Craig Gwladys walk
Enjoy impressive views of the lower Neath Valley from the higher points of this circular walk, which links into the village of Cadoxton.
Stretch your legs along the towpath on the Neath Canal
The steep, rugged hillside was formed by glacial ice during the last Ice Age and the park features two series of high, vertical crags of massive Pennant sandstone.
Map
Start:
Aberdulais Tin Works and Waterfall, grid ref: SS769995
1
Turn right out of the entrance to Aberdulais Falls and follow the pavement until you reach a set of steps. These take you through a small housing development and onto the road. Go up the hill until you reach the park entrance on your left, just beyond Cilfrew Primary School.
Aberdulais Falls
Your starting point at Aberdulais Tin Works and Waterfall. This circular walk links the Victorian tinplate works at Aberdulais with surrounding industries including coal mining and iron making, which supplied raw materials for the Aberdulais tinplate men.
2
Follow the left-hand path to the upper car park. Turn left alongside a stream for about 10yd (9m) then take the path to your right.
3
Follow the path up a steep hill to a T-junction where you turn left.
Bursting at the seams
The underlying rocks are part of the Upper Coal Measures of the carboniferous system deposited around 300 million years ago. Two coal seams run roughly parallel to the central footpath or 'dram road', the Hughes or Wenallt seam and the thinner Garlant seam. Wenallt Colliery was the source of coal used in the Aberdulais Falls works.
4
Continue upwards to the top of the hill with the woods on your left and Neath Golf Course on your right. The panoramic views of the Neath and Dulais Valleys are breathtaking.
Rich flora and fauna
The park has a mix of woodland from traditional sessile oak, rowan and birch to Japanese larch, which seems to thrive on colliery waste. The park is teeming with wildlife including purple hairstreak butterflies, great spotted and green woodpeckers, sparrowhawk, buzzard, raven, tawny owl, wood warbler and meadow pipit. There's also a heronry, squirrels, badgers and foxes. The thin, acid soil supports heather, bilberry, tormentil, wood sorrel, herb robert and a very healthy bluebell population.
5
Follow the path back down the hill until you reach a well-marked 'dram' road. This takes you down to the main road in Cadoxton village. Cross the road and follow a short path to the canal side.
The Tennant Canal
This is the Tennant Canal, built by George Tennant in 1790 to link the Neath and Tawe rivers with the Neath Canal, the mills at Aberdulais and the docks in Swansea. Tennant came to the Neath area from London in 1814 and worked the coal mine on the estate (Redding Colliery). A drainage stream from the colliery was converted into a short navigation canal and using this and the dram road you're walking on, he delivered his coal to a wharf on the River Neath near the town bridge. This short canal became known as the Rhyddings Canal.
6
Turn left on to the towpath.
The Neath Canal
Having succeeded in his first venture, Tennant looked for other projects in which to invest his considerable wealth. He bought the Cadoxton Estate in 1816 and established a home there. Seeing the success of the Neath Canal in transporting the mineral wealth of the valley down to the shipping point at Giants Grave - and the limitations of the river shipping facilities there - he conceived the idea of transshipping trade from the Neath Canal to the better shipping facilities at Swansea.
7
Follow the path to the canal basin. Turn right under an old railway bridge, then right again onto the road by the Railway Inn. Go over the bridge across the River Neath and turn immediately right. Pass the Royal British Legion and follow the path under the dual carriageway and out onto the road opposite Aberdulais Falls.
Canal basin
The canal from Swansea to Aberdulais is lock free. To make the junction at Aberdulais, a lock was added to bring George Tennant's Canal up to the level of the Neath Canal. The famous ten-arch, 113yd (104m) long aqueduct across the River Neath was started in May 1823. The aqueduct was then extended to cross the old 1750s navigable cut at Aberdulais using a single-span cast iron trough. The 8 mile long (12.8km) canal opened on 13 May 1824 and enabled Aberdulais tinplate to be exported all over the world.
End:
Aberdulais Tin Works and Waterfall, grid ref: SS769995
