talking point - Rhondda Cynon Taf

The road crosses a desolate moorland before making a gentle descent to Maerdy, at
1100 feet above sea-level one of the highest villages in Wales. Before the descent the
Route 47 cycle and walking trackway crosses the A4233 – carparks on both sides of
the road are excellent bases for mountain expeditions of varying length and
difficulty. The top of the Rhondda Fach is a tranquil, shallow basin filled by the
Lluest Wen reservoir: there is an ancient packhorse bridge just below the dam.
The upper Rhondda Fach is less built-up than the Fawr and the largest
settlement in the valley, Ferndale, is a comparatively isolated
community. Originally known by its Welsh name
Glynrhedynog, it is a friendly place with a busy High Street
and some particularly fine Victorian houses, though
Ferndale’s greatest assets are its three extensive parks, of
which Darran Park is a secret too long kept.
The Park is also the starting point for a
number of steep, though relatively short paths up
to the summit of Mynydd Ty’n-tyle with fine views
of the Brecon Beacons and Exmoor.
Meanwhile, a second park at the bottom of
the valley has memorials to Ferndale’s most
famous son, the actor Sir Stanley Baker, and
to the 231 victims of two pit disasters
which, in 1867 and 1869 ripped the heart
out of this tight-knit community: both
memorials can be reached from the road
to Blaenllechau, which is also the starting point for walks along
the river bank, up through the forests on the north side of the
valley to the site of a Roman marching camp, established in the
second century AD, and to Route 47 and the wilderness area
around Llanwynno described in Route 3.
Our touring route now heads down the valley to Tylorstown,
a mining village formerly home to world boxing champion
Jimmy Wilde, and birthplace of rugby legend John Bevan.
At the Tylorstown roundabout, we take the B4512 to Penrhys to gain the summit of Cefn
Rhondda, the ridge separating the Fach and Fawr where a carpark opens off the hilltop
roundabout. The Statue of Our Lady of Penrhys, cast down during the Reformation in 1538
and re-erected in 1953, marks an important site of medieval pilgrimage; on the hill below
stands the “Little Church” housing St Mary’s Well, a chalybeate spring once thought to offer
miraculous cures for arthritis and other ailments.
Penrhys
15
It lies above the town in the mountain’s embrace, overshadowed by
the cliffs known as Craig Rhondda Fach. At every turn there are
spectacular views up through the ancient woodland, home to owls
and falcons, or out across the valley to the farms on the sunny,
south-facing slopes of Blaenllechau. And at the back of the Park,
underneath the crags, lies the mysterious, deep Llyn-y-forwyn, the
Maiden’s Lake. The “Maiden” was an enchantress called Nelferch who
left her home at the bottom of the lake to marry a young farmer,
only to disappear back into the deeps after a quarrel: a statue of
Nelferch, bare-breasted and brooding, stands mute amidst the trees
by the shore, in a place where the sun sets early behind the
mountain above, and the gloom of a long
twilight makes her spirit world palpable
and sinister.
The
road below
the Statue leads to
the Rhondda Golf Club,
a breezy, mountain-top
course of 18 holes over 6200 yards –
the Club welcomes visitors, and many of the
greens have breathtaking views down into the valleys and
out over mile after mile of mountain ridges.
Return to the Tylorstown roundabout and turn right down the valley
until you reach the turning up to the left signposted “Wattstown”. Here,
you can visit Tir Gwaidd Farm, the home of quad biking and outdoor
fitness training for all levels of ability and stamina.
And so by following the A4233 to Porth and rejoining the A4058 for
Pontypridd, our tour comes full circle.