![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?w=860\")
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River Taff <\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n January and the start of February have made life difficult for walkers with lots of rain and boggy countryside. This walk was mostly firm underfoot taking in the Taff trail and an old railway. We parked Northwest of Merthyr Tydfil in Cwm Taf Fechan.<\/p>\n The beginning of the walk was along the Taff trail heading north and we were immediately impressed by the amount of water in the river as it powered along beside us. The area is quite rocky up here and the water tumbled and roared as it negotiated its path. Even streams coming down the hillside were in strong flow and created decent waterfalls. Dippers were spotted flying onto the rocks of the river. We all watched our step, as anyone going into that river would come a cropper. It was dramatic though and reminded me of a saying from the Chinese Tao Te Ching \u2018Nothing under heaven is softer or more yielding than water; but when it attacks things hard and resistant there is not one of them that can prevail.<\/p>\n A dead tree in an open area was covered in moss, lichen, ferns and fungi. Was it the amount of water in the atmosphere that sustained them? It was obvious that a lot of maintenance had been done on the steep banks at the side of the river, so we were more aware of the plants and even mineral deposits.<\/p>\n A footbridge took us over the river and almost straight away we were faced with a steep climb up from the river via an apparently unending flight of wooden steps. At the top we gained views of the surrounding area and the extent of a huge landslip.<\/p>\n Morlais castle came into view at the top of a nearby hill and there was an option to climb to the castle ruins. It was built around 1288 by Gilbert de Claire, Lord of Glamorgan who had already built Caerphilly castle. Humphrey de Bohun, Lord of Brecknock disputed de Claire\u2019s claim to the land and the battle of Maesvaynor ensued which Bohun won. In the 13thcentury it was briefly used as a stronghold by rebels in the fight for Welsh independence. Edward I destroyed parts of the castle to prevent it being used as a stronghold ever again. Today only the crypt and moat are recognisable. Surprisingly, no-one opted to do the climb but most of us had visited it in the past and probably didn\u2019t fancy tackling the muddy slopes up to it.<\/p>\n We were walking along an old railway and came to the platform at Pontsarn station. Pontsarn roughly means \u2018the bridge over the long road\u2019, the long road\u00a0being the Roman road from Gloucester to West Wales. Once a busy place on the Brecon & Merthyr railway with its own Station Master and Porter, today nature has reclaimed it, and it is quiet. From here we could see the spectacular Pontsarn viaduct, supported by seven stone arches it is 455ft long and 92ft high and built entirely of local limestone.<\/p>\n The viaduct is an historic listed structure and is within the Taf Fechan Nature reserve which has SSSI status for its ancient broadleaved woodlands. In the past the railway brought many people from the iron and coal industries of the South Wales valleys to enjoy this beautiful location. They were able to visit the Pavilion tea rooms and head down to the river under the arches of the viaduct to play games. Today when we arrived, we could observe the men toiling away to secure the hillside after the recent landslip and look over the sides at the river and land far below us.<\/p>\n Continuing we reached Morlais tunnel. In 1873, Dowlais was the western terminus of the London and Northwestern Railway\u2019s Abergavenny branch. The next objective was Merthyr Tydfil and the tunnel, 1037yards long and 80ft at its deepest, was created. Heavy engineering penetrated the hill, driving through limestone and millstone grit, with three shafts sunk to expedite progress. In 1876, Rees Jones \u2013 one of the sinkers working on the shafts \u2013 was found guilty of stealing two waistcoats off a washing line and sentenced to 21 days imprisonment with hard labour. The tunnel closed in 1958. Walls have been built across both entrances with access doors and ventilation holes. Half-a-dozen cars \u2013 now burnt out \u2013 were driven into the tunnel before it was secured.<\/p>\n We found an opening but due to the heavy rain of this winter it was flooded with several inches of water and, as we peered in, cold wet drips went down the back of our necks. Enough of a deterrent to put us off trying to enter.<\/p>\n The landscape altered now, and we walked alongside a rocky escarpment where we were dwarfed by the cliffs of Morlais quarry. We could see the viaduct below shrunk to the size of a normal bridge by the vast landscape around it. Now all we needed to do was follow a track downhill and across fields passing Welsh mountain cattle, back to the cars.<\/p>\n A brief journey took us to Cyfartha castle where we enjoyed refreshments.<\/p>\n Walk 6.2miles 500ft. Map OL12<\/p>\n <\/p>\n River Taff January and the start of February have made life difficult for walkers with lots of rain and boggy countryside. This walk was mostly firm underfoot taking in the Taff trail and an old railway. We parked Northwest of Merthyr Tydfil in Cwm Taf Fechan. The beginning of the walk was along the Taff trail heading north and we […]<\/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-3Fq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16682,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16682","url_meta":{"origin":14100,"position":0},"title":"Taff Trail and Morlais","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th February 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Taff Trail and Morlais Mud glorious mud! In my last article I commented that we had been lucky in January and had frosty clear days for our Saturday walks despite rain during the week. It couldn\u2019t last and twice we walked on Sunday for better weather. This was an exciting\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\/2026\/02\/Footsteps-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4335,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4335","url_meta":{"origin":14100,"position":1},"title":"Quakers Yard and Hendryd Falls","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th February 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Quakers Yard - Starting at Quakers Yard, until the 18th Century, known as Rhyd y Grug, \u2018the ford of the rustling waters\u2019, where the Bargoed Taff and Taff rivers meet. Its name changed when land was bequeathed to the Quaker movement for use as a burial ground or yard.\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":11589,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11589","url_meta":{"origin":14100,"position":2},"title":"Glamorgan Canal and Taff Trail","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"THURSDAY WALKERS \u00a0 Thurs May 19th, meet 1.00pm village hall for a walk along the Glamorgan canal and Taff Trail. About 5.5 miles. Mainly flat walking with good surface. Coffee shop to be included! Bert \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Valeways Walkers"","block_context":{"text":"Valeways Walkers","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=336"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16272,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16272","url_meta":{"origin":14100,"position":3},"title":"Talybont and Llanfeugan","author":"Alan Williams","date":"24th October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Talybont and Llanfeugan Talybont and Llanfeugan Parking in Talybont, where toilets and showers were available for a small fee, we set off along a section of the canal. The walk was taking in parts of the Taff trail, Usk Valley walk, and the Brecon and Monmouthshire canal. Henry Vaughan \u2018the\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\/10\/Footsteps-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6585,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6585","url_meta":{"origin":14100,"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":3035,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3035","url_meta":{"origin":14100,"position":5},"title":"March Walk Programme","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0MARCH WALKS \u00a0 SATURDAY 1ST APRIL -\u00a0Cwmparc, Treorchy. A 7\u00bd mile walk, \u00a0 \u00a0Ian. (166) \u00a0 \u00a0 THURSDAY 6TH APRIL -\u00a0Taff Trail. A circular walk based around the Taff Trail approx. 5 miles \u00a0Bert \u00a0 \u00a0 SATURDAY 8TH APRIL -\u00a0Llanvihangel and Llangattock Lincoed. 7 miles. \u00a0 \u00a0 Vian (OL13)\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14100"}],"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=14100"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14101,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14100\/revisions\/14101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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