Dai, Rob & Max the dog selfie

Then Rob fell backwards and I was looking the other way and I missed the photo so I was obviously not firing on all cylinders but we said our goodbyes at the bridge (we'll be going over there soon) and I carried on. 

The Bridge over the River Neath

It was a frosty December morning, the temperature was hovering around 3 degrees, cold but not freezing. I'd started off at around 10.00am and the ground was a bit icy but I managed to remain upright. I'm extremely familiar with this part of the walk so was enable to enjoy the view of the river and feel the sunshine on my face, despite the frost and the chill in the air it still felt quite warm. It was a good day and I was looking forward to Marshall's burger van for a late breakfast.

The girls inside are waving but just didn't show up on the photo, are they ghosts maybe. My Big Boy Breakfast Roll certainly wasn't and it filled a lovely big hole in my tummy. The walk continued back where I came from and I was aiming to come back along the mountain and drop back into Glynneath. Then I hit a problem, the public bridleway I was on was blocked off with a fence and a sign 'danger radiation'. So I headed up to the shed sales place to see if there was an alternate route and to enquire about sheds, because you'll never know when you may need one. As luck would have it the lady of the house was passing in a car and she let me know there was no path there and there were no alternate routes in that direction. So I headed back down and cut through the trees to the bridleway and a possible dose of radiation sickness/death. The track proceeded up the mountain and around through the back of the colliery. There were no signposts but I had the map and magnifying glass out and all was well. I continued to follow the marked bridleway on the map and was soon into motorcycle scrambling territory with the associated noises in the background, there were plenty of tracks and rutted areas, route tapes and arrows so this was a well used area. Keeping an eye out for Ivan Mauger or any of his friends I plodded on and without deviation from my route reached the turn for home. It was here I saw a sign facing the other way warning me of the motorsport activity. I was obviously lucky to be alive.

Down I went and alongside ran a cascading stream, although the course of it looked man made it was quite picturesque. The forestry track turned the corner and the path soon turned into a concrete road after a gate. Thankfully it wasn't as icy here as it had been riverside because the path was wet and later on had a stream running on it and if this was ice it would have been an absolute nightmare. I made it back into Glynneath in one piece and spent 5 minutes looking around the graveyard at St Cadoc's Church, Aberpergwm. By this time the air had heated up nicely and the gloves were off. Through the Manor gates and onto the road and back to the finish via the 'Road to Nowhere'. Just a short word about the 'RTN'. It's the old town bypass which linked the old A465 up to the dual carriageway before they dualled it all the way to Neath. It has no access road and is only used by dog walkers, runners, bikers and the like. It's about 400 metres long, I don't know why but I just love it, I think maybe it's the jaywalking aspect, the fact that I can walk or even lie in the middle of the road without getting run over. Back to the finish and I'm done.

My first WAW blog and my first problem, a blocked path. So what do I do about it ? do I get involved with access issues, do I contact my local councillor or council. I think the answer is nothing, I want to keep this website positive and this is a negative step forward, I'll just find another way to get to where I wanted to go and If I've done wrong then I'm sure someone in authority will find out by reading this and lock me up.  But if someone out there wants to campaign for this right of way to be re-opened or want to take this forward then here's the info about the location.

Grid Ref: SN 862  058  - Derifach Lane, Aberpergwm, Glynneath