A stroll around Briton Ferry - 25/1/2014

• Distance - 9 miles
• Weather - Dull with showers in morning, brightening up late afternoon.

Due to a broken car we didn't want to travel far so we decided to explore what's on my doorstep, so off we went around the village of Briton Ferry. I live near a canal, woodland and an ancient forest so there was no excuse not to get out there...

Our walk starts at the canal down Giants Grave. A childhood haunt and lovely memories of my late father and I fishing for Sticklebacks and Tadpoles. We visited the bridge where my dad and I use to sit, waiting patiently for the fish to appear. Unfortunately no fish today though :(

The other side of this bridge leads you onto Tennent Canal - Which will take you all the way to Neath

A water feature on the canal - A plaque reads: Funded by Welsh Water / Water  feature designed by Lynne Bebb

It is still lovely down there and the walk along the canal leads you to a massive derelict factory once know as 'The Wern'. In it's hey day 'The Wern' was a huge steel works that employed hundreds of people (including my mum and dad) and made parts for Concorde there. It's been shut down for awhile now but looks like it may be turned into a recycling plant.  Read more about it's future here: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Briton-Ferry-s-Wern-Works-site-purchased-Cuddy/story-20263295-detail/story.html#ixzz2rYN2e5yM

The canal looking very dull in January with dying plants and rusty coloured heathers.

We hadn't seen much wildlife on the way, but as we got to the bottom of the factory we happened to look up to an enormous chimney and saw a huge bird. We couldn't work out what it was at first, we could only see the tail. Then within minutes a Cormorant appeared and we soon realised they must have a nest there. It was fascinating to watch these beautiful marine birds making use of an old industrial unit.

The Cormorant letting the wind run through its wings...almost like a dragon :)

The derelict 'Wern' - The only life we saw there were the Cormorants.

From the canal we headed through Briton Ferry, passing St Mary's Church, through Church Street and eventually up to the Library on the main road. The library was built in 1901 as a public library and is a grade II listed building. It is one of the nine libraries in Neath Port Talbot that may close. Hopefully this won't happen. Read more here: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Cadw-confirm-Briton-Ferry-Library-listed/story-19966172-detail/story.html 

The Library - An iconic landmark to people in Briton Ferry (Note: pic is not mine,
but from http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk)

From the side of the library we took a very muddy (almost stream like) path into the forest behind. This is where our main walk starts. After walking up hill for awhile we were eventually greeted by a fork in the path. This is the main path into the forest: downwards would lead you to Ynysmaerdy cemetery and the back of Jersey Park, upwards would lead you deeper into the forest. This is the way we went - upwards and on...

The main path that runs through he forest - Left is down to Ynysmaerdy and right leads you deeper into the forest

Briton Ferry forest is owned by the Forestry Commission and is one of the oldest woodland areas to have survived since the last ice age covered Britain. Majestic beech trees and old oaks are some of the trees you will see, as well as firs of old plantations. You can hear birdsong all the way and no doubt in the spring it would be even more animated. Birds we saw were Great Tits, Nuthatch & Chaffinches all looking for food in the undergrowth.

Even though there is not much life on the trees a lot of them were adorned with colour fungi and lichens. Some am I am struggling to identify.

A rather interesting fungi adorns this tree - I am not sure what it's called, let me know if you do
Twitter: @sandraevans

Here is a rather fine specimen of a Bracket fungus

The path continues to keep climb uphill, and overall it's quite a hard walk on already tiring legs. At last we came to the path that leads to Cefn-Cwrt Reservoir, here we thought we would stop and have a tea. We had been here last June and were treated to beautiful water lilies and 1000s of tiny frogs. This time of year there's not much happening expect a lot of litter. Cefn-Cwrt Reservoir is an idilic spot for camping and fishing, unforutnalely one too many people leave their rubbish behind. The place was scattered with beer cans, disposable BBQs, broken glass and even a abandoned inflatable bed. Plastic bottles in the water and general waste all around made the place look unpleasant and uninviting. I felt like picking it up all myself. But one I didn't have a bag and two there is just way too much for 2 people to have carried. Why do people take the time to enjoy the great outdoors, but refuse to take their rubbish home with them? Its disgraceful, lazy and something that needs addressing. I am currently in the process of writing to Neath Port Talbot Council and the Forestry Commission about what can be done?

The litter...there's just no excuse!

Well after having a rant about litterbugs we decided to find somewhere else to rest. So off we went and once again we continued the incline until we discovered a beautiful little place with a stream and a fallen log that was meant to be a seat. Here we stayed to have our sandwiches and tea and to rest our legs.

The sweet little spot where we had our tea

It was starting to get cold and we could feel moisture in the air, so off we set again. Still climbing up we past some enormous electricity pylons and fir trees and we could now see the reservoir we had just visited.

Cefn-Cwrt Reservoir in the distance.

Up high there was glimpse of spring with this Rhododendron 

One of the enormous Pylons!

Ok, this is where the walk takes a strange turn. Back last June when we last visited we noticed that a lot of the trees in this area were burnt and there was a huge crater. Of course being a pair of Sci Fi geeks our imaginations went into overdrive and we convinced ourselves there had been a UFO landing up there and scorched everything in its path! The place felt eerie with strange noises coming from the pylons and all the trees and bushes still black. This time though the trees had bright orange goo on them - it all felt very strange. 

The strange orange goo on the dead trees (which is a fungi called 'Witches Butter'

The crater that as now been filled in, whats underneath the giant circle?

More orange goo...

Even the rocks up there look creepy!

After a lot of conspiracy theories we decided enough was enough and started to make our way down. We made our way through forest and finally came to a fork and decided to turn left towards Baglan. Through the woodlands we could hear woodpeckers and various other birdsong, but weren't able to see anything. 

The path down to Baglan...here the heavens opened :/

On the way down we discovered a sign for the Wales Coast Path so from here we decided to follow it. It lead us through Baglan woods, then back into Briton Ferry forestry and up Lady's Walk. Eventually we came out on the Old Road near McDonalds by the Briton Ferry roundabout. From here we decided to pop over the bridge that runs over the A48 and down to the Brunel tower.

The Wales Coast Path signs we followed.

The Brunel tower was refurbished in 2009 as part of a regeneration programme, An accumulator tower for the hydraulic system which operated the dock gate and cranes for the unique Briton Ferry floating dock. It opened in 1861 and closed in 1959. Designed by William Armstrong, and in 2010 a plaque at the site was unveiled to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth.

The Brunel Tower with the new Briton Ferry bridge in the distance

Marshland behind the tower and a better view of the new Briton Ferry bridge
and if you look carefully the older bridge in the distance

Briton Ferry is on the mouth of the River Neath where it enters Swansea Bay

The Brunel tower with the sun setting behind

The last section of the walk was back down to St Mary's Church, then back around the canal. The church still looks very well kept and to my knowledge is still functioning as a church. A Grade II listed building that was built in 1858 (? Need to confirm date) - But by the end of the 19th Century it had fallen into disrepair and was rebuilt. 

Behind the church was once a mansion called Vernon House. You can see it in the painting below, the big estate behind St Marys Church. I need to research this further but I am pretty sure it also acted as an asylum. More to come on this section of blog...

An artist's impression of the Vernon House

St Marys Church today, behind it is now a modern housing estate.

Still staying on the theme of churchyards our final bit of the walk was around the canal and back to Giant's Grave. Here we walked through the old Giant's Grave cemetery. It is so overrun with enormous weeds covering headstones. Sad, but creepy to see. We spent a good few minutes observing the old headstones, trying to figure out how old they were before we decided it was time to go home. My house is only 5 minutes away and so our tour of Briton Ferry came to an end....

The over run grave yard at Giants Grave.

I am definitely looking forward to doing this walk again, I know Briton Ferry woods is covered in Bluebells in the spring and there will be more birds to see and perhaps the chance of spotting bats too. When you live somewhere for so long, you take for granted whats on your doorstep. This walk taught me that some of the best things to see are just around the corner :)

An ironic £2 coin I found in my bag - Brunel :)