Saturday 9 July 2016

Dare Valley Country Park Adventures....

So I've finally taken the plunge and decided to purchase my first Digital SLR Camera. Photographing the outdoors is something I've always enjoyed something I have taken from my Grandfather (I'm sure you'll see more of him in coming posts). I've decided to purchase a Canon EOS 1200D with an additional 75mm - 300mm Lens all of the photographs in the coming posts will be from this or my trusty iPhone 6.

I absolutely love the outdoors and any chance I get I'm out exploring with my trusty companion Oscar (He's the little Westie in a lot of the photos) and often my girlfriend (www.lippyinthecity.com) will tag along for a morning stroll, or if its something more strenuous my cousin or Grandfather will join us too. I currently work shifts so I am lucky enough to get 4 days off at a time (plenty of chance to explore new places).

Today I took the opportunity to go for a walk I haven't done for years. I packed the camera, harnessed up Oscar and headed to the Dare Valley Country Park. This is somewhere that is around 10 minutes drive from home and I instantly realised what I had been missing these last few years. 

The Dare Valley Country Park is situated at the top of the Aberdare Valley nestled between the town itself and the suburb of Cwmdare. It has recently undergone development and is continually growing, the recent redevelopment of the visitor centre and outdoor pursuit centre has been of great benefit to the local community, as well as providing a nice little quiet area for a sandwich or two. 


We entered the park from the Cwmdare entrance and parked near to the outdoor activity centre. From there we headed west along the Bwlfa trail towards the horseshoe style mountain Tarren y Bwlfa (known locally as the Darren) and taking in the small village of Bwlfadare. All in all this walk is around 2 miles however you can shorten this by lapping the first lake which makes it perfect for those after a more shorter walk or with younger children.


Upon the start of the walk we chose to stroll along the Dare river listening to it trickle past as in the silence of the Welsh valleys. After a short while you exit the canopy of the trees and are able to take in the lake and its surrounding beauty. We then moved on a little further up the lake to a point where you are able to walk down onto the lake shore, Oscar in particular loved this point as he got to make a friend and go for a swim. Admittedly I did not expect there to be so much mud at one edge resulting in the dirtiest Westie ever! As you can imagine I was very encouraging of him to have another swim/ bath.  









From the lake the path continues west towards the site of one of many covered mine-shafts in the valley and the nearby reservoir. The reservoir was teaming with wildlife from a family of Crows in the trees, to Swallows dive bombing the water to catch the selection of insects flying over it. There were also a variety of Dragonfly in the nearby reeds.





As we continued further East we approached the site of the old Bwlfa mine-shaft and the site that lay around it, nestled into the foothills of Tarren y Bwlfa its quite an imposing site. Just standing there for a few moments with my Grandfather as he regaled tales of he journeys from the local college to the pit canteen for beans on toast for breakfast at 3 shillings a time.


We then began the stunning walk back to the visitors centre along the river banks again. There is a path that heads slightly further up to the the bottom of Tarren y Bwlfa to a plinth that provides a vantage point for watching the Peregrine Falcons that have been known to nest on the cliffs, however this is for another day.

As we approached the visitor centre it was lovely to see so many vehicles filling the car park and using the visitor centre facilities, these include several meeting rooms, a beautiful cafe and also a selection of hotel rooms and camping facilities for both caravans and tents. We walked through the visitor centre and back to the car, not stopping on this occasion for a coffee however we will be returning.



I thoroughly hope you enjoy my first ever blog, please feel free to comment on your favourite places to take a leisurely stroll or with any tips for my photos or blog...

2 comments:

  1. Excellent first blog Garrad. Well done

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  2. Amazing blog, such beautiful pictures and Oscar looks like he's having fun x

    ReplyDelete