For this month’s walk, Ludo and I headed off to the beautiful Dyffryn Crawnon valley.
Click on the image for a larger version
If you’re a fan of Tolkienesque woods, and don’t suffer from vertigo too much, this is a great walk! However, there are some very steep drops and a lot of uneven ground so I wouldn’t recommend it to novice walkers or indeed in wet weather. Be sure to wear stout walking boots too.
The walk is just under 4 miles long.
To Get There
From the Red Lion pub in Llangynidr, follow Duffryn Road up and out of the village. Continue down the Dyffryn Crawnon valley for about 4 miles. The walk begins at a gate to a bridleway beside Pyrgad farm, where a small stream (the Nant Pyrgad) meets the road. There isn’t a great deal of space to park here and you must be careful not to block the narrow road or hinder any farm traffic. You can always park further up or down the lane if there’s no room here.
Google Map
This map is centred on the walk start
Directions
1
Go through the gate and follow the track up hill. The bridleway enters the woods and climbs fairly steeply. Look out for the small waterfall on the way (a).
2
The track leaves the wood and goes through a gate. Once the trees on the right end, you can turn right and cut across and up to join a wide roadway. There is actually a stile and footpath through the wood that cuts the corner off, but it looked a bit dank and unpleasant in there! Alternatively, just stick to the track, and it will reach the roadway.
3
When you reach the road, turn right (West) and walk a short way along the roadway to where a bridleway branches off to the right. Look out for the Aneurin Bevan heritage trail plaque here, but be careful on the road; it is used by large quarry trucks.
4
Follow the bridleway as it skirts the edge of the woods below. When you find yourself facing Trefil quarry works, the track splits. If you’d like a quick look at the old works, the left hand track will take you back up to the road and an impressive cutting that the road goes through (b). However, I wouldn’t recommend going any further than this, as the area is quite dangerous. The right hand track continues to skirt the edge of the steeply bowled end of the the Dyffryn Crawnon valley. Look out for old lime kilns on the left.
5
When you reach a wooden footbridge, cross it and continue through the gate. The bridleway nominally continues, but horse riders and cyclists are advised not to use it; and you’ll see why; it is very narrow in places with very steep drops to the right. Be very careful! Continue along the path and over a stile.
6
Cross a small stream (dried up when we went) and continue for about a third of a mile to another wooden gate. Immediately after this gate, our route goes sharp right, downhill into the woods – but you may want to continue on another couple of hundred metres to a view down the valley from where the Nant Ddu crosses the path (c) – If so, have a look and then head back to the gate.
7
Take the path down into the woods. After a short way, the path hairpins back left until it reaches the Nant Ddu, then it sharply turns right again. The forest floor here is covered thickly with moss and is really quite beautiful. A blue waymark on a wooden post will reassure you that you are going the right way.
8
When the path branches, a yellow waymark points straight on and blue points downhill to the left. Follow the blue waymark.
9
The path abruptly stops as a wide logging track cuts across it. This is a new track and didn’t appear on the OS map. I couldn’t see where the proper footpath continued on the other side of the track, (but if you can – by all means, follow it) so I turned right onto the track and followed it to the end where a small brook passes underneath the track.
10
Where the track ends, you will see a grassy bank ahead, with a wire fence running along it. Climb onto the bank and follow the fence downhill, alongside the stream.
11
When you reach a small wooden footbridge (this is presumably where the proper path arrives), turn to your right and go over the stile there.
12
Follow the walled footpath along the edge of a field and then through 90 degrees and along the valley. Go through a metal gate and then through 3 wooden ones (the last two in quick succession)
13
Follow the lane past the buildings at Cefn-crug and on to where you started at Pyrgad Farm.