Drive north along the eastern valley and at Pontnewynydd, turn towards Cwmffrwdoer. Follow the narrow road up the hill past the cricket club, and at the crossroads turn left. The lane ends in a small car park and a cycle gate leads to a metalled footpath.
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| View towards Pontnewynydd and beyond |
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| reeds and pond life returning |
This footpath takes you along an almost flat walk up into the narrowing valley. Our industrial heritage has a heavy presence for those looking for it; slag tips, demolished buildings, sealed mine shafts and more.
But despite this dour sounding detritus, nature is ever present, gradually covering the scars left by miners earning their living.
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cottoneaster
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| prickly gorse taking hold |
Abandoned bricks from demolished buildings, proudly display their place of manufacture; "Abersychan," or "Ebbw Vale." Both brickworks now long gone.
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| mushrooms |
The slag, dumped on the mountainside as waste, is now becoming naturalised, but motorbikes and four-by-fours erode the delicate greenery, allowing the black slag to leach and erode down the valley with every rainfall. Even this can still look beautiful…
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| These holes seem to indicate yet another hazard ! |
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Rubble of baths or canteen, white tiles still prominent
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