Christmas Tasting Day at Black Mountains Smokery…
Distance
2.8km / 1.74miles
OS grid reference SN856155
Postcode SA9 1GQ
Starting co-ordinates
51° 49' 37" N -3° 39' 40" W (DMS)
Approximate time
1 hour 45 mins
Walk Grade
(5 = Hardest)
- Facilities
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This easy walk with substance takes you through a fascinating area full of remains from its industrial past. You will also be able to delight in extensive views over the upper Swansea Valley and beyond as you follow old railway lines and tramroads mainly. This is a grade 3 walk - routes with occasional long gradients, a solid but undulating surface in places and kissing gates or stiles. There are no seats.
Of interest
Highlights
As you start out from Penwyllt – ‘the wild end’ in Welsh – it is difficult to imagine that this quiet former quarrying village was a major quicklime and brick production centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The five limestone quarries and brickworks which operated here between the 1870s and 1950s must have been quite a sight and made quite a din! Along part of the route you will be following the old Neath and Brecon Railway line where you may still detect buried sleepers. You will also see several piles of stone which hint at this industrial past, such as the remains of the old winding house. However why not just amble along and enjoy plenty of fresh air and the extensive views over the upper Swansea Valley.
Remember to:
- take all your litter home,
- please keep you dog under strict control since much of the area falls within Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve and cattle or sheep graze here.
- not to light fires,
- not to camp.
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