Three Valleys Bimble

For the past year I've been cycling close to home. It's been interesting to spend the time, looking more closely at where I live, discovering details often missed when I ride my bike to "some other place".
UPDATED!
Overview: Three Valleys Bimble
Date: September 15, 2020
Distance: 65.4 miles
Elevation: + 4269 / - 4269
Duration: 09:51:06
Caerphilly County is a fairly large county with three distinct valleys to explore. The weather was nice, so I took my time and spent the day in a lazy wander up and down Sirhowy, Darran, and Rhymney valleys.

I've taken to starting my rides with a short jaunt up to Pen-y-Fan pond. It's a steady climb north of three miles which warms up my legs nicely. Today, I raced down from the pond to Blackwood and turned north again heading up the western side of Sirhowy Valley.
2024 UPDATE: This is an updated version of a previously posted Ride Report. As part of my ongoing redesign of this website, each feature from "Rides to Remember" will be re-formatted to accomodate the new larger page layout. All of the photographs have been re-edited and when needed, the text has been re-edited for context and clarity.
Table of Contents
PART ONE | Pen-y-Fan Pond & Quoits Wood | 22.8 mi.
Leaving home, warming up, and getting to the start...

PART TWO | Saint Sannan's Church & Bedwelty Common | 6.7 mi.
Climbing, climbing, and gliding...

PART THREE | Rhymney Meadows & Rockface | 9.7 mi.
Back down the neighbouring valley...

PART FOUR | New Tredegar, Bargoed, & Fochriw | 9.0 mi.
Further down, then turning north again...

PART FIVE | Fochriw Highlands & Bedlinog Common | 17.2 mi.
High along a desolate ridge and back home...

SUMMARY | A Review and Reflection
My thoughts on an adventurous day, as well as a Ride Report Card.
PART ONE
ON ROAD
 + NCN 467 Pen-y-Fan Pond & Quoits Wood
Total Distance: 22.8 mi. / 36.69 km
Total Elevation: +1,162 ft / -1,275 ft
We're lucky to have this little pond near our home. However, it's quite popular with walkers but not so welcome to cyclists at times. I occasionally get the "you are annoying us" glare from folks when I ring my bell to pass. Ya just gotta ignore folks sometimes. Pen-y-Fan Pond belongs to all of us.
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From Pen-y-Fan pond I raced down toward the Chartist Bridge and turned north heading back up Sirhowy Valley. NCN Route 467 from Blackwood to Holybush is a traffic-free hidden jewel. It's not directly connected to any other NCN routes, so it's often over-looked, but for four lovely miles it's wonderful. Check out my gallery for more images: Quoits Wood Crossing.
At Holybush I simply turned around and returned back down the cycle path as I came. I then got on the High Street through Blackwood proper. I continued on through Pontllanfraith and circled around to Cefn Forest. The road can be rather busy at times, but it's wide and surprisingly flat.
PART TWO
ON ROAD
 Saint Sannan's Church & Bedwelty Common
Distance: 6.7 mi. / 10.78 km
Elevation: +890 ft / -214 ft
Just before reaching the community of Fairview, I left the main road and climbed up a small foot path to Heol y Bedw-Hirion Road which enters at the village of Bedwellty and St. Sannan's Church.
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Along with being quite pretty, this church has a very unusual shape with two naves side by side. Dating back to the early 13th century, it has a interesting history and today, the church is still quite popular, but sadly - mostly for funerals and weddings.
The building itself is well-maintained, but the congregation has greatly diminished over the past 50 years and today the graveyard is quietly being taken over by nature.
The black tombstone in the lower right on the photo below is actually cast iron... a very expensive tribute from the days when coal was king in these valleys.
It's incredibly peaceful here, but it's time to go. I must move on.
Leaving Bedwelty, the farms and pastures take over the landscape as the ridge narrows between the Rhymney Valley to my left and the Sirhowy Valley on my right.
The road is a slow steady effort, but it's quite lovely along the way, so there's no rush.
And then before ya know it, you reach the top finding spectacular views in every direction. The winding road sweeps across the high ridge and seems to pull you forward effortlessly.
Cyclists dream of roads like this...
PART THREE
ON ROAD
 + NCN 468 Rhymney Meadows & Rockface
Total Distance: 9.7 mi. / 15.61 km
Total Elevation: +412 ft / -1,008 ft
Nearing the end of Bedwelty Common, the road sweeps wide above a small valley as it descends toward Tredegar. I haven't found an official name for this valley, so I've taken to calling it Rhymney Meadows.
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There's a small pond at the far eastern edge where you can sometimes find wild horses gathered for a drink.
Further on the road between Tredegar and Rhymney, I pass a sad reminder of the past; Cefn Golau is a disused cholera cemetery dating from 1832 to 1855. Hard, hard lives they lived up here in the valleys digging coal.
It's important to always look back when ya stop... the views can be surprising.
Hello girls! Aren't you looking lovely.
The road passes a small golf course before dropping steeply into the town of Rhymney proper. There I turned north again and made a quick loop up to sleepy little Bute Town near the Heads of the Valley. I then returned back down the opposite side of the valley to the town of Rhymney where I joined NCN Route 468.
The clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped a few degrees as pedaled down the cycle path into the village of Abertysswg.
Again, I haven't found a proper name for this area between Abertysswg and New Tredegar, so I've taken to calling it Rhymney Rockface. (This is the Rhymney Valley and the Rhymney River flows below and just off to my left.)
You can see the cliffs in the photo above. This area is directly below Bedwelty Common and Rhymney Meadows where I was cycling perhaps an hour earlier. Red Kite and Peregrin Falcon can often be seen nesting along these secluded cliffs.
I've cycled 38 miles, this is the perfect place to stop for lunch and plan the remainder of my ride. I'd like to get another 30 miles under my saddle and despite having plenty of daylight, the weather is looking questionable.
PART FOUR
ON ROAD
 + NCN 468 | 469 New Tredegar, Bargoed, & Fochriw
Total Distance: 9.0 mi. / 14.48 km
Total Elevation: +851 ft / -401 ft
After my sandwich, coffee, and brief check-in to the BBC Weather, I decided to head down to Bargoed and see how the weather presents itself further south. This short jaunt is only about four miles down the valley.
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Leaving New Tredager, NCN Route 468 enters a thick wood as the valley narrows. Looking across, you can hardly imagine the gorge below. There's the Rhymney River and a train line running down there... somewhere.

This route, by-the-way, was once a rail line as well. Train lines ran like a squirel's nest up and own the valleys of South East Wales.
I can see from the cycle path a large rock face, so I stop to wander a bit in the woods and inspect it. I believe this was once a small quarry, but it's hard to tell for sure. You see these along most all the old rail lines.

They dug out small quarries for stone to use on bridges, viaducts, and for whatever else they needed rock when building the railroads. It's kinda cool, nevertheless.
As I cross a small road just above Bargoed, it's clear to see how narrow the valley really is through here. The railroad viaduct pokes out from one side of the valley before disappearing back into the trees on the other side.
The clouds were looking ominous, but I still wanted to ride more. I made my way through Bargoed and pointed my bike north again, up the next valley.

Darran Valley is an isolated little valley that runs from Bargoed to Fochriw. NCN Route 469 snakes along the valley floor and follows the Darran River all the way to the top.
The sides of the valley are steep and thick with undergrowth. The sound of rushing water and the sight of more rocky outcrops pulled my attention away from the path and into the woods again where I discovered anothe example of Industrial Age technology.

In the image below you can see the massive retaining wall which runs for several hundred yards before disappeaing into the sides of the valley.
Caradoc is described by the Roman historian Tacitus as the King of the Silures. Did he fight here against the Romans? Was he captured here? What about the Tegernicus Stone found further up the hill? Did they know/fight each other?
There's so much history packed in this place! But it's time I should move on... and soon enough I'm passing an abandoned rail platform in the middle of the woods (on right side in image below). Without a proper station, they called these small community platforms "halts".
Sadly enough, I soon discover that this was once the site of a another colliery... somewhere, now lost to Old Man Time and Mother Nature. I read the names aloud.
You can hardly cycle five miles without finding some sort of historical marker or plaque. It is surprising too that Sustrans doesn't even list this route on their website.
About two miles up from Bargoed is Parc Cwm Darran and it is lovely. Despite the pandemic, the snack bar is open at the visitor centre, so this is the perfect place for another snack break! Also of note, there is a campsite to the right of this photo.
If you look closely in the photo below, you can make out the shape of a foundation (just below the large tree in the centre...). A testament to Fochriw being at the end of the world, this was once the site of a former gunpowder manufacturer!
and then it gets quiet...
Then the route drops down along the Darran River, which is nothing more than a brook now... and the vibe changes. It feels very intimate. It feels untouched and natural. It's as if this area is slowly giving over to whatever nature wants.
The fencing looks a bit wobbly and the few sheep stand almost hidden by the tall grass.
They've been logging on the opposite hillside. The few trees left add to the stark reality of an almost empty and desolate valley.
PART FIVE
ON ROAD
 Fochriw Highlands & Bedlinog Common
Distance: 17.2 mi. / 27.68 km
Elevation: +1,002 ft / -1,407 ft
I cycled through Fochriw and climbed the hill out of town with little notice. The High Street leads back to Rhymney, but before dropping down in the adjacent valley, I turn north again and head further out onto the moors high above the village.
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These wide open moors haven't an official name that I've discovered, so I've taken to calling them the Fochriw Highlands. And I say it to myself every time I'm here; "I just cannot believe that I'm less than 20 miles from home..." It astounds me.
It looks flat, but it's mostly a slow and steady climb. The wind was howling so I stopped several times to take some photos. I've probably taken these shots before, but it's still worth it to me. I just love it up here.
There's nothing more I can really say. I just have to stop... and look.
But of course I have to speak to the lovely girls.
The road then loops around and comes back south again along the high ridge overlooking Fochriw. I'm now heading toward Bedlinog Common.
Where the sheep and horses roam...
This is a special place. The Romans thought so... the Silures before them and countless others for thousands of years.
Now wild horses graze amongst neolithic cairns and remnants of Roman occupation.
With a whistle they come charging across the moor. The thumping of their hooves combined with the swish of grass against their legs as they race past is breathtaking. I am shaking with excitement as I rush to try and capture the moment!
The show is over in an flash and they are standing on the hill looking back... seemingly proud of their performance. I am grinning like an idiot in awe.
The Roman Road that runs along here is well-documented. It connected the Roman Fort in Gelligaer to Brecon in the north.
Nowadays horses seem to use the road mostly.
Gelligaer and home...
Leaving Bedlinog Common and re-entering civilisation...
Farms and houses begin to reappear. Stone walls line the road. It's seems worth stopping one last time for a couple of self-indugent photos.
Then I'm off for home. It's all downhill from here.
Summary - Three Valleys Bimble
I am so very fortunate to live within these lush valleys. Fochriw and Gelligaer Common truely feel as if they are at the end of the world (as many folks claim).

It was wonderful to just drift up and down the valleys with little concern.
As you might be surmise from the massive number of photographs I've included in this report, it was a fabulous day out. Not only is this one of my favourite routes, but I was provided with spectacular weather and I hardly saw another soul.

I hope you enjoyed this little write-up and as always, thanks for spending your time with me & Bike Wales.

Cheers! - muse kidd 
A final word about the update - The bulk of my time updating this report was spent re-editing the photos; essentially opening the shadows slightly.
Report Card
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