The Guardian in Winter (South Wales)

If you feel the South Wales Valleys are best viewed during summer weather, perhaps I can try to change your mind.

I recently took a friend to view the Guardian at Six Bells near Abertillery.  The temperature was somewhere around freezing or below.   We wrapped up warmly and turned the heater up in the car on our journey from Ponthir, through Pontypool, Hafodyrynys and Crumlin.


The countryside turned white between Crumlin and Six Bells, not with snow, but with frost.  The freezing fog promised was nowhere to be seen.







Following the brown signs to the Guardian, we turned right down a steep hill to have our first glimpse.   Quickly he disappears and we have to wait until we walk along the path towards him before we have another viewing.

The closer we get, the more impressed my friend becomes.  We brush a thin frost layer from the first information board to read of the colliery disaster at Six Bells.   Further along the pathway, we brush off frost an inch thick to read of the design and structure of the memorial.

This bare-chested miner stands, I am told, as high as the Angel of the North, gazing steadily over the village of Six Bells.   The steel construction weighs 7 tonnes and is surrounded now by parkland, a dipping pond, a fast flowing stream, and a fantastic river walk.

Well worth facing the cold, especially when the Community Cafe awaits with a warm welcoming cup of coffee.