talking point - Rhondda Cynon Taf

The A4059 leads us into our second wilderness area, and to the
true waterfall country of South Wales. The only village along the
road is Penderyn, a settlement which has grown with the
extensive limestone quarries in the area, and which is the home
of Welsh whisky or chwisgi. With a visitor centre due to open to
the public in 2006, Penderyn’s Welsh Whisky Company has
revived the ancient art of distilling in Wales after a gap of over
100 years by producing two high quality single malts, Penderyn
and Aur Cymru (“Welsh Gold”).
At the northern end of Penderyn is a crossroads in front of the
Lamb Hotel: the road to the left is a narrow lane leading up to
the ancient Llew Goch (“Red Lion”) Inn which stands just across
the road from St Cadog’s, another thirteenth century church
with several interesting monuments in the cemetery. The
vicinity of the Lamb Hotel is also a good place to park to access
the footpath to Sgwd-yr-eira, literally Snow Falls, where the
River Hepste thunders over a fifty foot cliff into a deep gorge.
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