The Forest Drive to Twmbarlwm…
There is an Alternative It will be a few years before visitors will be able experience the Cwmcarn Forest Drive in all its autumnal beauty like this. Photos by Terry Evans
“THE CWMCARN FOREST DRIVE will be closed for several years…” was the message in the last issue. This was pretty bad news for Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society as we aim to encourage people to visit Twmbarlwm as much as possible, to enjoy the scenery and its history, and the Forest Drive provided easy access to our beautiful mountain. Many visitors like to drive to car park 2, then walk across the relatively flat ridgeway to the iconic Tump. I regularly walk to the top of the Tump and often talk to those who have taken that route – and they look down the mountain and are surprised to see a car park on the common, just half a mile below them. I smugly explain it’s local knowledge how to get there – but with the closure of the Forest Drive the route from the Risca side of Twmbarlwm is the only alternative for those who prefer to drive the first part of the steep climb. Indeed, it is now the only route for those who are less able – I’m the first to admit that since I developed “a bit of a bad-knee” I find it very convenient to drive up Mountain Road to the car park and it’s a relatively easy walk to the top from there. Visit our website to get directions and a sketch map of the route. I must stress, however, that the route is a single track lane all the way with several passing places, so you need to take great care and drive slowly and sensibly along the lane and above all be courteous to other users you may encounter coming the other way, especially in deciding who should pull over into to the nearest passing place. An ideal location to start your new get fit regime. This route could also be a useful starting point for those who have made the New Year’s Resolution to get themselves fit and/or lose a few pounds. If you are a little unfit, the thought of running (or walking) up a steep mountain will fill you with dread and is probably not recommended. I suggest that you drive to the car-park and from there, the walk up the farm track is not too steep and will soon raise your pulse rate. Once on the ridgeway it’s quite flat and you can choose your own pace for a longer walk or run. Personally I find it crazy that people pay an extortionate amount to join a gym just to walk on an electronic machine while watching MTV alongside other sweating, 24
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The winding Mountain Road to Twmbarlwm
panting individuals. When, for absolutely no outlay, you can get out into the fresh air with beautiful scenery all around and soft grass beneath your feet to walk or run as far as you want. OK, you may need to get some decent walking shoes and a waterproof coat, but the rewards of walking our hillsides can be as much spiritual as they are physical. Conquering the walk to the summit and taking in the views can fill you with a feeling of self satisfaction and achievement much more than a half hour on a tread machine. And this is an activity the whole family can take part in. Take the kids with you – the younger ones will love splashing through the mud and puddles and searching out what wildlife they can, and I’ve even heard teenagers grudgingly admit that they’ve enjoyed a walk on the mountain. Take your parents with you – they’ll say they used to come up here all the time as kids but haven’t been up there for years, and they will probably race you to the top when they get there. Or they can just sit in the car to wait for you while contemplating the view over Newport, the Bristol Channel and Cardiff. CTS meet at the car park for a litter pick on the last Sunday of every month to which everyone is invited, it’s not hard work and it’s a great opportunity to find your way around up there. We organise walks up the mountain throughout the year (you’d be amazed how many different routes we know) so watch our website for details and come and join us some time. We also plan to hold a “Bio-Blitz”, led by ecology experts, in late spring which will be both educational and great fun for kids of all ages, if you think your school or organisation would like to get involved in that, please get in touch through our website.
www.twmbarlwm.co.uk January 2015
Residents of Twmbarlwm MYNYDD TWMBARLWM intrigues us all with its historical mystery both factual and mythical. Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society has, since its inception, explored these subjects in many of our talks and written articles. But rarely have we visited the question of what actually lives on Twmbarlwm now! I bet not many of you know that Twmbarlwm and its environs is a SINC (a Site of Importance for Natural Conservation) which is an official designation that helps an area to protect and enhance the landscape and its wild flora and fauna with the implementation of Biodiversity Action Plans. No, I didn’t The Cuckoo - will he be there in The Common Buzzard know that myself until recently - but time for the Good Friday Walk I’m glad it exists. I’ve taken plenty of photos of butterflies like the red Like many of you, I love to walk this mountain of ours admirals, peacocks and tortoiseshell but often have and one of my favourite pastimes there is to lie flat on difficulty telling them apart. I’ve usually got to get the the ground, on a bed of wimberry bushes and heather, reference books out when I get home. searching the sky for the high flying Skylarks who soar As regards the flora I get totally lost with all those Latin to incredible heights whilst continuously chirruping their names but it’s the flora that makes the landscape as high pitched songs. Yet when I spot an unusual bird, beautiful as it is and it’s what attracts the abundance of creature or wildflower I feel that I must find out exactly wildlife here. what it is. The official documentation tells me this upland area is a mix of acid grassland and heath vegetation with bracken and coniferous planting on the valley sides and there’s a long list of grassland species recorded in the last survey of the area in 2007. As you can see there has been no official record of the area for many years and the Society is hoping to organise our own survey of the area with a Bio-Blitz in the late spring, early summer. However, we could do with a little more help and would like to hear from anyone The Common Frog Slow Worm who has specialist knowledge in these areas. I’m no great ornithologist but I can recognise the most This event will be both common visitors to our mountain - the various Tits, Great, Coal and Blue - the common Buzzard gliding the educational and great fun air currents - Song Thrushes, Ravens, Warblers and, of for kids of all ages, if your course, the famous spring time visitor, the Cuckoo. I’ve school or organisation seen both the Green and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, would like to get involved, please get in touch Jays, Fieldfares and even a couple of Woodcocks. Hazel Dormouse through our website. I tend not to see much wildlife at my feet because my Terry Evans (Chair Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society) dogs have usually frightened everything away but I have come across frogs, toads, lizards, mice (or are they CTS meet at the car park for a litter pick and volunteer voles) and slow worms which I used to spend hours workday on the last Sunday of every month to which everyone is invited, it’s not all hard searching for when I was a lad. I’m told there are grass snakes and some say they’ve work and it’s a great even encountered adders. I’ve also heard reports of opportunity to find your Dormice, they were last recorded in 2004, so I sincerely way around up there. We often organise hope they are thriving here still. walks up the mountain Funnily enough I’ve throughout the year never seen rabbits up (you’d be amazed how here - lower down the many different routes we hillside but never up on know) so watch our website for the ridgeway. There’s details and come and join us some time. plenty of evidence of foxes and I’ve seen their The Hot Cross Bun Walk this year is on Good Friday tracks in the snow and I 3rd April. This is a local tradition that CTS has taken part know the farmers are in for the last four years see our website for details on very wary of them come how you can join in the fun this year. Peacock Butterfly www.twmbarlwm.co.uk lambing time. 24
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March 2015
Back into the Future… Looking Forward to Talking to You up Twmbarlwm Last month Photo shows the 2014 Hot Cross Bun Walk, let’s hope the weather was as good this year I’M SAT HERE writing this article a week or so before the traditional walk to the top of Twmbarlwm on Good Friday. The event will have come and gone by the time you read this, so I’m going to look into my crystal ball and anticipate the conversations I will have on the day and you will be able to judge the accuracy of my predictions. I’m sure I will meet people who will tell me that they always used to climb up Twmbarlwm with their parents on Good Friday or used to play up here all the time as kids. They will be surprised how it’s changed since those days, how they remember the green grassy slopes and picking wimberries in the summer. I will tell them that those reasons are what got Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society started some four years ago, we are a group of like minded people trying to restore the mountain to its former natural beauty and maintain it as a pleasant place to visit for the whole community. I expect some bloke to ask “…exactly what is this Twmp then butt?” – I will tell him that some say it’s an Iron Age Hill fort, others that it’s a Norman Watch Tower. In fact there’s been very little research into it, which is why CTS are exploring avenues of research through Cadw and archaeological organisations and we have occasional visits from prominent historians to talk on their specialist theories. Someone is bound to tell me a story about the time they were walking along the ridgeway when a gang of motorbike scramblers whizzed past them and how they were cutting up the landscape. I will tell them that the motorbikes or 4x4s are not allowed up there, there is no byway along the top of Mynydd Maen and Mynydd Henllys. This is the one topic CTS has worked on tirelessly with the police and local authorities to rid the mountainside of this nuisance and to educate the offenders. We’ll spot some oink dropping a sweet wrapper and some old timer will remark about the amount of litter and even fly-tipping they see up here. I will inform him that members of CTS meet up here regularly to have a litterpick and how we work with Keep Wales Tidy and local authorities to try to keep the mess to a minimum. I hope that someone will notice the new fences 24
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around the mountain so that I can boast that, actually, it was CTS volunteers that built them – with a local farmer and a grant from the Welsh Government we erected over a kilometre of double fencing with nearly 4,000 trees planted in between them. We have also installed paths, gates and an impressive stone monument. All this work has helped deter illegal off-roaders whilst ensuring livestock cannot escape off the mountain. Talking of the livestock, a worried lady with a dog will query why cattle are allowed to roam free on the mountain. I’ll tell her to follow the Ramblers’ advice and skirt around the cattle with your dog at heel under proper control, if they come too close let your dog off the lead, the cattle are more likely to follow the dog than you. I’ll also inform the lady that the cattle and sheep belong to various farmers who have commoners’ grazing rights and in fact their grazing is vital to maintain the landscape. CTS has a close relationship with the Commoners’ Association and the landowners, all who have the same aims as us to improve the area. If you were part of any of these fictitious conversations I hope I didn’t bore you too much on the Hot Cross Bun Walk. I hope I convinced you that CTS has already had great success in the fight to restore our mountain to its former glory and the society can only continue to create a better environment with the hard work of its members. I’d hate to think of Twmbarlwm going to rack and ruin on our watch, I want to see a landscape I can be proud to hand over to future generations. For the CTS success to continue we need members willing to lend a little time to physical and administrative work, please contact us through the website if you are interested. Terry Evans (Chair Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society)
CTS meet at the car park for a litter pick and volunteer workday on the last Sunday of every month to which everyone is invited, it’s not all hard work and it’s a great opportunity to find your way around up there. We organise walks and other events up the mountain throughout the year so watch our website and Facebook page for details – come and join us some time.
www.twmbarlwm.co.uk May 2015
Please Like Me… LOVE IT OR HATE IT but, so called, Social Media is here to stay and it is becoming a vital and useful tool if you are running a society, promoting a campaign or simply seeking information. When Mr Zuckerberg drunkenly created his first entry on his Facemash blog he only intended to link up and have a laugh with his Harvard chums and I doubt that he thought that, one day, groups of unrelated people would be able to share their common interests across the globe. Although it didn’t take him long to realise that potential. Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society’s website aims to inform members of up-to-date news and events but it can be quite labour intensive and requires a degree of expert knowledge to maintain. On the other hand, social media like Facebook and Twitter is more universally accessible from your laptop, tablet or smart phone. Okay, you get a few crackpots who want to disrupt, criticise, and generally spoil your efforts. The CTS Facebook group has had its fair share of those but that’s just a reflection of society in general and you learn to deal with them. I think the advantages of using social media to help run a society outweigh the disadvantages. For example one of our founder members, Rob Southall, has found Facebook extremely useful in helping his research into the Lost Farmsteads of Twmbarlwm and Mynydd Maen with followers providing important information to help with his studies. Also there’s another group called Risca Past and Present in which people have provided some fascinating photographs and their memories of the locality which you won’t find in any history book.
It can be amazing how generous some people can be with what they share – for instance, on the CTS page recently, historian and drone videographer, Paul Davis, gave us some fabulous aerial views around Twmbarlwm allowing us to see the hill-fort from angles never before possible. The footage gives credence to Paul’s theory that the top of the Tump was once ploughed, a possibility that was also suggested by a geo-physical survey. The ploughing could have occurred at the time of the Napoleonic Wars when Britain needed extra grain production. Thus social media even offers a platform for archaeologists and scholars to debate their theories. There are nearly 300 members on our Facebook page, if you want to get involved, search for Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society from your Facebook timeline and join in the discussions or share with us your photos, stories and opinions. But don’t forget to learn how to use your privacy settings so that you only allow the people you want to see your personal information. Other local groups with similar interests as CTS, who use Facebook include Blaen Bran Community Woodland, Friends of Cwmcarn Forest Drive, Ancient Cwmbran Society, Forgotten Landscapes and of course, Gwent Police and we all find it a useful resource to keep abreast of each other’s activities. Terry Evans (Chair Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society)
CTS meet at the car park for a litter pick and volunteer workday on the last Sunday of every month to which everyone is invited, it’s not all hard work and it’s a great opportunity to find your way around up there. We organise walks and other events up the mountain throughout the year so watch our website and Facebook page for details – come and join us some time.
www.twmbarlwm.co.uk
An aerial shot of the top of Twmbarlwm taken from one of Paul Davis’ remarkable drone videos. It shows what could easily be furrow lines from ploughing that took place some 200 years ago. 24
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June/July 2015
Your Mountain Needs You!! OKAY I’LL STOP SHORT of recreating the famous WW1 poster but there is still a battle to be won on Twmbarlwm and this article is an unashamed attempt to persuade a few more recruits to join Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society. The society was founded back in 2010 with the general aims to protect the iron age hill fort (a Scheduled Ancient Monument) at the summit and to restore the surrounding landscape to its former glory after years of abuse by off-roaders and other anti-social activity. Through the stirling efforts of the members a great deal has been achieved over the past 4 years – most of which has been recorded on these pages. A car park has been built, many fences repaired and footpaths installed in sensitive areas. Unfortunately, like many societies, after the initial enthusiasm for the cause, many people let their membership lapse or decide that the few leading the society are doing a good enough job without them. The trouble with that way of thinking is the fact that those leaders need continual help and inspiration of members to further the aims and objectives of the group. But why should you become a member? Put simply, if you care for your locality, if you care for your heritage, if you want to leave a worthwhile legacy for your children and grandchildren you should consider joining. You can become a “Friend of CTS” by joining the Facebook group where there are often interesting discussions about the Tump. Or go to our website for details of full membership which is just £10 per year – the fee or your donation goes entirely to the society’s various projects on the mountain. It seems that belonging to a society is not very fashionable, especially for the younger generation. But whenever I speak to visitors I meet up the Tump they are always appreciative of the work we do and promise to look us up online when they get home. They might look us up but they rarely join up, which is a shame because I’m sure many of them have something special to offer the society. The society would really appreciate members or “friends” who could offer physical help with our projects or even those with expert knowledge in archaeology, ecology or any field that would help the running and objectives of the society. Despite our achievements thus far, the needs of the mountain are pretty much the same as when we first Panoramic view from Twmbarlwm. On a clear day you can see seven counties from the summit. Photo: T.C.Evans
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An idyllic view of Twmbarlwm at the height of summer covered in bracken and foxgloves.
started. We’ve improved the paths on the hill-top itself but we are still pursuing avenues to do more research into the archaeology of the area. Off-roading and fly-tipping are ongoing problems and we endeavour to keep a dialogue with the police and councils to address any incidents as soon as they occur. These issues need the diligence of the general public, not just the membership, to combat this nuisance. The society is also keen to establish links with other local groups with similar aims so that we may work together on projects or to find funding – if you belong to one such group, please get in touch. We are particularly grateful to the Local Community Payback Team who regularly do litter-picks on Twmbarlwm and collect the rubbish bags after we have completed our own monthly litter-pick. Terry Evans (Chair Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society)
CTS meet at the car park for a litter pick and volunteer workday on the last Sunday of every month to which everyone is invited, it’s not all hard work and it’s a great opportunity to find your way around up there. We organise walks and other events up the mountain throughout the year so watch our website and Facebook page for details – come and join us some time.
www.twmbarlwm.co.uk Photos: T.C.Evans
August 2015
Heritage of Our Commons A Commoner’s Welsh Black Cattle graze the lush landscape of Twmbarlwm. Photo: Terry C Evans
The ridgeway from the top of Twmbarlwm across Mynydd Henllys, Mynydd Maen over to Mynydd Llwyd and Cwm Lickey is all “common land” and as such, Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society works closely with the local Commoners to achieve our mutual goals of managing the landscape. But what exactly is a “Common” – Les Murphy, chairman of the local Commoners’ Association gave me the following potted history and information. What is a Common? It can be a village green, a communal playing field, a school playing field, Manorial Waste, Common Land (as defined on an OS map), or some lands owned by local communities. Commons came into being to protect the ordinary man’s rights to graze livestock, take fish, cut fodder, cut bedding, gather firewood, practice archery, play games and preserve open spaces. Great changes came about in the eighteenth century with the ‘Enclosure Acts’ which allowed those who could afford it and had the parliamentary influence, to ‘fence in’ all the strips of land that were open and in the public domain. According to history this was done to force dependence on the poor, thus providing much needed labour to the rich landowners. But as many people were becoming independent with their right to ‘strip plough’ and graze the open land, they had little need to seek additional work off the Lord of the manor. This gave rise to many disputes throughout the land and people who were freeholders became tenants overnight. Thus all the land in Britain became someone’s property. The manors were obliged to provide grazing and other rights to those fortunate enough to lay claim to such rights, as a result areas of land were classed as Manorial Waste or Common Land for those uses. Needless to say they were usually the least favourable to agriculture. People with the ‘right of common’ can exercise those rights in accordance with their particular claim. Commons were never given the self ruling statute as some foresters have, such as the ‘Speech House’ in the Forest of Dean, where all local disputes and grievances could be heard by elected officers - the grazing and other rights are all decided at the Speech House. However, we do have ‘Commons Management Teams’ who administer the common on behalf of those with the ‘right of common’. 24
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The active management of common land makes a significant contribution to rural economies and the maintenance of local communities The active grazing of commons provides substantial public benefits by managing land to enhance its landscape, biodiversity, access, heritage and other environmental goods Common land and the exercise of common rights are fundamental components of our historic and ongoing culture. Sadly many people with the ‘right of common’ do not exercise those rights – either through ignorance, apathy or lack of interest. So, it is left to a small number of people to maintain and administer the common. Note that there is always a ‘Land Owner’ and the commoners can only use the common within their individual agreements. According to the 2006 Commons Act all disputes should go firstly to the Management Team and then to the Land Owner (in our case the Land Owner is on the Management Team). The Land Owner maintains the mineral rights and can exploit those with the co-operation of the commoners. But what does all this mean to the general public? The ‘right to roam’ on common land means you can use it for activities like: walking, sightseeing, bird watching, picnicking, climbing, running. Yet you are not allowed to camp on common land, light a fire or have a barbecue, hold a festival or other event, ride a horse or bicycle, take animals other than dogs or drive a motorised vehicle. Horse-riding and cycling is permissible if the landowner allows it or if public bridleways or byways cross the land. Also remember that a motorised vehicle can only be used on a Green Lane that is classified as a road and crosses common land if you have a driving licence, insurance, tax, MOT and legal number plates. Terry Evans (Chair Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society)
CTS meet at the car park for a litter pick and volunteer workday on the last Sunday of every month to which everyone is invited, it’s not all hard work and it’s a great opportunity to find your way around up there. We organise walks and other events up the mountain throughout the year so watch our website and Facebook page for details – come and join us some time.
www.twmbarlwm.co.uk October 2015