As with many towns on the route, the Taff Trail bypasses the centre of Pontypridd, and so misses some of the atmosphere of the Taff valley. If you are walking I would do as I did and visit the centre of Pontypridd. This has a high street (appropriately called called Taff street) which recalls the high streets of 50 years ago, with small shops including an old fashioned cafe (The Prince's) and a shop for aspiring artists etc.. From Taff street I crossed over the river into Ynsangharad Park, which has the "National Lido of Wales", daring from 1927. The cafe looks very Art Deco in architecture, but is in fact fairly recent, but the rest of the Lido is original. From here it was along streets of terraced houses typical of the Welsh valleys, although looking smarter than I remembered last time I walked here. Then it was along a tarmac path beside the river. Although the busy A470 road was up a bank to the right it was still very rural. I watched two sheep (rams I guess) head butting each other over something, I would like to think a ewe, but a man also watching thought it was over some bread he had left for the birds. His dog checked whether I had anything to eat. The people along this section were very friendly saying hello and commenting on the weather - not yet raining despite the forecast. Catkins gave a hint that we were over the worst of winter.
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| Cafe in centre of Pontypridd |
Just after the Navigation pub (named as the Glamorgan canal once passed this way) there is a commemoration to Richard Trevithick. Trevithick built the first steam locomotive, well before the more famous Stephenson, and ran it on the tramway that the Taff Trail now follows. The locomotive successfully pulled 10 tons of iron and numerous passengers from Merthyr Tydfil. Sadly it had a breakdown and broke some of the rails, so was slower than the horse drawn wagons normally used on the tramway, so it was a technical rather than a commercial success. However, the first time any new invention is tried, it usually fails; success comes by learning from these failures, for example replacing brittle cast iron rails by wrought iron (and later steel).
The next section was along a quiet road following the old tramway. A tarmaced path followed, taking me around an incised meander in the river by Quakers Yard. After an old bridge, the stone blocks acting as the "sleepers" of the 200 year old tramway were intermittently visible, showing the marks where the rails were attached. The tramway appeared well made, cut into the side of the valley and made for easy walking. I left the tramway at Pontygwaith with the Taff trail, although the tramway can be followed on the east side of the valley, returning to the Taff Trail near Merthyr Tydfil.
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| Old Tramway |
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| Marks where rails were attached |
Aberfan is famous for a disaster in 1966 when a slag heap (a mountain of waste rock separated from the mined coal) slid downhill covering a school and killing 116 children and 28 adults. The children were aged 9 or 10, the same age as me at the time. As the Taff trail passes the cemetery where the children are buried, I walked up to their graves and associated memorial to pay my respects. Some of the children's graves had fresh flowers on them. As if to emphasize the depressing nature of the scene, rain started to fall heavily and the white memorial enclosure by the graves gave me some shelter to pull on my waterproof trousers.
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| Graves for victims of Aberfan disaster |
Further on the trail follows the line of the Glamorgan canal, which is filled in along this stretch, past two traditional looking pubs. I admit to being tempted, but drinking in the middle of the day tends to making walking afterwards a bit more difficult, tending to have an unwanted soporific effect. There was also an informative sign on Saint Tydfil, who gives her name to Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr meaning martyr in Welsh). Saint Tydfil established an early Celtic Christian community, helping sick humans and animals, and treating the local inhabitants with compassion. She was killed around 480 by Pict and / or Saxon raiders.
Reaching the outskirts of Merthyr, I past under a railway bridge, now lacking a railway, and various large chain outlets came into view (McDonalds, Travelodge etc.). Further on I came across various bridges across the Taff. An effort has been made to use interesting designs, pleasing for an engineer. There was also a weir. After being polluted by the iron and then the coal industry for many years, wildlife is now returning to the Taff, and a fish ladder and a route for otters has been added to the weir.
I was hoping to visit Cyfarthfa Castle and Museum and so headed along the trail to the north side of Merthyr. However, it was closed on Mondays. Although the "castle" has crenelated towers designed to make it look ancient, it was actually built in 1825 for one of the people (William Crayshaw) made rich by the iron works. Sadly the cafe was also closed but the park in which the castle sits is attractive, complete with a lake. Finally, I headed for the railway station past closed up buildings to a bustling town centre. The railway station is behind a modern shopping arcade and I arrived with 3 minutes to spare to catch my train home.
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| Cyfarthfa Castle |
Omitting my diversion to Cyfarthfa Castle, the route today was 24 km long, railway station to railway station, with very little climbing. The gpx file of the route can be found on wikiloc (or click here). The route is also on Viewranger under short code johnpon0015.
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