{"id":13214,"date":"2023-07-03T12:55:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T11:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13214"},"modified":"2023-07-03T13:21:07","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T12:21:07","slug":"footsteps-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13214","title":{"rendered":"FOOTSTEPS"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

FOOTSTEPS<\/p>\n

Clydach Vale
\nClydach Vale is a village adjoining Tonypandy in the
\nRhondda valley. It is named after Nant Clydach, a
\ntributary of the river Rhondda.
\nIt was a warm day and we were planning to walk in
\nthe woodland surrounding the Clydach Vale Country
\nPark, which has been created in the old mining area.
\nThere are low level footpaths and two lakes to
\nexplore, on Saturday morning it was very popular.
\nWe parked and set off along the
\nshore of a lake which had a good
\nnumber of waterfowl swimming
\naround and one chunky bodied
\none with a red wattled face, but I
\nhave no idea what it was. As we
\nmoved along the shore, we could
\nsee a cafe with outside seats
\nperched on the edge of the lake
\nand started planning our
\nrefreshments after the walk.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nAt the end of the lake, we
\nmoved onto a footpath leading
\ninto the woods, leaving the bustle of the lake area
\nbehind. And yes, as planned we had the shade of the
\ntrees, with occasional breaks in the shrubbery
\nallowing us to see the village spread out below us.
\nYellow gorse bushes shone across the area and even
\none yellow rhododendron. It was not long before we
\nfound that the footpaths we expected were gone and
\nreplaced by wide gravel paths. These had been
\ncreated as wind turbines have been put at the top of
\nthe hill and we were now walking the access roads.
\nTrees had been felled in the process so we no longer
\nhad shade but one advantage was that we had
\nextensive views across the valley.
\nArriving at a trig point we found a huge cairn, about
\n6ft high, next to it. At first, we thought it might have
\nbeen built as an animal shelter but there were no
\nobvious openings. We stood here a while and looked
\nat the vast number of turbines
\nand were very pleased to note
\nthat they were turning even if
\nit was with reduced output due
\nto the light wind speed! We
\nwere walking along Mynydd
\nWilliam Meyrick, a hill
\nstraddling the boundary
\nbetween Bridgend and
\nRhondda Fawr. To the west
\nwas open moorland whilst the
\narea we were walking was
\nmostly woodland but with
\nviews.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nBehind us we spotted Tylorstown tip in the distance,
\na wedge of a hill which is easily identified. In
\nFebruary 2020, after several other winter storms,
\nStorm Dennis precipitated a landslip on the
\nLlanwonno side of the tip. This blocked the river
\nvalley, broke a foul sewer, covered a strategic water
\nmain in several metres of debris, and covered a
\nfootpath and cycle path. The area was closed to members of the public to ensure safety
\nimmediately. The hillside has been
\nreinforced and new footpaths and cycle
\npaths created, and new receptor sites created to
\nreduce the impact should further storms hit
\nTylorstown.
\nWe headed into the shade of fir trees for a lunch
\nbreak and were soon surrounded by insects, so most
\nof us retreated to the edge of the path. When we
\nresumed we were walking past
\ntall firs with bare trunks for
\nmost of their height. The lower
\nbranches obviously dropped
\nwhen they were surrounded by
\nother trees but the creation of
\nthe roadway for the wind
\nturbines had taken out the
\nprotecting trees on the edge of
\nthe wood.
\nWe turned back down the valley,
\nlosing height quite quickly and
\nas we dropped lower the
\ntemperature rose. We spotted a rose and a
\nchaenomeles (Japanese flowering quince) but the
\nskies had been very quiet all day, apart from one
\nbuzzard the only birds we had seen were at the lake.
\nNow approaching Clydach Vale again we could see
\nbelow us a sports field. Someone said that this was
\nwhere handball was invented. A little research has
\nrevealed that the native games developed in Wales
\nshare a Celtic heritage with sports in Cornwall,
\nScotland and Ireland. A number of sports are
\nrecorded, including variations of \u2018village football\u2019,
\n\u2018bat and ball\u2019, and \u2018hand ball\u2019 games. The most
\nprominent native sports to survive into modern
\nWelsh history are Cnapan, Bando and Pel-Llaw.
\nWelsh handball, more commonly known as \u2018Pel-
\nLlaw\u2019, is related to Irish handball, Fives, Basque
\npelota and later American
\nhandball and has been
\ncontinually played since the
\nMiddle Ages. The sport\u2019s
\npopularity offered ordinary
\npeople opportunities through
\nprize- money, bookkeeping
\nand even player
\nprofessionalism. Pel-Llaw
\nhas been described as \u2018Wales
\nfirst national sport\u2019.
\nAt the end of the walk we
\nwent to the cafe on the lake
\nfor tea\/ beer\/ ice cream and
\nenjoyed a well earned rest. There is a large display
\nboard with a map of Rhondda showing all the
\nmining tunnels underground, a fascinating picture
\nwhich makes you realise that the Rhondda is like a
\nhuge sieve and there is a tunnel below you almost
\nwherever you go.Walk 7m 1100ft Map OS166
\n[Footsteps walk routes and map are available by
\ncontacting the editors]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  FOOTSTEPS Clydach Vale Clydach Vale is a village adjoining Tonypandy in the Rhondda valley. It is named after Nant Clydach, a tributary of the river Rhondda. It was a warm day and we were planning to walk in the woodland surrounding the Clydach Vale Country Park, which has been created in the old mining area. There are low level […]<\/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":false,"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-3r8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5534,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5534","url_meta":{"origin":13214,"position":0},"title":"Cwm Clydach and The Swansea Canal","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st January 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On a sunny morning in late October, we parked in Clydach and we walked east along the Swansea canal, with reflections of trees in its still waters. The canal was built to serve collieries, iron works and copper works in the Tawe valley. The first section opened in 1796; its\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\/01\/IMG_9072.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3799,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3799","url_meta":{"origin":13214,"position":1},"title":"October Walks Programme","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th September 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Saturday 7th October Goytre Warf and the Holy Well. A 7 mile walk. V\u2019Iain (152 & OL13)) \uf076\uf020\uf076\uf020\uf076\uf020\uf076\uf020\uf076 Saturday 12th October Barry \u2013 a circular walk based around Barry. Approx. 5 miles. Bert. \uf076\uf020\uf076\uf020\uf076\uf020\uf076\uf020\uf076 Saturday 14th October Cwm Clydach and Swansea Canal. A fairly level 8 mile walk. Ian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Walking Group"","block_context":{"text":"Walking Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4207,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4207","url_meta":{"origin":13214,"position":2},"title":"Wildlife Group AGM","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th January 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 A good turnout of 29 attended the Wildlife Group AGM in January. It is encouraging that so many residents are willing to turn out to ensure we have a quorum when other much larger groups often fail to get this level of support. 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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":[]},{"id":5546,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5546","url_meta":{"origin":13214,"position":4},"title":"What Else Happened On St David’s Day?","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON ST DAVID'S DAY? March1st is arguably the most widely known and important day in Welsh history and culture. Across the country we mark the death of St David, patron saint of Wales, who died on 1st March in 589 AD. Most celebrations take traditional forms, such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/goons.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7160,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7160","url_meta":{"origin":13214,"position":5},"title":"Barry","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Barry The forecast was that Storm Brian was going to blow hard with intermittent heavy showers. Still 13 brave souls set out from Cold Knap and quickly moved down to the lake to seek shelter from the wind. Many seabirds had the same idea and we even saw a black\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\/Feb2020WhatsOn-Pic-3-300x201.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13214"}],"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=13214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13231,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13214\/revisions\/13231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}