that we had walked the requisite distance to pass by it, but we were wrong. There it was in all its glory.
Ok “glory” may be a bit strong
We were feeling like we should be turning left around here but our directions turned us to the right. It took us some time to adjust to these counter-intuitive directions- until we realised that we were on the northerly part of the walk and not the southerly. You probably don’t need to know this but it caused us some consternation.
Our path came off the ridge and continued down Craig y Llan passed an old lime kiln.
We were now in the “Craig” part of the walk.
At the bottom of the hill by a stream was a stile which we were directed to go over.
Well constructed but pointless
This was unnecessary, as the path immediately after the stile was the one we needed and led unimpeded to the footbridge over the stream that we needed to cross.
Neil’s wife will complain if I don’t work in a good number of pics of him into the post
We followed the stream for a few hundred yards and then climbed up again at the edge of Coed Coesau Whips. Over to the left a line of trees would have made a good reference point for directions….
Still beech, I think
… but we were told to look out for another pylon and head into the wood near there.
This was also easy to spot
Leaving the wood, we had a good but slightly misty view now south over Cardiff, the path taking the line of some stunted but rather splendid old trees.
Hanging onto life despite a rotten centre
We paused at the trig point (866 feet) by Craig Llsfaen, for me to take a picture….
That’s the Llanishen Reservoir
… and to have our pictures taken.
His ankle was hurting a bit from his vigorous step classes amongst the lyvra clad of Bridgend.
I thought about hopping onto it but didn’t want to shame Neil with my superior athleticism
Our track joined little lane that droppped down the side of the hill, the path then contuning through more beechwood….
…..to skirt the north edge of Llanishen Golf Course.
Even in such relatively “tame” countryside, golf courses do seem very artificial environments
After the golf course we needed to climb again up a rocky and quite wet sunken path to Craig Llanishen.
This is going to be more like a stream in wet weather.
At this point we re-joined the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk. We passed through a little Cwm …
…..before the path brought us to a crossing of the A469, a warning sign across the gate directing us to Slow Down.
We decided that we were travelling at a safe speed
The golfers of Cardiff are served by another course – the Ridgeway Golf Course – (there’s a third just a mile or so further on).
Our path crossed this and sort of petered out, but with a bit of searching we found what we were fairly confident was a stile leaving it. The path climbed slightly from here passing behind a rather nasty bungalow ….
with an even naster large Camelia in its garden, looking manky as ever. Neil thought it lovely.
Me, I thought it deserving of a chainsaw
Just past the nastiness the track re-emerged onto the A469 and our appointment with the Mountain Burgers of the snack bar. Except that neither of us could face one ruining our diets. So we had a smaller one with chips instead. Walking is good for the heart but not very good at keeping weight off.
Ha. A complete understatement about how we thought we were doing the walk anticlockwise, but halfway round realised we were doing the exact opposite :). But don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.
A lovely walk. Great views. Great company. And the woods were wonderful.
Another soon.
Xx
( and don’t worry gentle readers. Ankle has heeled up fine. Thank you 🙂 )
True. When it came to writing this up I couldn’t understand how I made the mistake! Yes, walk date soon.
Hmph. Golf courses. Hate em with their silly clad folk shooting little white cannonballs at my head. Hmph. Rant over. I’ve made a mental note not to smile whilst walking with you, Charles and certainly not if I’m being photographed. And another that chips are fine when on a diet. Good walk, seemed you had a great day. Dave
Well, as rants go, I rate that as pretty mild. I think the game is intended to get the ball down a hole in the round grassy bit. If people are shooting at your head you should certainly tell them off. Smiling will be permitted away from the camera.
Since Anne and I retired from proof reading, I have noticed that the rate of typographical error incursion has gradually increased, as has your propensity to attempt to extract a snigger from the reader at the expense of your walking companion. Or, at the expense of those living to the west of you! We do not wear lyvra in Bridgend! And some of us like camellias because we learned the proper way to keep them under control after planting.
Sorry there wasn’t a crane handy near the trig point. But happy that you were able to have a cup of hot Chinese style bacon steak with your burgers.
And liked the pics too.
Come back to proof reading! All is forgiven. And you must tell me how you keep the frost off the Camellias as its that that makes them manky. Perhaps I need to carry a lightweight collapse able step for Trig Point mounting.
My 20-year-old Camellia japonica (forget the variety) grows in relatively heavy clay soil, borderline acid. It gets lopped across the top every May to keep it to about 8 feet tall (and occasionally down the sides to keep it in check), deadheaded as needed and otherwise totally ignored. It’s hit by the early morning sun and usually spends the summer months un-watered in caked-hard dry soil. So I break all the rules but it regularly starts flowering in mid January and only gives up around late May. You’ve gotta raise ’em to be tough, you know!
But I thought that was the approach you and Anne took to gardening!
It’s Neil I feel sorry for – 40 years of walking with you Charles – no-wonder he has to force a smile, all those navigation errors !
What! Its the getting lost that adds dramatic tension to the exercise.
What were your early impressions of the Airzone Z20? I see it’s on offer at Cotswold for £42.50, although you may not want to hear that. Or it may have been a birthday present: Happy Birthday
I thought it excellent. Can’t fault it. That’s a bargain. I’d get one. Thanks for birthday good wishes.