Valley tracks explored in circular route
ON Sunday, December 16, Carolyn and Dennis Hills led a walk with the option of a seven-mile circular or a 10-mile figure of eight walk in two wide circles around the Nantgaredig/ Pontargothi area of the Towy Valley.
The walk had a pleasant mix of riverside paths beside two major rivers – the Cothi and the Towy, quiet country lanes and roads, some interesting scenery and a visit to a medieval church. The skies were overcast and the weather forecast was for a rainy afternoon.
The walk started from the War Memorial Hall car park in Pontargothi from where they walked down the road to the showground and picked up a footpath that led around the ground and into the fields beyond to meet the Cothi at a bend in the river.
They followed the river briefly then turned westward across the fields bypassing the confluence of the Cothi and Towy to a spot where Carolyn stopped to point out the fact that they were now standing on what was once the route of the Carmarthen to Llandeilo railway line.
They continued in the same direction to meet the B4310 at Dyffryn-Towy in Nantgaredig.
They turned left along the road for a few hundred metres until they reached a stile opposite Llandiloyr-Ynys farm just before Pont Llandilo-yr-Ynys on the B4310 and entered a field to follow a footpath that runs down river along the northern bank of the river Towy for about a mile passing the weir.
As they stopped to cross stiles into the next fields they could see evidence of the flooding caused by Storm Callum some weeks earlier in the hedgerows about five or six metres higher than the level of the river.
The path crossed the route of the old Carmarthen to Llandeilo railway line (no sign of the new cycleway/footpath) then became a muddy track that led into the farmyard of Danyrallt farm on the A40.
They used the grass verge as they walked along the A40 towards Whitemill for about a quarter of a mile to reach Alltygog farm then turned into a quiet country road.
The road ran up hill about half a mile, passing Penbryn before it became a green lane that ran around the side of a hill.
Turning northward they descended the hill passing through fields to a lane at Wern-drefi to reach the church at Llanfihangeluwch-Gwili where they stopped for lunch and then entered the church to catch up on its history.
In the afternoon there was about a mile and a half of country road walking as they headed eastward through New Cross then down to meet the Brechfa road near Nant y saer and continued in the same direction until they reached the Cothi and followed it down river to meet the A40 at Pontargothi to complete the first loop just 100 metres from the start point.
At this point there was an option to complete the seven-mile stage of the walk whilst the remainder of the walkers continued for a further three miles – crossing the river via the A40 road bridge and passing the Cothi Bridge Hotel they aimed for the Salutation public house and took the lane beside it heading towards Allt y Ferin nurseries on the Alltyferin Estate to the woodland near Cilarddu.
The rain now became steady as they circled around the countryside to cross the A40 again at Tirdail into Llanegwad and followed a pleasant lane through Kincoed farm down through woodland to reach the Cothi again and this time followed it up river back along the road to complete the second loop when they reached the Cothi Bridge Hotel.
They crossed the Cothi once more and passed the showground back to the memorial hall to complete the walk.
New members are always welcome and details of the group and advice for interested walkers is available on the website www.carmarthenramblers.org.uk produced by Carolyn Hills.
The next walk will be on New Year’s Day when Peter Loughran will lead a five-mile walk along a new section of the Towy Valley cycle track and some quiet country roads in the Abergwili/Whitemill area.
Further details are available on 01267 236550.