I think we hit what’s called a weather-window. The fog and mist that had been around all Christmas had cleared and the Arctic air and snow forecast for the weekend hadn’t yet arrived.  Even the buses and trains all seemed to be running on time.  What could possibly go wrong?  One thing I hadn’t expected was that the path around the reservoir would be closed because of ice.  Fair play to the staff on duty though, they were carrying out regular inspections and opened the paths at the earliest ice-free opportunity.

We learnt about the history of the reservoirs and got some insider knowledge about some unusual birds visiting the water; American ring neck duck, black throated diver and a penguin (in the café). I particularly liked the colourful little grebes that kept diving and reappearing somewhere different.

We adapted our plans and took an early coffee break and as if my magic the path opened for us to start walking at noon. We kept in the sunshine on the upper path rather than venture down into the wood which would have been pretty soggy after all the recent rain. We did however have an opportunity to admire the work of the Ordnance Survey and specifically a river used for measuring height.  This one is 47.122m high.

Link to Notes used on the day.

Our day started with a treat for the train enthusiasts amongst us, a ride on a brand new 756 Class train, otherwise known as an electric-flirt.  We stopped for a bit longer than we were expecting at some of the stations on the way up to Pontypridd and couldn’t decide if this was a minor technical fault or because the train travelled so fast between stations it had to stop for longer to keep to the timetable.

The rain arrived somewhat earlier than forecast so we had one talk in the shelter of Pontypridd station, which at one stage used to be the longest platform in the world.  We donned our wet-weather gear and headed down into the town, pointing out the Ynysangharad War Memorial Park, unfortunately closed today as it recovers from the recent floods caused by Storm Bert.

A stop by the drinking fountain in Taff Street enabled us to learn about Lord Pontypidd, a local MP born in Cardiff.  There was also time to learn about a modern hero, Richard Parks, who after retiring from playing rugby became a renowned explorer, and climbed the highest mountain on each of the world’s seven continents and complete the Three Poles Challenge (N&S Pole & Everest) within seven months.

It was then down to see the lovely Pontypridd Museum, valiantly opened again after recent bad weather.  We received a warm welcome and viewed the wide range of exhibits including a tray decorated with a painting of the Old Bridge, donated by two of our members, Martyn & Janet Williams.

We walked over the Old Bridge, completed in 1756, which was for 70 years the longest single span stone bridge in Britain, and then up the steep hill to The Common.  At the far end of the Common we saw the Rocking Stone and discussed various meeting and ceremonies that had been held here including some by the eccentric and radical Dr William Price.

Pontypridd has no shortage of places to eat and drink. Many of our party found Pontypridd Market. We are still eating our way through the Welsh Cakes and Bara Brith.

Notes used on our trip to Pontypridd

It’s that time of year again when we tend to get a boost in people joining u3a so this trip was designed to cater for a larger group than normal without too many road crossings.  Lydney harbour was however also a risk as there was no real shelter so on a wet day would have been a bit of a struggle.  Luckily it was a dry but grey day. Unfortunately the trains were in a bit of a mess when most of us arrived at our various stations with loads of delays and cancellations.  Luckily things improved and our train left about 30 mins late just leaving one or two I think stranded at other stations and not able to join us.

Lydney harbour is about a mile walk from the station down a dismantled railway track.  As we neared the harbour we were met with a series of sculptures and views of the River Severn.  The history of the harbour itself is nicely laid out on information boards and in the little Information Centre next to the café.  And what a lovely little café Hips Harbourside is.

A lot of us then extended our days walk by going to do a circular stroll up onto the cliff top. We took in views of Naas House, home of William Jones in ~1600, who made a fortune as a haberdasher and whose wealth was used to create Monmouth School.  We also learnt how tragedy struck the Jones family a century later when Mary Jones was murdered on her way home after taking lunch at the rectory.  Her ghost is still seen periodically in the area.

They’ve done a good job of redeveloping the harbour to make it an interesting place to visit for the day.

Notes used on our Lydney trip.

Bright sunshine welcomed us to Bargoed.  No sooner had we arrived than we set off across the picturesque valley to Aberbargoed.  It must have looked so different here in the last century when the mines were open.  We had a brief stop at the bottom of the valley to welcome new members and talk aobut Alun Hoddinott, the composer who came from Bargoed and has a a hall named after him at the Millenium Centre.

In Aberbargoed we went to the Memorial Garden and heard about Glyndwr Michael, the man who was born here and helped change the course of WWII after he had tragically died homeless in London – ‘The Man Who Never Was’.  The events are depicted in the film/play/book Operation Mincemeat.

Back in Bargoed we had some lunch with many feasting in the New Continental, one of the few remaining genuine Italian Cafes in the valleys.

In the afternoon we admired the spectacular Pit Heads sculpture before going up the hill to Bargoed Park then wended our way back to town via the birthplace of poet John Tripp.   There was time to take in just one more sculpture, the Angel, before catching the train home.

Links to the notes I used on the day: Bargoed Notes and The Man Who Never Was.

A group of 35 of us headed up to Ebbw Vale on a damp September day where we were met at the station by Simon from the Ebbw Vale Works Museum. That was first for us – we’ve never had a personal welcome at a station before!  The group was divided into two with one half first visiting the Ebbw Vale Works Museum and the other the Gwent Archives before swopping over.

The Ebbw Vale Works Museum is well worth a visit. As well as being able to see artefacts from the two hundred years of iron and steel making in the town it was an opportunity chance to hear the personal testimonies from ex-steel workers themselves and have questions answered.

In the Gwent Archives Rhi gave us a tour told us not just all about the records stored but the whole process involved from when new items are received, often in poor condition, to being cleaned up, preserved, catalogued and stored. We also heard from Rhiannon, a conservationist, about some of the more challenging preservation tasks.

A ride on the cableway then took us up into the town centre for a quick look at some of the sculptures before seeking sustenance.  Some even stuck to the original plan of walking back down to Ebbw Vale Parkway station.

Ebbw Vale notes.

A short hop for us by train this month from Cardiff to Cogan.  From there we wended our way down through Penarth Marina looking at the various sculptures and mentioning a bit of history along the way. 

Once we’d arrived at the barrage some took time to grab a coffee or ice cream and others ventured down the narrow path to the beach and a look at the cliffs containing alabaster pink rock.

We reconvened after a break for an interesting talk from Gareth, the Principal Maintenance Engineer at the Barrage, who shared with us his years of experience and told us about the history and workings of the barrage.

At the end of Gareth’s talk we went to have a look at 3 Ellipses for 3 Locks by Swiss artist Felice Varini. Gwyn managed to capture this nice photo.

To finish the day we strode along the barrage and looked at the new wooden Flat Holm radio sculpture and then the Scott Expedition Exhibition. From there we made our way at our own pace back to Cardiff Bay and home.

Notes used for talks on the walk.

The fact it was a General Election day didn’t deter a group of us from heading west to explore Swansea on a fine but blustery day.

Our first stop was right outside the station where there is a blue plaque to musician Peter Ham of Badfinger. We talked briefly about some other people and the history of Swansea before heading down to the castle.  There we tried to imagine what the castle looked like in former times, much larger and guarding the nearby river.  Our attention was also drawn by the former Castle Cinema and the nearby sculpture, Leaf Boat by Amber Hiscott.

We then headed down towards the marina via the historic Wind Street, admiring the varied architecture and trying to pick out some buildings with historical connections.  A brief detour took us up Salubrious Passage and a bit of Dylan Thomas sculpture. 

Ted apologised for the talks not having the usual ‘untruths’ scattered among them, the reason being that in preparation for today he had discovered a family connection with Dylan Thomas which had diverted his time.  He has written it up in this article: My Dylan Thomas connection.

Once in the Marina area we visited the lovely Dylan Thomas museum.  Some then headed for the other museums in the area whilst others grabbed some sustenance.  Others may have caught a glimpse of the Captain Cat sculpture by Robert Thomas, the same sculptor that made the Miner and his Family in Llwynypia we saw last month.  After lunch we regrouped and walked over the new Copr Bridge back into the centre of Swansea and visited the market.  Some of us purchased some of the local delicacy, larverbread, made from seaweed.

Notes used on the day.

This was our first trip up the Rhondda Valley. We had a jovial guard on board our train who tried to convince me part of our party was pole dancing down the other end of the carriage.  We tumbled out at Llwynypia station and headed slowly down the valley towards Tonypandy.  After admiring the outdoor men’s convenience (there can’t be many of these left in existence) we headed for our first stop, the Robert Thomas sculpture of a coal miner and his family unveiled in 1993 by George Thomas, Rt Hon Viscount Tonypandy. We spoke about the link with Cardiff and how there is a collection of Robert Thomas sculptures in Queen Street including Nye Bevan.

Our next stop was the statue of the Scottish mine owner and engineer Archibald Hood who had 6 pits employing 3500 workmen.  He seems to have been more highly thought of than some other pit owners in the valleys. May be the houses and facilities he built for his workers were of a better standard than neighbouring areas.

In Tonypandy we spoke about the riots of 1910, what bought them about and how they were dealt with and how Churchill is not necessarily seen in good light in this valley even today.

Many of the party then headed up the side valley to Cwm Clydach Country Park, some by bus and some walked up the steep hill. An enthusiastic bus driver took the bus party somewhat further up the valley than I was expecting but looking on the positive side, at least we didn’t all arrive in the café at the same time. It was a lovely day for walking around the lakes reflecting what life would have looked like up here a century previously.

Link to notes used on the day.

Chepstow has a fine castle that we were privileged to visit but it has a lot more too. 

Our walking route from the railway station took us up to the top of the town taking in Sammy the Seal, the history mosaics outside Tesco, the Portwall, the blue plaque for Dambuster pilot Bill Townsend and even a plaque for the town’s favourite cat Alfie.

We could now relax and start the downhill section, past the historic George pub and under the town gate rebuilt in 1609 by Margaret Clayton where she used to hide the pub takings for safety.  The centre of town was redeveloped some 20 years ago to include some interesting sculptures which we discussed and saw the memorial to William Williams VC. After all that it was time for a coffee break.

We ambled downhill, along Bridge Street admiring the door knockers and window decorations and ended up on the 1816 bridge that spans the Wales-England border with good views back towards the castle cliffs. To finish off the morning we learnt about the history of the river, and the fact that the Chartist prisoners arrested in Newport were deported from here to Tasmania (tying in nicely with our Newport trip). We even saw the baked potato sculpture celebrating 10 years of the Wales Coastal path.

After another break we headed to the castle meeting by Rubin Eynon’s tactile model and into the castle.  We shared some words about the castle’s main events over the centuries and then had a walk around the grounds.  It’s an impressive structure that’s for sure. I loved seeing the old original doors, so well preserved. It was an overcast and completely still day – as someone said, Turner would have loved it for painting.

Walking back to the station, some took the direct route whilst others had a look inside St Mary’s Priory and found the ornate tomb of Margaret Clayton.

Click here to see notes used for our visit.

A day by the seaside taking in the history and atmosphere of the Barry Island. The island is certainly unusual in that it had Barry Docks to the north exporting huge amounts of coal and the resort of Barry Island to the south which quickly expanded when the railway and road over to the island were built from the mainland.

After admiring the Grade II listed gates of Friar’s Point House we spent the morning on Friar’s Point itself initally taking a look over to Cold Knap and then Friar’s Point House. The house itself has a lot of history but not nearly as much as the point itself though there is not much evidence of that these days. Walking to the east side of Friar’s Point we had good views across Whitmore Bay and where the open-air tidal swimming pools would have been (separate male and female bathing in those days ofcouse). Descending onto the beach allowed us to see the interesting rock formations. By that time we deserved a coffee or an early lunch. Chips and ice cream were devoured by many.

After lunch we headed around Nell’s Point and into the much quieter Jackson’s Bay where there was chance to walk off our chips in the steep ascent up to the road. The tour finished with a look at St Baruc’s Chapel and the story of the gigantic salmon that ate the missing book.

Amazingly it stayed pretty much dry for us despite an unsettled weather forecast.

Click here to see the notes used on the day.