Taff Trail from Brecon back to Merthyr Tydfil

The lady at the Borderers B&B kindly served me an early breakfast as today's walk was 26 miles long and with sunset at 5:30 pm, I needed to get going. The Taff trail starts from the canal basin, marking the terminus of the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. From here I walked along the canal through lightly falling flakes of snow, to Talybont on Usk. The cycling version of the Taff trail makes a diversion along roads via the village of Llanfrynach, but if you are walking rather than cycling, I would stick with the hikers' version along the canal all the way to Talybont. Today it was looking beautiful, the light snowfall picking out the leafless branches of the trees, which were in turn reflected in the still waters of the canal. It also meant crossing the River Usk with the canal on a 200 year old stone aqueduct. The concept of water flowing above water is one I have always found a little strange.

Canal basin in Brecon, start of the Taff Trail

Brecon and Monmouth Canal in February

At Talybont there is a little cafe where I stopped for tea and banana and nutella cake (as interesting to eat as it sounds). The pubs looked attractive as well, but it was a little too early for them. From Talybont the Taff trail climbs the old Brinore tramway. In the 19th century it brought limestone and coal down to the canal in horse drawn trucks. I made the mistake of turning off the tramway too soon at the "Usk Valley Way" sign; the correct turn off is clearly marked as the Taff Trail and takes you down to the bed of the old Brecon and Merthyr railway. The path up the old railway bed takes you to the top of the valley, slowly climbing, with views of Danywenallt reservoir. It was a popular route for people today with many enjoying the walk, or less commonly, the cycle ride. One family was well prepared with a tarpaulin to eat lunch under. Near the top you can see the tunnel that once took the railway to the other side of the mountain, however the path climbs over the top of the saddle. As I reached the top I could see periodic clouds of steam, and hurried over just in time to see a steam engine pull away. This was the narrow gauge, Brecon Mountain Railway which runs on the next section of the old Brecon and Merthyr railway, taking people up and down the valley using restored steam engines.

Brecon Mountain Railway

As I missed the train I continued my walk along the Taff Trail which makes a long switchback through conifer woods, before joining the road beside the first of two reservoirs. When you reach the second reservoir the Taff Trail turns uphill through the trees, eventually giving good views across the Pontsticill reservoir. The thin layer of soft snow squeaked underfoot, showing clear imprints of my boots and the many others plus a few tracks of bikes that had passed this way earlier. Leaving the woods I crossed the reservoir dam, just in time to see the steam train arrive at the station nearby.

Pontsticill reservoir

My footprint in the snow

After a short section of road walking it was a final stretch along the bed of the Brecon and Merthyr railway, in a sylvan valley of deciduous trees, across another viaduct by a pub and then past housing and a nature reserve as the winter light started to fade. The modern concrete span of the Head of the Valleys road indicated I was close to rejoining yesterday's outward route from Merthyr, although to save time I headed back through the town.

At 43 km this is really too long for one day and previously I have spent the night at the Dalywenallt Youth hostel which is on route. The total ascent is 587m. A gpx file of the route can be found on wikiloc. The route is also on Viewranger under shortcode johnpon0018.