In which The Author and his friends are redrawing their plans
I told you a few weeks ago that a gang of us from Jacs were planning a sponsored walk in aid of the excellent Anthony Nolan charity. Well, believe it or not, we still are planning it.
By now, if everything had gone in our favour, we'd be on the way to Penderyn by bus. From there, we were going to strike out on the Cynon Trail to Hirwaun, down the Old Mineral Line. From Hirwaun to Trecynon we were going to follow the tramroad, behind Penywaun and past Gelli Isaf. Passing the Iron Bridge en route, we'd go along the Feeder (an old canal path, hence the name), cross the railway into Robertstown, and arrive at the Gadlys Arms in time for a livener. The Cynon Trail continues across the river, follows the east bank into Aberdare, and emerges just behind the college. We were going to cross the road and head through the Ynys, past the new school and the playing fields, to emerge near the head of the Aberdare Canal. The canal path would take us to the top end of Cwmbach, where we were going to leave the Cynon Trail and walk to the high point of the village. From there, we'd take the 'parish road' over the top into Cefnpennar, drop down through the village into Mountain Ash, and pick up the Cynon Trail near the indoor bowls centre. From there, it's an easy stroll down the Cynon Trail to the Pontcynon Industrial Estate, passing below Penrhiwceiber and Ynysboeth on the way. A slight wiggle takes us to Abercynon Sports Centre, where it's a straight walk through to River Row. From there, it's only a short distance to the Navigation pub. It's about 200 m short of 25 km, and shouldn't present any great challenges (apart from the climb to Cefnpennar, which isn't for the faint-hearted).
Well, that was the plan.
Needless to say, the Goddess of Chaos had her own opinion on matters.
On Thursday the heavens opened as the tail end of the Atlantic weather system battered the western part of the British Isles. Which is where we are, needless to say. I spent Thursday evening in the Cross Inn, drawing up an alternative route to take account of the downpour. The canal path will probably be underwater until at least Easter, so I ruled that out straight away. Meanwhile, Cefnpennar Road (someone in the past generously described it as 'a road' and the name stuck) would be little more than a sloping riverbed. I ruled those out immediately, and sketched a new itinerary taking us down the B4275 ('the old road') from Aberdare to Mountain Ash, passing through Aberaman and Abercwmboi. I also trimmed off the part between Penderyn and Hirwaun. I was reluctant to do that, because it's a beautiful walk through woodland and with farm fields dotted throughout. Unfortunately, there's one part that never seems to dry out properly, no matter how much or how little rain we've had. After Thursday night we'd have been calf-deep in heavy mud, so it was a non-starter. That took us down to 20 km, which is still a fair walk.
I was able to do this without much effort, because in the last decade or so I've walked pretty much every highway, byway, backstreet, country lane, dedicated footpath and blind alley in the Cynon Valley. Initially my explorations gave rise to the first batch of the Vanishing Valleys photographic archive. More recently I was scoping out possible routes for the Arthur Linton commemorative cycling event. I think I've found parts of the valley some people don't even know exist. So my alternative route was easy to sketch out on paper, and then flesh out with Mapometer on Friday.
My boots had left it until then to start shipping water, which is why you'd have found me in Lidl at 10.00, sifting through their walking boots until I found a pair in my size. (They were a real bargain at £16.99, and well worth the money.) Yesterday we had blue sky all day, which gave me an excuse to try out my new boots on part of the Cynon Trail. Eggy had messaged me to say that the Cynon Trail was 'impassable' because a tree had fallen across the path at Penywaun. I decided to investigate it for myself.
The river was still running fast, but it wasn't as high as I'd expected. Even so, you can get an idea of how fierce it had been on Thursday when you see the flattened vegetation in this photo.
A couple of cyclists passed me, heading the other way, so the path obviously wasn't 'impassable' to bicycles. I kept walking, stopping every so often to check out the river some distance below me. The road isn't a through road, but you can drive as far as Riverside, a large detached house which used to be a boarding kennels. It's well made and drains efficiently, so I didn't encounter any large puddles on the way. I passed Gamlyn Farm, and then started walking behind the Penywaun estate. It didn't take me long to find the fallen tree Eggy had told me about.
I was able to duck under the tree quite easily. You could probably wheel your bike underneath it and get through that way. But cars were clearly not going to be able to pass it. (On the approach to Hirwaun I met a middle-aged couple with a disabled young lady in a wheelchair. I asked them how far they were planning to go, as they'd have been up against a serious obstacle.)
In Hirwaun itself I made my way to the old station and walked along the Old Mineral Line as far as the swamp. There was no way anyone was going to get through it on foot. On horseback, maybe. But it seemed as though trimming that part off the walk was a sensible idea.
I returned to Aberdare (by bus) and went to Jacs to report my findings. Paul had seen the weather forecast in the meantime. In brief, we could look forward to a repeat of Thursday, starting earlier in the day. Consider that we'd had blue sky all day yesterday, and you'll see why planning any outdoor activity in Wales is such a fucking gamble. I'm in Aberdare Library at the moment, listening to the rain bouncing off the roof, and reflecting that we did the sensible thing.
Which leaves us with next weekend. Eggy can't make it because he'll be at a wedding. Jude is doubtful because she's injured at the moment. Liam should be up for it whatever happens. It's Rhian's weekend off, so she should be in as well. The rest of the Jacs gang will be available on Saturday. And that brings us to James's brilliant suggestion, which Paul relayed to me last night.
Instead of setting off at lunchtime, James asked, why don't we set off at about 8.00 a.m.? It'll give us a good start in the morning, and by the time the pubs open we'll be ready for a breather and some liquid refreshment. It also means that we'll be finished by mid-afternoon, thus freeing up the rest of the day.
I think it's a great idea.
We can get to Penderyn by 9.00, certainly, as the buses don't run up much earlier than that. Three hours into the walk, we should be well on the way to Aberaman, if not further on. It's anyone's guess whether the quagmire on the Old Mineral Line will have dried out by next weekend. I can always scope it out again on Friday if the weather has improved by then. Judith in the library says the forecast for next week isn't too bad. However, I've checked the weather forecast for our area online every day this week and it's changed pretty much every day. On Wednesday it was for 'sunny intervals and showers'. Yesterday the End of the World was nigh. Again.
The really frustrating part is that an event like this is best done on a Sunday anyway, when most people aren't working and the day is our own. But public transport around the Cynon Valley is more or less non-existent until mid-morning on a Sunday, and it nearly vanishes after about 4.00 p.m. And you can forget all about getting to Penderyn – like most of the outlying settlements, it's completely cut off in the evenings and on Sundays. Ian R., our doorman in Jacs, asked me last week why we weren't doing the route in the opposite direction, from Abercynon to Penderyn. I told him the reason: that if we weren't in Penderyn on the stroke of 6.00 p.m., we wouldn't be getting home again. It's as simple as that.
In the worst case scenario, we postpone the walk until next month. In recent years we've tended to have a decent spell of weather towards the middle of October. I know Blood Cancer Awareness Month will be over by then, but at least we'll have taken part in Walking Together and raised some valuable funding for Anthony Nolan.
Which reminds me – the delay in implementing the plans gives us another week to raise some more sponsorship. If you'd like to support us, here's the link to our Just Giving Team Page. And if you seen us on our travels, why not stop and say hi? You'll know it's us because we'll probably be heading towards the nearest pub.
