{"id":13055,"date":"2023-03-15T00:37:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T23:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13055"},"modified":"2023-03-15T00:47:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T23:47:38","slug":"13055","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13055","title":{"rendered":"Glamorgan Coast and Abercarn"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0Glamorgan Coast <\/b><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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We parked near the Plough and Harrow Inn and walked straight across a sodden field towards Broughton. We wended our way to Monkton and across farmland towards the coast. Some of the fields were muddy and we soon had great clarts of mud on our boots making our feet heavy. Foot stamping and dragging feet through long grass cleaned boots as there were no puddles!<\/p>\n

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There was no wind, the air unusually still, and it was eerily quiet. Far off to the west we spotted a Murmuration. Joining the coast at St Donats, we turned towards Nash Point. We sat on rocks outside Atlantic College and stared out to sea eating our lunch. Someone spotted two heads in the water coming towards us and then carrying on across the bay. They stayed together and we could not identify them. People at the coast watch centre said, \u2018great black backed gulls.\u2019<\/p>\n

At Nash Point we descended into the valley and a couple of peregrines took off as we arrived. It was high tide, so we kept to the cliff tops. There was not a ripple on the sea. The path inland at Monknash was slippery from heavy rain during the week. At the old mill the stream was full and the tufa quite spectacular.<\/p>\n

The volume of water in a stream made some of us reticent to cross the top of a small waterfall but we did. The trees beside the stream were old and gnarled from the wind and their roots a foot or more above the earth A large horse followed us across a field, and we passed the remains of a mill, whose roof was replaced by a wacky hairdo of ivy.<\/p>\n

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Back at the Plough and Harrow, the Barry Male Voice choir, having a social lunch, burst into song as we waited to be served. With the roaring fire and Real ale to drink, what a great atmosphere to end a lovely walk.<\/p>\n

Walk 6.6m 400ft Map OS151<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0Abercarn<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Abercarn is in the Ebbw valley and driving towards a parking area, we passed a huge church, St Luke\u2019s iron church. According to a foundation stone, it was built in 1923. It became redundant due to a dwindling congregation in the 1980s and although it is grade II listed it is now derelict (but in the care of Cadw?). Looking at photographs on the internet you can see that it was once a truly impressive church. Its architect was J. Coates Carter who was born in Norwich and is notable for his design and restoration of churches in S. Wales (including Llandaff cathedral and the Paget Rooms in Penarth). It is not clear who commissioned it, but it could be a Crawshay as they owned an estate in Abercarn. It is early gothic style with slim cast iron columns.<\/p>\n

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( See More Photos of Church https:\/\/www.28dayslater.co.uk\/threads\/st-lukes-church-abercarn-south-wales-12-08-08.35494\/<\/a> )<\/p>\n

We set off downhill through leaf strewn woodland to running water, Nant Gwyddon, crossed a bridge and reaching the other side started climbing. We walked through mixed woodland accompanied by almost incessant bird song, it was mild, so Spring was in the air!<\/p>\n

As we climbed the trees seemed to be older and the path was edged by beeches towering above us. Along an old hedge-line tree branches intertwined as they reached skyward. Roots penetrated old boundary walls and trees and stones were clothed in green moss with the roots clinging to the hillside.<\/p>\n

Coming out onto open access land with open moorland, we could see the Pen y Fan area wreathed in cloud with Corn Ddu clearly visible in the distance. We kept looking at the scudding clouds in the hope that we would see the whole range and just before we arrived at woodland they cleared, and Pen y Fan peeped out of the cloud.<\/p>\n

All the paths were good and flat underfoot but there was a fair amount of climbing so we waited until we were at the top of our climb before, we stopped for lunch on the wild moors. As soon as we stopped three scrambler bikes came past us and another two passed as we ate.<\/p>\n

Resuming we started to descend, climbing over a fence and then a few trees blocking the path (felled to deter motor bikes). This wood was a fir plantation and as we emerged from the trees we could see vast swathes of land stripped of its tree cover by the forestry workers and evidence of erosion.. We spotted frog spawn in a pool, long catkins and tiny red flowers on a hazel, and fungi growing on a dark tree trunk and several sheep\u2019s skulls.<\/p>\n

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The paths throughout the walk were in good condition, so we were able to stride out on the descent and we didn\u2019t need to climb a single stile. Wonderful.<\/p>\n

Walk 7.75m 1400ft Map OS152<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Glamorgan Coast We parked near the Plough and Harrow Inn and walked straight across a sodden field towards Broughton. We wended our way to Monkton and across farmland towards the coast. Some of the fields were muddy and we soon had great clarts of mud on our boots making our feet heavy. Foot stamping and dragging feet through long grass […]<\/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\/s6cWjO-13055","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6814,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6814","url_meta":{"origin":13055,"position":0},"title":"Ogmore to Monknash","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th December 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Ogmore to Monknash We parked at Monknash and caught the No. 303 bus to Ogmore. We were to begin our walk just above the estuary of the river Ogmore and travel back along the Heritage coast to Monknash. Walking down to the car park we looked towards Porthcawl, heavy clouds\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\/2019\/12\/Picture15.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14759,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14759","url_meta":{"origin":13055,"position":1},"title":"Monknash Coastguard Rocket House","author":"Alan Williams","date":"4th October 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"MONKNASH COASTGUARD ROCKET HOUSE \u00a0 Just inland from the top of a precipitous Heritage Coast cliff near the village of Marcross in the Vale of Glamorgan there stands a small stone building with an almost semicircular stone flagged roof. One end of this building is completely open and faces the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Picture10.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9019,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9019","url_meta":{"origin":13055,"position":2},"title":"Ogmore by Sea Walk","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st January 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Ogmore We walked in the Ogmore area several times last year, using the Vale Trails leaflet no.1 \u2018Ogmore by Sea Walk\u2019 as a basis for our routes and starting from St Brides Major. From here we walked past St Bridget\u2019s Church and were soon on footpaths leading onto Ogmore Down.\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\/01\/Picture2a.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7284,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7284","url_meta":{"origin":13055,"position":3},"title":"Kenfig Walk","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Kenfig became a National Nature Reserve in 1989 and an SSSI in 1950s. Inland from the beach is a complex landscape of dunes and wetlands covering about 1300 acres. It is home to many rare species of plants, insects, birds and animals. Kenfig is one of the wettest dune systems\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\/2020\/02\/IMG_1716-2002-kenfig.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_1716-2002-kenfig.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_1716-2002-kenfig.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6585,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6585","url_meta":{"origin":13055,"position":4},"title":"Hailey Park","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th September 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Hailey Park On a warm and sunny day 19 people set off from Hailey Park in North Llandaff. We walked north along the River Taff to the Melingriffith Water Pump, where a feeder and canal run parallel to the River Taff. The pump was installed circa 1800 for Glamorgan canal\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\/2019\/09\/Pic-05.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13559,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13559","url_meta":{"origin":13055,"position":5},"title":"A SPECIAL DAY","author":"Alan Williams","date":"4th September 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0A Special Day \u00a0 A Special Day As regular readers will know I have missed the Saturday walks for quite a few weeks, but we were all together in mid-August to celebrate the wedding of Claire, the youngest member of our group. A few of us took short walks around\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\/2023\/08\/Picture9.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13055"}],"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=13055"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13066,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13055\/revisions\/13066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}