NCN 47 - The High Level Route

 Last Summer, when I rode to Whitesands Bay, I crossed Carmarthenshire on NCN 47.  It was a very attractive ride, very quiet, in some remote and beautiful countryside.  It was also very hilly, but I didn't mind that.

During the Winter I had another look at NCN 47 - cycle.travel has quite a nice description of it - and I earmarked the High Level Route for a Summer ride.  Last week Maggie had a social event in Swansea, so it was easy enough to tack the ride on to this.

I started at Pontypridd, a little market town at the confluence of the Rhondda, Cynon and Taff rivers.  My route started in the High Street, crossed the river on a shiny new cycle and pedestrian bridge, and picked up the cycle route in the park opposite.  This is the Taff Trail, Cardiff to Brecon, and, like many other cycle routes in the area the standard was very high.  A few miles north of the town I turned on to the Lady Windsor Trail, another good quality cycleway, which is also NCN 47.  Easily at first, then steady climbing past Ynysybwl, then in to the forest on the way to Llanwonno. Steeper here, and mostly on gravel.

I was pleased to visit Llanwonno, a tiny place, the home of Guto Nyth Brân, of whom my mother spoke when I was a boy.  Guto was an athlete, a runner, and a figure of legend.  According to my mother Guto's mother would send him down to the market in Pontypridd to buy butter while the kettle boiled for tea.  Having just ridden up from Pontypridd I found this unlikely, unless it was a very large kettle on a very small stove.  For some reason I believed for some time that Guto was a contemporary of my mother, perhaps a relative, and it was a bit of a surprise to learn that he died in 1737.  He is buried at Llanwonno Church, and the annual Nos Galan race still celebrates his achievements.

The other notable feature of Llanwonno is the Brynfynnon Hotel, a tiny pub that is the only source of sustenance on the entire route.  I was too early to take advantage of it, but it's worth knowing that it is there, and that it is the only one.

Up again from here (the first part of the route is mostly up), and in to the St Gywnno Forest, on gravel forestry trails.  Pleasant riding, a lot of trees, with views of the Brecon Beacons from time to time.

A few miles through the forest, then across the A4233, a mountain road with a well-considered cycle crossing (and no traffic anyway), and the beginning of the next set of gravel trackways.

Here you are leaving the forestry world, although there are still trees around, and entering the world of the wind turbines.  I had always considered these to be a blot on the landscape, but my opinion has changed recently ...

The forestry gravel had been good enough, but the wind farm companies had done an outstanding job, and had taken very great care to take account of other users of the tracks.  No 'Cyclists Dismount' signs, instead the signs warned the plant drivers to give way to cyclists, and, if they saw a horse rider, to stop entirely and turn off their engine.  That said, despite the huge wind farms that I rode through, I saw no vehicles and no-one working on the machinery.

The windmills are very large, and surprisingly noisy.  The make a sort of 'whoop whoop whoop' noise while they are working, and whirr and clatter as they adjust themselves.  Not ideal for the garden, but then, the ones that I was passing were apparently taller than The Shard, so not many people have a suitable garden anyway.

Near the top of the hill I was pleased to find the NCN Millennium Milepost.  This one is at 1968 feet, and, as far as I have been able to discover, is the highest in the country.  From here, the tracks first of all crossed a high plateau and then began to descend.  The weather was turning a bit, which was a pity, as there were some very good views.  At one point you could see Mumbles Head, for example, about twenty miles away.

After a few miles NCN 47 turned off the gravel trackways on to Cefn Ffordd, an ancient trackway across the open mountainside.  There was a little gate, nicely signposted NCN 47, British Horse Society Golden Dragon Ride and Rhondda Cynon Taff Bridleway.  Someone had chained it shut.  Ah.

It looked as if my luck was in, as, ascending the track at some speed, was a fell runner.  About ten miles back I had seen four gravel riders going in the other direction, other than that no-one on the whole ride.  So I was glad to see him, and hailed him to ask for help.  This seemed to startle him, and he cast about a bit, apparently seeking to pass without approaching me.  No luck, the only way was over the gate, so as he came up to it I hoisted the bike over and said 'Here, take this for me'.  With the greatest reluctance he did so, no eye contact, no conversation.  Then he skipped over the gate and scuttled off up the road.  I was reminded of Gollum.

Anyway, I was now on the right side of the gate and rode down Cefn Ffordd.  This was the most technical part of the ride, quite steep, about 15%, rock slabs, stones, grass and several rock steps.  It would have been much harder going up and it wasn't too easy going down.

After about a mile I came to a wind farm track, and there was another NCN 47 signpost at the junction. Someone had uprooted it and thrown it in a ditch.  I was reminded of Muddy Lane, near Send, and I wondered about Gollum.  Just wondered...

Much easier now, wind farm track, then forestry track through the Pelenna Forest, some open heathland and then the Garmin said 'Fairyland Road', which it sort of was after twenty five miles or so of high level gravel.  Down to Tonna where the Whittington Arms provided hydration and refuelling facilities, then traffic free cycleway all the way home, with fine views over the bay.

So, a very good ride.  The Horse for the Course was the Jolly Green Giant, built for the job.  45mm tyres, which did well, Shimano GRX, a strong Yamaha ebike motor and a 500 watt battery.  I didn't bother with a range extender and had plenty of battery to spare.  It's made for this.

I'd recommend the ride, it's a proper little adventure, but it would be prudent to keep an eye on the weather, as it's pretty wild and there are not many people up there.  On the plus side there is cell-phone coverage all the way, for the wind farms I suppose, and you could summon help in an emergency and it could get to you, so the risks are managed.

Some of the best gravel in the UK, in my opinion.

Mark