{"id":15385,"date":"2025-04-09T15:50:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T14:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15385"},"modified":"2025-04-09T15:59:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T14:59:59","slug":"15385","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15385","title":{"rendered":"Lliw Reservoir & Nuppend, Alvington"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

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

\n
\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 clever. Interesting, Victorian, metal and stone structures decorate the Upper Lliw, and wind turbines provide a modern backdrop.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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 \u2013 a long way from the Gower we thought! But the Gower way has 50 of these marker stones and extends from Penlle\u2019r 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a0Ysgiath 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 caf\u00e9 finished it off nicely. [Walk 7.5m 850ft. MapOS165]<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Nuppend, Alvington<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

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 \u2018if you wait a few minutes, I will create a path for you to walk across\u2019 How nice was that? We were happy to cross the few ditches to access the flattened path that stretched right across the field.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 possibly a box of wine but we resisted any inclination to check!<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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]<\/p>\n

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

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 Swansea. The advent of clean water halved mortality rates in […]<\/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":[38,421],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-15385","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14168,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14168","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":0},"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":9945,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9945","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":1},"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":4788,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4788","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":2},"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":10748,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10748","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":3},"title":"Llandegfedd Reservoir","author":"Alan Williams","date":"13th December 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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\/12\/Picture3w.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2442,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=2442","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":4},"title":"February Walk Programme","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd February 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 FEBRUARY WALKS \u00a0 Saturday 4th February -\u00a0Llandegfedd Reservoir. An 8 mile walk south of the reservoir. V\u2019Iain. (152) \u00a0 \u00a0 Saturday 11th February -\u00a0N.E. Pontypridd. Around 7\u00be miles Ian (166) \u00a0 \u00a0 Thurs 16th Feb:\u2013 Cardiff Bay About 6 miles of level walking on good paths. Bert \u00a0\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":11888,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11888","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":5},"title":"Bluebells at Wentwood and Brecon Beacons","author":"Alan Williams","date":"8th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Bluebells The appearance of the first spring flowers always has Wenvoe walkers thinking about the arrival of bluebells. Spring this year was cool and we enjoyed wood anemones, daffodils, primula etc. for longer than usual. Then the blue bells arrived. You can spot them in lots of places in Wenvoe\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\/07\/bouquet.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bouquet.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bouquet.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15385"}],"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=15385"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15388,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15385\/revisions\/15388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}