llywela | a weekend in the Rhondda

I spent last weekend having a very fandomy few days with Pros friends up in the village of Blaencwm, right up at the top corner of the Rhondda Valley. We had a lovely time - eating, talking and watching the most random, cultish DVDs we could find to bring. We also took in a massive car boot sale in Resolven, and in between bursts of heavy rain we found time for a couple of lovely (albeit slightly muddy) walks up the mountain, since it was right there outside the front door. Seriously - Marnie has this right on her front doorstep:

Say hello to Pen Pych!

Being an unambitious lot - and since it was pretty wet underfoot - we were not aiming for the top, no sirree. We were aiming for this:

Pretty, right? The walk up to it is pretty, as well.

We didn't get all the way up close to the waterfall because it started to rain and got too slippery underfoot to carry on, but we made it a fair way!

Look at these views across the valley from the lower slopes - 50 years ago, this landscape would have been bristling with pit-heads, black with coal dust and slag heaps. It is really amazing how fast nature reclaims her own.

Some views along the river

Another walk along the mountain trail, this time back down the valley rather than up toward Pen Pych

The black horse was delightfully friendly and came running over to see if we had any treats to offer it; the grey barely even noticed we were passing.

As well as all this, we found time to call in at a huge indoor car boot sale in Resolven and along the way stopped off at a viewing point along the road that winds around the top of the Rhigos Mountain to admire the view across the valley and into the Brecon Beacons. From here you can see distant wind farms; Craig y Llyn, which is the highest point in Glamorgan; Llyn Fawr, which is a lake that was turned into a reservoir where a significant Iron Age hoard was found; Tower Colliery, which was the last deep mine in South Wales, run as a workers' cooperative for 13 years but finally closed in 2008; and far away in the distance are Pen y Fan and Corn Du, the highest mountains in South Wales. I've attempted to stitch a few pictures together to create a panorama - I hope the joins aren't too obvious!