Blackmill & Treorchy
Blackmill – This walk took us to some beautiful countryside, although wet underfoot there were stones in most places, so it was not too muddy! We began in Blackmill and walked up the Ogwr Fawr towards the Ogmore forest and back via Cwm Dimbach. Blackmill is at the confluence of two Ogwr rivers, three railway lines and two main roads – the gateway to the Ogmore valleys.
We walked in sunshine with big fluffy clouds in the sky. The climb was gradual, and we looked over the valley observing that buildings were appearing much higher up the hills. The views were extensive and the hills lush and green. At our high point of the day, we could see the channel in the far distance.
We stopped for lunch at the side of a stream, where water tumbled down the hillside. It was the first time this year we could feel the heat of the sun as we sat.
The ground was saturated, but we walked down a stream which was stony making it comfortable walking downhill. A river separated us from a woodland of bare trees with a carpet of moss across the whole space. Apart from occasional birdsong and the noise of flowing water the place was peaceful with a deep silence. In one area rocks at the side were covered in ferns and mosses, dripping with water, just as you would imagine a fairy glen.
We came to an isolated house where a ford crossed the river. Two of us were a bit behind everyone else and pretended that we thought we had to cross the ford, and everyone egged us on, only for us to turn at the last moment and use the pedestrian bridge. Moments later a car drove across the ford creating a small bow wave.
The end of the walk was along the Great Glamorgan Way. We finished at a café in Blackmill which supplied us with piping hot cups of tea – a wonderful day. [Walk 7.25m, 1100ft. Map OS166]
Treorchy – As the weather has improved, we have enjoyed some wonderful walks in the sunshine. This was one of them. Thirteen of us and three dogs parked on a steep street in Cwmparc. It was not long before we had left the houses behind and were climbing a forest track. The valley of houses sat in a bowl, formed by the hills.
The day warmed, something we had not experienced in a while. Leaves were starting to uncurl on shrubs, and we spotted the yellow flowers of coltsfoot which emerge before the leaves.
As we got higher an expanse of wind turbines appeared, as did the shell of a burnt-out car. Towards the top of the walk, we arrived at a crossroads and chose it as a lunch stop. Soon everyone started spreading out, a few in a depression, some on a bank with their backs to the sun, some facing the sun on the opposite bank and a couple even went into the woods to lean on a tree. It was all reminiscent of lockdown with none of us closer than 6 ft to one another. Some traffic passed, a few cyclists (one without a helmet, crazy!), several walkers and inevitably, disturbing the peace, a few offroad motorbikes.
The views on the walk were excellent; there were continuous rolling hills, but we also caught glimpses of Pen y Fan and Sugar Loaf. Surprisingly, from this distance (we were at the top of the Valleys) we could see the Bristol Channel and England. In the sky we had spotted a buzzard and kite and, on the ground, a tiny eggshell.
We came off the stony track onto a boggy footpath, then a short distance along a road. All too soon we reached ‘the descent’. We had been warned that walking poles were advisable. The hill rose steeply to our right where a rickety old fence stopped us heading inland and to our left was a rocky gorge. A couple of ewes with their lambs were scrambling on the craggy hillside. The footpath was a mix of loose stones and grass and we descended at varying rates depending on our fitness and head for heights. A small herd of cattle, with young calves, grazed in the valley which opened out below us.
The end of the walk was open moorland and after crossing this we followed a fast-flowing stream. Painted stones bordered the path as we neared housing, and a sign told us it was ‘Cwmparc Pathway of Hope created in 2020’ another reminder of lockdown.
We chatted to a few of the locals as we passed them outside their houses which looked out onto the hill. A great day in the hills with wall-to-wall sunshine dotted with a few wispy clouds and rounded off with drinks outside a pub in Porth. [Walk 7.5m, 1500ft. Map OS166]
