Category: Community Groups

Wolvesnewton

This was a walk, west of Chepstow exploring the Monmouthshire countryside, taking in three churches and passing the Model farm.

It was a clear sunny day, but the beginning of March and frost remained in shaded places all day. Someone had had some fun, models of a dragon, a green man and an otter were alongside a stream.

We reached Kilgwrrwg Church, the first of the day, within half an hour of setting out. It is tiny with good views. A remote rural spot even today, in times past food would have been provided by strip farming, rotating crops such as wheat and corn. Someone had compiled a folder with information on births, deaths and marriages in the Parish. Leaving the churchyard, we queued to climb over a fallen tree blocking the footpath.

Tramping over lush grassland we saw our first lambs of the season. The medieval, St Thomas a Becket Church at Wolvesnewton is a larger affair on a no through road which was the main road until 19thC. It has a medieval preaching cross and churchyard. A door on the north wall of the church (the wrong side) was sometimes called the Devil’s door and it would be left open during baptism to let evil spirits escape. It is now blocked up. A stained-glass window inside depicts child angels bringing light to the gentiles.

The model farm and folk museum, which opened in 1972 and closed after 14 years, was on our route and a few of us could remember visiting it. It displayed a vast array of items from rural life spanning the Victorian era to Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. There is no evidence of it now apart from a large house, some distance from the track.

Continuing we passed a wildflower meadow, a herd of llamas, and the first frog spawn of the year. At lunchtime we spread out along a bank beside the track, and a few walked to a picnic table below us. After lunch, there was some rough ground and a steep path to tackle, quite difficult after eating. At the top, there was more frog spawn and elfin cap fungus. A pony was scratching around for food in a stony field.

St Peter’s church at Newchurch was the 3rd church of the day, the land it stands on was granted to Tintern Abbey at the time of the Norman invasion. The Bristol Channel and the Cotswolds are visible from here. The yews near the gate were planted in the early 18thC and the church is built entirely of red coarse sandstone. The octagonal font is believed to originate in the 12thC.

Near the end of the walk, a house had a plaque dedicated to Martha Gellhorn (1908- 1998) who had lived there. She was an American novelist, travel writer and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th C. She reported on most major world conflicts that took place over her 60- year career. She was also the third wife of Ernest Hemingway.

During the walk we had seen celandine (common name pilewort as the roots look like piles), primroses, daffodils and crocuses at the carpark. Before long we were at the nearest pub sampling delicious beer and tea. Walk 7m 1100ft. Map OL14.

Trebanogn

This was a bit of a surprise to most of us, Trebanog sits above Porth, and we parked there to avoid a 300ft climb. This was early April but as we got out of the cars a cold, keen wind cut into us, and we all added layers to our clothes. The surprise was the extent of the greenery up here given the large population of the valleys.

People had used stones from an old wall to create tall cairns in places. We could see the whole of Porth and even parts of the Rhondda valley. We were walking on old coal tips and found ewes with their lambs spread over a large area.

About half of us decided to add a little extra to the walk by climbing an easy short distance to a trig point. That was all very well but the steep descent through bracken was a challenge, and we were glad to get back to the rest of the group.

As we walked, Eleri a 13-year-old made up the plot for a story based on our journey, only time will tell whether it makes the pages of What’s On.

Many birds were spotted including the first swallows of the year, skylarks, buzzards, a kite, crows and ducks on a pond. We even saw another herd of llamas.

Drinks at the Cross Inn near Llantrisant rounded off the day nicely. Walk 7m 800ft Map OS166.

Lliw Reservoir

After a longish drive, more of us than usual, arrived at the lower Lliw reservoir, and were happy to see a café. The café has a handy leaflet describing local footpaths and points of interest.

The reservoir was built in 1867, following an 1859 cholera epidemic which gripped Swansea. The advent of clean water halved mortality rates in two years and Swansea was declared the third healthiest town in the UK. Nearly 30 years later the Upper Lliw reservoir was built, as the lower reservoir had always leaked. After over 100 years, in 1979, the dam for the lower reservoir was completely rebuilt so that the two combined now supply water across South Wales.

We walked across the dam and alongside the western side of the lower reservoir on a good tarmac path. At the head of the reservoir where an otter sculpture enthralled us, we crossed the River Lliw to continue north along the river, still on a good track, to arrive eventually at the Upper reservoir.

At an abandoned quarry a kite soared out and over us, so majestic. We watched a while as it dipped and soared at speed, soon out of sight. A gate at the Upper Lliw had a mechanism which took 5 padlocks, each with its own security code and able to release the lock – clever. Interesting, Victorian, metal and stone structures decorate the Upper Lliw, and wind turbines provide a modern backdrop.

Now we crossed the Upper dam and headed out onto wide open upland commons via a woodland. Even though it was the end of winter, we were surprised and pleased to find it relatively dry underfoot, though the moorland looked more like a desert than grassland. We found the first frog spawn of the year, including some tadpoles, in a brackish puddle with reedy grass. We also found a stone which marked the Gower Way – a long way from the Gower we thought! But the Gower way has 50 of these marker stones and extends from Penlle’r Castell to Rhosilli – a 56Km route. Up here the views are extensive as there are no trees. We spread out as we walked at our individual speeds, coming back together when we found rocks beside a path providing an ideal lunch stop.

The return involved a steepish descent through brown bracken which the children amongst us seemed to thoroughly enjoy whilst some of us were more tentative. We met the Cwm Ysgiath walk covering the lower Lliw reservoir and south, returning via Felindre. Now we followed a small section of our outward journey before returning on the eastern side of the Lower Lliw reservoir.

Back at the car park we looked at pieces of metal which looked like giant bath plugs but are valves which controlled the flow of water to Swansea from the reservoir.

This was a super walk with good paths and quite wild in places; as well as kites we saw corvids, larks and a couple of grebes. Tea and ice-cream in the café finished it off nicely. [Walk 7.5m 850ft. MapOS165]

Nuppend, Alvington

At Alvington, between Chepstow and the Forest of Dean, in England, we walked through Nuppend. The footpath went through a field with several tractors. The driver nearest us said ‘if you wait a few minutes, I will create a path for you to walk across’ How nice was that? We were happy to cross the few ditches to access the flattened path that stretched right across the field.

At Beanhill a sward of grass was full of bright daisies and crocuses. On farmland we stopped for a brief conversation, crossed a stream to a road, then found a courier had delivered a parcel to the top of the drive – possibly a box of wine but we resisted any inclination to check!

As we entered woodland. the footpath was devastated by the removal of trees felled by storm Darragh and forest thinning prioritising broadleaved trees. The going was heavy, but persevering, we came to a high wall (a bridge?) which we realised was originally a dam. We descended to the stream and climbed to a ridge covered in rhododendron and laurel bushes. After struggling to find the footpath we dropped onto it and things became easier.

The walk passed through woodland with many sweet chestnuts. We saw a shed full of calves, a handsome white-faced ram with ewes and palomino horses. Snowdrops, primroses, yellow comfrey, comfrey and coltsfoot were all spotted. At one point a basketball hoop stood at the side of the road, the traffic here must be very light.

The return route passed places with strange names: Rough Raging, Hanging wood, Upper and Lower Bargain wood, West Hunger Hill. The day was rounded off with drinks in a local hostelry, [Walk 7m 1040ft. Map OL14]