Twmbarlwm and Cwm Carn

It would be difficult to imagine a more transformed landscape than that of the Valleys. Where once slag and spoil heaps towered over bleak villages and greyness appeared to tint everything, there is now every conceivable shade of green, created by mixed forestry clinging determinedly to the steep South Wales hillsides.

The Industrial Revolution had a huge affect on the valleys of South Wales. Limestone, iron ore and coal were found in abundance and in close proximity to each other. Villages and towns sprang up almost overnight and the land that loosely forms the southern boundary of what is now the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park was changed forever. By the early 20th century, over 250,000 people were employed in South Wales, working more than 600 mines. The Cwmcarn Colliery was originally a downshaft, sunk between 1876 and 1878, for the nearby Prince of Wales Colliery in Abercarn. By 1912, it had become an independent mine, owned by the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Co, Ltd. It was expanded with a second shaft in 1914; an engine wheel, close to the walk, marks the spot. Most of the output was shipped to Newport by canal and from there exported to Europe. The colliery finally closed in 1968.

The landscape, once scarred by years of human toil, have been returned to the community for leisure. The Cwmcarn Forest Drive was opened in 1972, the entrance to which runs over the filled-in mine shafts. Cwmcarn is only one of many parks in the area that have received this treatment. Its crowning glory is the mighty mound of Twmbarlwm, rising to 1,375ft (419m) and enjoying incredible views over the Bristol Channel.

Near Twmbarlwm’s characteristic summit – locally known as ‘The Tump’ or, rather unkindly, ‘The Pimple’ – are the remains of a hill fort, which is believed to have been constructed by a Celtic tribe called the Silures in the Iron Age or possibly as early as the late Bronze Age. The Silures were a people who lived in the region at the time of the Roman occupation. It is possible that a signalling point was set up here by the Romans, given Twmbarlwm’s visibility from great distances away. A motte-and-bailey castle was built at the eastern extreme of the fort, during early Norman times or as late as the 13th century, depending on which authorities you believe. Various legends surround the mountain. One maintains that it is the site of buried treasure that is guarded by bees, while another claims that a giant or great warrior slumbers beneath its soil.

The Cistercian Way is an informal 650-mile (1,046km) circular longdistance footpath, the aim of which is to link all the 17 ancient and modern Cistercian abbeys in Wales. First walked in 1998 by Cistercian enthusiasts, the route uses old roads, trackways and pilgrimage paths as much it can, and where this is not possible, opts for the towpaths of canals and disused Victorian tramways. As it careers along the ridge of Mynydd Maen on its circuitous route from Llantarnam to Risca, the Cistercian Way passes very close to Twmbarlwm.

From the car park, head up to the visitor centre, and follow the decking around to the right to keep the building on your left-hand side. Go through a gate on to a tarmac footpath and follow this up to Cwmcarn. Walk along either side of the small lake and then, at the far end, continue up a footpath with the stream on your left-hand side. Pass a little pond on a boardwalk and then, at a timber barrier, cross the stream on a tarmac bridge. Bear around to the right and follow the road up the valley, with a steep grassy bank, once a spoil heap, on your left. Above this, you should be able to make out an old winding wheel, which marks the spot of the colliery’s second downshaft.

Continue over the stream again, then, with a barrier ahead, bear right through a gate to walk uphill on a narrow path. This ends at a gate, which you don’t cross; instead, take the second track on the left. This leads on to the tarmac Forest Drive where you turn right and immediately left, to continue uphill on a broad track. As this bends left, bear right to climb up to Forest Drive again. Turn right to follow it down slightly and around a sharp righthand bend. Fork left here, through a gate, on to a narrow trail that leads uphill. Follow this to the Forest Drive again, go through a gate, and turn right to a four-way junction. Take the second of the two left turns and climb to a gate on the left, next to an information board, which leads on to the open hillside of Twmbarlwm.

Go though the gate and follow the track steeply up to a bank and a deep ditch that formed the defensive ramparts of a sizeable Iron Age settlement. Continue to the trig point, from where there are fabulous views to be seen in all directions, then carry on in the same direction to the strange-looking castle mound at the eastern end of the ridge. The purpose of the mound isn’t known, but it’s considered to be of Norman construction, from around 1070. Retrace your steps back down to the gate and then the four-way junction where you keep almost straight ahead, down some wooden steps, on to a waymarked bridleway. This drops sharply down through the forest to emerge on a forest track at a hairpin bend.

Turn right to Forest Drive and keep left to come off the road and on to another waymarked bridleway (Raven Walk). Follow this down and then to the right, near the valley floor, to walk above a fence and across the mountain bike trail. This leads to the stile at the five-way junction you passed earlier. Turn left, on to the narrow path and walk down to the gate and the information plaque. Cross the stream and turn left to follow your outward journey back to the lake and the visitor centre.