Caerphilly to Tondu

The morning started with white frost coating the grass when I caught the train to Caerphilly. Later it would turn into a sunny day with blue skies, warm for March, passing walkers would comment on the fine weather. First there was a stiff climb up Caerphilly mountain (actually a hill but we always called it a mountain when I was young). I walked around the north side as it gives great views back to Caerphilly and its massive Castle (see photo) and the Rhymney valley heading north.

The path then continues to a ridge called Craig-yr-Allt, be careful not to follow the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway rather than the less well marked Glamorgan Ridgeway. "No public right of access" signs are posted on the road up to Craig-yr-Allt which annoys me as it is a public footpath, although public access by cars may not be permitted, the signs do not make clear that this does not extend to those on foot. Distinctly unwelcoming, which is a shame as the road leads to a bracken lined path across the south side of Craig-yr-Allt with wonderful views towards the Taff valley. You have to be careful coming down from Craig-yr-Allt as there are multiple paths and it is easy to miss the correct one which zig-zags down passing close to the aerial (more than once I have ended up lost in tall ferns and brambles). At the bottom you reach a cycle track (the Taff trail) along an old railway line. My ordnance survey map and waymarks disagree on which direction to head along the cycle path. Today I went left (south) with the old waymarks, if you do this be careful not to miss the small path heading down the slope 340 m further on, which takes you to a second cycle path on an old railway.
The path meanders across the urban landscape of the River Taff valley, before climbing steeply up the other side, past the Gwaelod y Garth Inn, a pleasant place for a lunchtime snack, shortly above it is the Violet cottage brewery, the "brew with a view", although I have yet to taste its produce.
I continued climbing up the Garth mountain, first up the road, checking out an adit or tunnel into the side of the hill, blocked off with iron gates and, from peering inside, a collapsed roof. A path then turns off to the right, which a sign says is maybe unsafe, but it is much the same as when I was a child and we drank water from the spring halfway up (now rather overgrown). As you reach the ridge you can look back and see the gorge created by the Taff cutting through the limestone ridge, which now parallels the hard sandstone ridge that forms the Garth. The actual summit is a little way to the west, it is on a burial mound which helps make the Garth into a mountain at 1007 ft. On coming down the mountain thinking of other things I missed the turning where the Ridgeway is routed around a small farm and had to retrace my steps.
The next section goes through the Tyn-y-Coed woods, where there is again evidence of former industry in the shape of an abandoned railway line, aqueduct etc., there is more recent evidence of the area being popular with mountain bikers. I then crossed fields beside the Cesar Inn, eventually reaching the large Caerau Hillfort. The path goes around the north of the hillfort, and it has taken me a while to determine exactly where it goes, but it eventually comes out in a wood and from there you cross the bridge across the A473 and follow the cycle path heading south (again contradicting my map, although it is definitely a better route). Just under a bridge of yet another old railway line I climbed up the next ridge and walked with views to the south, along a path, then a road into the ancient Borough of Llantrisant.
Being lunchtime I stopped at the excellent Polkadot Teapot tearooms, which still serves tea in pots and china cups and has an excellent array of cakes, I went for a thick slice of the Salted Caramel cake (but was tempted by the Bounty cake). After visiting the castle (or the one wall that remains of it) I continued along the ridge and then went downhill once more, this time into the valley of the River Ely, past a hospital with nurses outside waiting for their lift home (or having a quick smoke).
The next stretch was through woodland, back uphill and then along a lengthy section of ridge. After the woods there were fields with sheep and young lambs (the Welsh are proud of Welsh lamb, at least hereabouts), before the 20 turbines of the Taff Ely windfarm, installed way back in 1993. Many people dislike the windfarms that have been sprouting up on hills right across Europe, however the same people probably think windmills look pretty, but they are just an earlier generation of devices designed to capture the power of the wind. Nearby are the remains of St Peters church, an ancient building with a great view across the Vale of Glamorgan, tombstones from the 18th century are still readable.

After the windfarm, the route of the Ridgeway path gets a little hazy, but it eventually winds its way across lonely and somewhat marshy moorland to the village of Blackmill. Having hiked quite far enough I then had an easy 4 km walk down a cycle path (yes another abandoned railway) to the Railway station at Tondu (my mother told me off for pronouncing it Tondu like an English person, it should be pronounced Tondee).

My walk today was covered by Ordnance Survey Explorer maps 151 and 166. The gpx trail of the route can be obtained from Wikiloc by clicking on the link, using it with a gps saves a lot of peering at maps which the wind tries to blow out of your hand (and which I always open at the wrong place, or else they get soggy with rain). You can also download the route onto your smart phone from ViewRanger. I walked 40.5 km today, with a total ascent of 1261 m (although the highest point was only 307m, all those valleys that you have to go down and up certainly add up). Normally I do this section in two days, stopping at Llantrisant (or thereabouts) and heading down the hill to Talbot Green to catch a bus from the bus station, or walking a somewhat greater distance to Pont-y-Clun, from where fast trains travel to Cardiff.