Leave your car in the parking bay at the entrance to the valley, which is marked by iron gates. Proceed through the kissing gate and up the tarmaced park to the site of an old quarry. This is now being resurfaced for use as a disabled car park. Begin listening to your storywalk file
here following Lewis’s instructions for more information.
From Listening Point 1 . . . .
. . . walk on to a point where a path zig-zags off to the right. This leads to a memorial to the Llanerch Colliery Disaster of 1890. Take a detour up to the memorial for a magnificent view of the valley and then retrace your steps.
From Listening Point 2 . . . .
. . . walk on past the old beech wood on your right to a bench seat which looks back down the valley to Trevethin and Pontypool. Here you can sit for few moments and hear some of its fascinating history from Roman times.
From Listening Point 3 . . . .
. . . . carry on up the valley, past the pile of old bricks and tiles, until you reach a small brick building on your right. You can’t miss it. It is the only building left standing on the Blaensychan Colliery site. Stop here to share some of the miners’ stories about life at Blaensychan and other local collieries.
here following Lewis’s instructions for more information.
From Listening Point 1 . . . .
. . . walk on to a point where a path zig-
From Listening Point 2 . . . .
. . . walk on past the old beech wood on your right to a bench seat which looks back down the valley to Trevethin and Pontypool. Here you can sit for few moments and hear some of its fascinating history from Roman times.
From Listening Point 3 . . . .
. . . . carry on up the valley, past the pile of old bricks and tiles, until you reach a small brick building on your right. You can’t miss it. It is the only building left standing on the Blaensychan Colliery site. Stop here to share some of the miners’ stories about life at Blaensychan and other local collieries.
From Listening Point 4 . . . .
. . . carry on a short distance to the now capped shafts of Blaensychan Colliery . You can’t miss them. They have been marked out with local bricks from local brick companies. See how many you can spot.
From Listening Point 5 . . . .
look for the ‘Caution’ sign which marks the zig zag path down the valley side. Stop again at the small bridge that crosses the stream in the valley bottom.
. . . carry on a short distance to the now capped shafts of Blaensychan Colliery . You can’t miss them. They have been marked out with local bricks from local brick companies. See how many you can spot.
From Listening Point 5 . . . .
look for the ‘Caution’ sign which marks the zig zag path down the valley side. Stop again at the small bridge that crosses the stream in the valley bottom.
From Listening Point 6 . . . .
. . .climb back up the hill along the route of the old mineral line. Stop again at some point along this path with a good view over to the spoil heaps which dramatically scar the southern side of the valley.
From Listening Point 7 . . . .
. . . rejoin the tarmaced path at
the top of the incline and retrace
Your steps back to
. . . rejoin the tarmaced path at
the top of the incline and retrace
Your steps back to
the valley entrance.