Lead: Liz
With the weather forecast for storm Freya to hit the area a little later in the day, 9 walkers gathered for the walk around the Thaw valley- and we were very lucky as we had no rain, some sunshine and it was quite warm for part of the time.
We left cars at Llanbethery, and walked down the road to cross the bridge over the old railway line, from Cowbridge to Aberthaw. This in itself looked worthy of a dry summer’s day exploration, especially going northwards. The Thaw valley is wide, open and with some lovely views northwards, which we all enjoyed as we made our way across the only muddy part of the walk, a couple of low lying fields, before we gained some height moving on up towards the little village of Flemingston. We had passed a pretty little copse, with nearby mounds known to be a site of ancient village earthworks. The village itself has some interesting houses, a good view across the valley and as several of us knew that ‘just around the corner’ there was a nice long low wall, ideal for our coffee break. We then headed northwards along a quiet country lane towards Gigman bridge, where the River Thaw looked a rather more robust river than lower down, probably because at this point it had not yet divided into a number of rivulets.
Once on the country road towards Llantrithyd, we had to take considerable care as numerous cars whizzed by, so we were glad to stop by the ruins of a very old pub and have our photo taken, after a lunch break.
From here it was still quiet country road walking, ideal for a somewhat otherwise potentially muddy day and after a couple of steep pulls up short hills we were back on the ‘main drag’ and soon heading into Llanbethery and the cars. It was good to welcome Ray, and hope he will feel able to try another of our walks in the future.
Thank you to all who came along- a new area for several people and an enjoyable return for those who had done the walk before. Total distance was a little under 6 miles done at a moderate pace, so not too exhausting!
Wick Wanderers 