A winters walk  on the Sirhowy Valley path involving some challenging scenery, drugs and contact with the police. 

Date walked: 22nd January 2020

Maps used: OS Explorer OL 13 and OS Explorer 166 Rhondda and Merthyr Tydfil

Distance: around 9 miles

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After such a beautiful walk for my last post I was wondering how I could make this next post special. And then I remembered a walk I did with my friend Paul about two years ago. Most of my walking in Wales has been in the most beautiful parts of the country.  I have neglected most of the South Wales valleys that would once have been the centre of its coal-mining. This walk is mostly on the ridge of Cefn Manmoel which runs roughly north/south dividing the two valleys of Ebbw Vale being to the east and Sirhowy to the west.

Looking at the Long Distance Walkers Association’s Link for the path, we were actually doing the last section of  the 26 mile walk. The path is described as “challenging”. It proved to be so for us, but not in the usual meaning of the word.

We met up at Rock on the A4048, just north of Blackwood, left Paul’s car there and drove up to the Bryn Serth car park just south of the Heads of Valleys A465. A short stroll from there are the monstrous Aneurin Bevan Memorial stones. 

An ex-miner who went on to become Minister for Health in the Labour government of 1945, Bevan is credited with creating the National Health Service (my health board is named after him), so by rights we should have climbed the steep steps to the memorial on our knees.

I wonder what Bevan would have made of this?

There are 4 massive stones in this brutal memorial, one representing Bevan and the three smaller ones the towns of Rhymney, Tredegar and Ebbw Vale.

Having paid our respects we crossed the A4047 to start our walk.

It was a day which if I were Scots I would describe as Dreich (apparently voted by Scots as the nation’s most favourite word in a government poll – what better use for public money than to conduct such a poll). I’d more prosaically say it was gloomy.  The path takes the route of a mountain road for a mile or so to the outskirts of Ebbw Vale and it was clear from the outset that the local residents have a pressing need for more litter bins.

In addition to which they need a more helpful recycling strategy.

I’m a great Tutter when I find litter on my walks and have been known to pick up the odd bit (I draw a line at the plastic bags of dog poo) but this lot was just not going to fit in my backpack.

It all got a bit overwhelming as we passed the edge of Ebbw Vale at Mountain Gate.

This is clearly a community whose needs go beyond bins and signs; they need help. Perhaps with reading.

Then we discovered what was undoubtedly the problem. Drugs. By the path we found a plastic sack full of cannabis leaves.

I knew it was cannabis because in my 20’s I grew it in pots on my balcony in Hackney.

This crop could only have been dumped within the last few days, the leaves not even fully wilted. The question that came to mind was why such a potentially valuable product had been dumped at all? And In such a public place. And it wasn’t just one bag.

As we walked along pondering these questions we came across another heap that ramped up our curiosity and speculation. There, nestling amongst a wide range of more domestic refuse were more bags containing the root balls of the plants – more than a dozen of them.

This was not just someone’s horticulture destined for domestic use but would clearly have been to supply others. Had someone panicked, believing that they were about to be raided? That was my best bet.

As we walked past the masts of Mountain Air Gate, it seemed that the fly- tipping might have come to an end.

Far from it. In fact it got scaled up to include swathes of broken timber….

… and an assortment of domestic appliances.

Paul by this time, being a Valley’s inhabitant himself was getting beside himself with rage at this wonton environmental vandalism. Me, I was quite excited.  Have you heard of the concept of Cognitive Reframing?  It’s a real thing. Basically you turn an experience on its head by looking at it another way. It loosely relates to something that Anne taught me when I worked with her in the 80’s in a hostel for people with mental health problems. Our residents behaviour could often be quite difficult to live with so Anne developed strategies whereby, rather than try to dissuade such behaviour, (this would not apply to violent or destructive acts) we would actually encourage them to do it more. So what was previously problematic behaviour for us as staff became actually cooperative and thus the person  became a source of interest and engagement for us rather than irritation. (I did say loosely).

Now Paul is an artist who had recently started an MA and as we passed a huge pile of stuff including a sofa and a painting ……

…..it occurred to me that we could  transform this pollution ( in our minds at least) into an inspiration and material for an open-air installation. Paul grasped this with alacrity and set to work. So whilst I did some ironing….

It’s all about the image here rather than the activity itself

… Paul re-assembled some of the items to hand….

… to recreate an orderly Still Life……

…. photographing the result for his potential portfolio.

I’d love to think that he did show this to a tutor

I reckon he had some fun!

Just to add to the moment, around this time a farmer with dog passed us by on his quad bike.

We saw no sheep

With our experience of fly-tipping transformed we viewed the roadside decorations that followed in a different light……

… and the lichen encrusted sign seeking visitors to “take your litter home” with a wry amusement.

Quite why the fly-tipping stopped was a source of further inconclusive speculation but the quiet track became just another misty mountain road.

I don’t want to make light of all this rubbish. Fly tipping and people discarding their rubbish in the countryside is a national problem though I have never seen it to this extent before. I am sure that the reasons behind it are complicated at this scale. I do know that where I live the council seem to make it as difficult as they can to dispose of waste by requiring pre-booking of visits to recycling centres and having to register your car if you want to bring a trailer. 

I’m not sure why we chose to leave the road- the map shows two alternative routes- but a decorative stile presented itself near the hamlet of Cruglwyn. It had a space for a footpath sign on its post so we assumed that the signs absence was an oversight or the act of a waymark collector so we crossed over.

The muddy narrow path had some pretty worked metal marker posts….

But sans waymark sign

…. and one quite lovely piece of mild steel sculpture, taller than Paul, that had rusted most attractively.

He’s quite short

I don’t think that the waymark signs had ever been fixed on these uniquely pretty markers.

After about a mile and a half of this woodland walk the markers took us to a small road bordered by a relict hedge of previously laid beech, now grown out.

You can tell that is was a hedge by the kink at the base of the trees

We passed through the village of Manmoel which shows a pub on the map but we didn’t find it. We did find unambiguous direction though, with a trail post and sign for the walk.

We crossed a field where we were mobbed by a small flock of sheep – and a chicken.

These were clearly pet sheep (and chicken) as usually farm sheep (and chickens) scatter on approach like you’ve got the plague.

Manmoel boasts a good view over the Sirhowy valley.

After passing a railway goods carriage that was beyond any use or restoration…..

You see these a lot in the countryside – I have one that I have converted into guest accommodation.

….. we took a stony path that descended into the valley.

Passing under a redundant railway bridge…..

…. we climbed again on steps made from slowly rotting railway line sleepers…….

….. to re-join the road from Manmoel.

As we passed a farmyard I recall , I think, that Paul was telling me about a piece of work he was hoping to do under the mentoring of of an artist who’s name escapes me. It’s strange how as I write these images prompt memories – often fragmented.

Perhaps Paul can remember – or correct me

We were near to re-joining the A4046 here as evidenced by more rubbish.

I reckon McDonald’s should make biodegradable cups that will self destruct on contact with the soil like Glyphosate

On a layby in front of a wonderfully ramshackle smallholding…..

…..stood a 14 plate white BMW.  It seemed out of place but then I noticed that it had a flat front tyre.

No owner was around and perhaps it was my frame of mind but it seemed to me that this could be a dumped vehicle from a TDA (taking and driving away). Anyway I noted the registration thinking that I would report it later to the police in case it was reported stolen.

We left the road once more and took a path which continued to descend the valley….

…..and brought us to a footbridge over the river Sirhowy.

The busy road was just a short climb away on the other side of the bridge and Paul marched ahead, anxious to be re-united with his own car, I suspect, after what had proved to be a rather strange day.

I did ring the police when I got home and reported the bags of cannabis and the car. The car had not been reported stolen and they sent an officer out to find the cannabis bags. They found them and reported it on to Environmental Health.

This walk was 8 days before the WHO declared Covid 19 to be a public health emergency of international concern. What blissful ignorance we had of what was to come. 

A warm welcome to new subscribers to this blog, Jo D, Stephen P and Lizzie S and witttree

If you enjoyed this post, or didn’t or have something fascinating/banal to say about it, do please make a comment below. It’s just nice to hear from you. And if you would like to be notified when the next post is published please put your email into the Subscribe box on the right of this; I promise that it will not be passed on to anyone else. For the next post I will be returning to the Off’a’s Dyke path. 

Happy Christmas and wishing you a healthy New Year!