Blaencwm sits near the northern tip of the Rhondda Fawr valley in South Wales, about 25 miles northwest of Cardiff. The Rhondda is characterised by its former coal mining history. As many of the pits and workings closed from the 1960s onwards this region now provides an interesting location for walks. Blaencwm is no exception.
Twelve walkers and dog, met at Penpych Woodland car park on a sunny, but decidedly chilly Sunday morning at the end of November. We started by gently ascending the autumnal Nant Berw Wion valley, passing three beautiful waterfalls, to top an initial escarpment of Mynydd Blaenrhondda. Here a coffee stop provided excellent views south down the Rhondda Fawr valley over Treherbert, Treorchy and Ystrad. The view was only improved by some excellent mince pies kindly provided by Stephen P - early Christmas cheer to fortify us for the next stage of our walk! We walked across upland heath, before gradually descending through a coniferous plantation to meet with the Rhondda Fawr river, a boulder strewn upland stream at this point. Crossing the river by a convenient bridge, and then following the river upstream a short distance, led to our lunch stop. A picturesque small dam and pond provided a great place for a stop, with stunning views of another much larger waterfall at the head of the valley and the forest and wind turbine topped Mynydd Blaenrhondda. As beautiful as this location was, the developing windchill ensured that we didn’t linger!
On the return leg of this circular walk we factored in the increasing windchill and cut off an upland corner of the walk. While not extensively shortening the walk, our diverted route certainly added greater industrial interest and kinder walking conditions. Initially following the course of the river back downstream, we then passed the site of a terraced quarry or opencast mine, and an old drift mine entrance. We then walked back towards the settlements of Blaenrhondda and Blaencwm, passing the location of the Tydraw Colliery. A noticeboard provided information on the former Ferndale miners terraced housing located near to the colliery site. (How times have changed. There now seems to be 4 glamping pods on this site!) Our return walk also provided great views of where we had walked in the morning. A short leg of urban walking returned us to the Penpych car park and a chance to warm up on the journey home.
This was a great day’s walking, in beautiful wintry weather, and with a lovely group of people. Thank you to everyone who ventured out on this chilly Sunday.
Stephen Gregory
