{"id":10748,"date":"2021-12-13T10:25:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T09:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10748"},"modified":"2021-12-13T10:25:48","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T09:25:48","slug":"llandegfedd-reservoir-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10748","title":{"rendered":"Llandegfedd Reservoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Llandegfedd Reservoir<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Llandegfedd lake is a large reservoir, constructed in the early 1960s by Cardiff Corporation to provide drinking water to the rapidly growing city. It is now owned by Welsh Water and the lake is a haven for birds, wildlife, walkers and water sport enthusiasts. It is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its value to overwintering wildfowl. The longer walks around the lake are only open between March and September, though there are short walks of 1 mile or so available all year. Other activities include archery, clay shooting and a recently added mini golf course.<\/p>\n

We started at the large carpark at the reservoir. We walked away from the lake, our route going south to Llandegfedd village before heading generally north, but to the east of our outward route, to return to the lake near Coed y Paen.<\/p>\n

As we crossed the dam, several skeins of Canada geese came flying to the reservoir. We saw three groups of at least 30 geese each time, causing us to stop and admire them.<\/p>\n

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We headed into the woods above the pumping station and started climbing. The paths were in a poor state of repair but\u2026at least it was dry so we could walk them. In wet weather it would have been difficult.<\/p>\n

We walked through a brown carpet of autumn leaves, dotted in places with the bright green of fallen apples, and across wide open fields. On reaching a stream, crossing it proved impossible, so we took an alternative path along the stream. We found a herd of cows standing along the bank, as if trying to reach the water, even though the bank was too steep. Yet not far away there was easy access – what were they playing at? A sign warned us that a bridge was unusable, but we decided to take a chance on being able to cross the stream.<\/p>\n

Soon we arrived at a very tidy Walnut Tree farm; a large area of grass in front of the house had statues of deer and a flock of pheasants, some taking to the air as we approached. Our path took us into a field where a large ram wore a bag of dye strapped to his front to mark any ewes he serviced. And there ahead of us was a brand new sturdy bridge which looked like it had only just been completed. Excellent!<\/p>\n

Walking through a wood some white fungi, growing on the limb of a tree, glowed in the dim light.<\/p>\n

We passed through Llandegfedd village and the Farmers Arms pub. A little further and we met cattle bunched together in a well-trodden field, next to which there was a huge tank of slurry with its \u2018delicious\u2019 smell and a couple of silage clamps. We walked through there quickly.<\/p>\n

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We entered a path which had road signs at the beginning – <\/strong>clearway, 30mph limit, beware cattle and another warning \u2018Unsuitable for Access\u2019. Well, it started as a green lane! And soon deteriorated into a gully, all the soil having been washed away so there was only rock at the bottom with steep sides which were 4ft high in places, with, of course, the autumnal growth of nettles and brambles. We emerged near a large cattleshed, the last person being about 15 minutes behind the leaders \u2013 that\u2019s how difficult it was.<\/p>\n

We found a spot to eat our lunch after this exciting episode; and decided to give the next hill a miss, taking a level route back to Llandegfedd reservoir and adding about a mile to the walk.<\/p>\n

At The Forest, I was surprised to see eucalyptus trees growing. We spotted signs for Coed y Paen and Prescoed prison (a category C prison for vulnerable prisoners which has been a Borstal in the past). We also saw a healthy-looking herd of pedigree Holstein cows belonged to Cilwrgi farm, part of the prison. They also have a sawmill, woodlands and workshops and there was a sign for an SSSI on their land.<\/p>\n

Entering a field, we found a lone \u2018mad\u2019 cow, running towards us like a bucking bronco, getting close and then staring hard with wild eyes. We waved our walking poles to get it to move away \u2013 it ran across the whole field before turning to come back but we had hurried on and exited the field. Why was it by itself and what was wrong with it? And no, it was not a bull!<\/p>\n

A short walk along a wooded lane brought us back to Llandegfedd lake, and we were soon supping drinks at the Visitor Centre caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

We have done this walk in the past with no problems but some footpaths were not maintained. In the Vale of Glamorgan, we are fortunate that the Walk and Clear volunteers from Valeways work hard to keep footpaths open. Thank you to all the Valeways volunteers. Walk 7 miles, 1100ft. Map 152.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Llandegfedd Reservoir Llandegfedd lake is a large reservoir, constructed in the early 1960s by Cardiff Corporation to provide drinking water to the rapidly growing city. It is now owned by Welsh Water and the lake is a haven for birds, wildlife, walkers and water sport enthusiasts. It is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its value […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2Nm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4788,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4788","url_meta":{"origin":10748,"position":0},"title":"Llandegfedd Reservoir","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th June 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 It was a bright, sunny morning as we parked at the visitor and watersports centre in Coed y Paen near Pontypool and Usk, just a few miles north of Newport. Our walk was to follow \u2018the Reservoir Trail\u2019 which circumnavigates Llandegfedd reservoir. The route is possible because Welsh Water\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11721,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11721","url_meta":{"origin":10748,"position":1},"title":"Upper Cwmbran","author":"Alan Williams","date":"4th June 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Upper Cwmbran We parked in Upper Cwmbran, climbing to The Square, which has stone cottages arranged in a square with one side open to the countryside. There was a public house \u2018The Squirrel\u2019 which had a school, on the upper floor, for local children. The bus terminus was the site\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Picture4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15385,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15385","url_meta":{"origin":10748,"position":2},"title":"Lliw Reservoir & Nuppend, Alvington","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Lliw Reservoir After a longish drive, more of us than usual, arrived at the lower Lliw reservoir, and were happy to see a caf\u00e9. The caf\u00e9 has a handy leaflet describing local footpaths and points of interest. The reservoir was built in 1867, following an 1859 cholera epidemic which gripped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Picture5.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9945,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9945","url_meta":{"origin":10748,"position":3},"title":"Pontiscill\/ Taf Fechan","author":"Alan Williams","date":"12th July 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Pontiscill\/ Taf Fechan This is a walk planned for last autumn but abandoned, due to a landslide (still in evidence all these months later). This time the road was open but as we passed Pontiscill reservoir a large coach came in the opposite direction and our convoy had to back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Picture18.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Picture18.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Picture18.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Picture18.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14168,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14168","url_meta":{"origin":10748,"position":4},"title":"Llwyn Onn Reservoir and Taibach","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Llwyn Onn Reservoir and Taibach \u00a0 Llwyn Onn Reservoir Driving to the start of this walk, at the beginning of March, the weather was changeable, rain, sleet and hail and we could see snow on the tops of some hills. On arrival at the Garwnant Visitor centre at Llwyn Onn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3237,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3237","url_meta":{"origin":10748,"position":5},"title":"April Walks","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st May 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Margam Park:- We parked next to the lake just outside Margam Park and made our way along the main track towards the deer park. Marshals stood near a stream, there was a run across the park and the runners were expected to go through this stream not once but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10748"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10748"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10753,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10748\/revisions\/10753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}