The Heavenly Ridge Of Clydach Gorge

A beautiful and scenic cycle ride from Merthyr Tydfil along the old railway trail to the tunnels and viaducts of Clydach Gorge and on to Abergavenny. This is a trail I only found out about a few weeks before hand. I’d seen the ridge part of the trail from the road while driving in the past and always wondered what it was. Little did I know it was a cycle trail. This ride follows some of what remains of the long since dismantled Merthyr, Tredegar & Abergavenny railway line and crossing four counties along the heads of the valleys. While much of the start contains regular cycle paths, the views to the hills are very scenic but once you get to Clydach Gorge these turn to stunning. I would certainly do this again and I believe there are more things to find in the gorge. I would certainly recommend this trail for those who are a little adventurous with your cycling.I hope you really enjoy this one. Accessibility A fair amount of access points to this trail will present some accessibility issues with some narrow restrictors. These are generally to stop motorbikes using the trail. Before using this trail it may be worth contacting some of the local councils about accessibility on National Cycle Route 46 and whether gates can be unlocked. Some sections are hard mud, grass and thick fine gravel. Timecodes 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:04:12 - Arrival at Merthyr Tydfil Station 0:04:51 - Cycling from Merthyr to the head of the valleys 0:12:32 - Pantysgallog and the start of the trail 0:14:33 - Top pond and the start of NCN Route 46 0:20:19 - The scenic road 0:24:46 - The Twisted Chimney 0:28:24 - Finding the modern stone circle 0:34:32 - Blaen-y-Cwm Disused Railway Viaduct 0:45:12 - The cycle trail to Clydach Gorge 0:48:59 - Abandoned tunnels at Llanelly Hill 0:54:57 - Clydach Gorge and Ridge 0:57:53 - Clydach Tunnels 1:01:30 - Clydach Viaduct 1:03:24 - The cycle trail to Govilon and Abergavenny 1:07:44 - Govilon Village 1:11:22 - Abergavenny Town 1:16:16 - Abergavenny Castle 1:23:57 - End Credits 1:26:00 - Bonus footage and Find Me