Twmbarlwm – A Cure For All Ills?
According to Terry Evans Mynydd Twmbarlwm is the place to go to cure a cold or hangover or to contemplate life’s great mysteries.
Let’s start the new year off on a positive note. No moaning about fly-tipping, burnt out cars or anti-social behaviour on Twmbarlwm but let me tell you about what the mountain means to me and maybe you’ll realise why looking after it is so important to me. Twmbarlwm and I have been acquainted for longer than I care to admit – from when my mates and I would walk up there, from the bottom of Pontymister, following the lane under the Leaky Bridge (some call it the Drippy Bridge) across the Hilly fields (there was no Ty-Sign in the way) and along Mountain Road before the final murderous scamper up the steep, grassy slope to the top – grappling with each other to get there first. There we would eat our fish-paste sandwiches, crisps (with a twisted, blue bag of salt) and swig orange squash out of the plastic canteen that our mam had bought for our school trip to Bristol Zoo – there was no sharing in case someone snorted their crumbs back into the bottle. We’d roll most of the way back down the hill getting cut, bruised and covered in grass stains – and other stains left behind by the sheep. As long as we were home in time for tea our parents didn’t seem to worry too much – or else they sent our big brother to get us. My joy of getting to the top has never waned over the intervening years. Occasionally I still walk all the way from the valley bottom and that final slog to the top seems, to me, a lot steeper now. Driving up to the car park for a quick dog-walk is getting more frequent nowadays. But nevertheless, every time I get to the summit, by whatever route, I can’t help but do a victory dance like Rocky Balboa did on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. But what draws me to Twmbarlwm so strongly? I hear you ask. It’s not just a strenuous walk up memory lane – every time I’m there it offers a different reason. For instance, it’s the one place I like to go when I’m suffering some malady like a bad cold or even worse, man-flu. I can be miserable and self pitying all by myself. I can cough and splutter all I want and explode my sneezes without spreading the germs to others. The cold, driving wind and rain keeps my head clear until I get back to my stifling centrally heated cocoon of home. If there ever was a cure for a hangover, atop Twmbarlwm has to be it – there’s no sudden noises to stab into that thumping headache, just the gentle birdsong of the skylarks. The clean fresh air brings on an euphoria that makes life appear worth living, or at least until the next party-time. For me Twmbarlwm is also the residence of several of the Muses – whether I need inspiration for my design and art work, my latest photography project or writing an article for a magazine (guess where I was this morning), the open vistas and mysterious ambience of the mountain is sure to get the creative juices flowing. Whenever I feel a bit down or need to work through 4
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some personal conundrum, Twmbarlwm is the one place I can find the solitude to give myself a good talking to (although I do get some strange looks from my dogs). The place has a spiritual aura about it that no other local mountain has, Machen has fine views and good fresh air, as has Mynydd-y-lan, but they’re not the same. Maybe it’s the Tump itself, is it an iron-age fort, bronzeage burial ground, the resting place of some legendary giant or what? It has a mystery about it that permeates into one’s inner self and sets the imagination soaring. Even the current Mrs Evans (I call her that to keep her on her toes) shares my love of the mountain. She has lived in a few places around the UK but soon came to realise that once she had married a Risca boy there would be no dragging him away from the shadow of its magnificent mountain. I’m sure it’s not just us that feel this way about the mountain. Very often when browsing online social media I see comments and threads from people expressing similar observations. If you are one of those why not consider joining us, working together we can ensure that the mountain remains an unspoiled area for future generations to enjoy as much as us. 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 and at Crosskeys RFC throughout the year so watch our website and Facebook page for details – come and join us some time.
www.twmbarlwm.co.uk January/February 2017