A-Z of Railway Stations: E is for Ebbw Vale

A town still somewhat struggling to recover following the closure of the steel works there 40 years ago. The 'Circuit of Wales' race track on top of a mountain never came into being which I can't help think was a good thing. Cyber security company Thales have recently announced jobs going there which sounds good. Lots of European money invested but the population still has a significant pro-Brexit majority. The small museum in the old steel works headquarters is well worth a visit.

The train that I caught to Ebbw Vale, still in Arriva Train Wales colours.

Ebbw Vale Town station

It takes an hour from Cardiff Central to get to Ebbw Vale Town by train. The line heads towards Newport and then swings off north just before Newport. and heads up the valley through places like Rogerstone and Risca.

Up until 2015 the line used to stop at what is now Ebbw Vale Parkway but the new station of Ebbw Vale Town was constructed at a cost of £11.5 million. You don't get a lot for your money judging by looking at the station buildings but I guess it is all to do with laying the like and signalling etc.

The Ebbw Vale Works Museum is based in the General Offices, the former HQ for the Steelworks, and what a grand building it is. The museum, staffed by former employees it seemed, full of enthusiasm to tell me all about the former steel works. Entrance is free but donations always welcome. The building, with its fine clock tower, also houses various other offices and a small cafe.

Behind the old steelworks HQ is sheet roller.  Imagine the noise this beast used to make when it was running. 

Coleg Gwent, another building with easy access to the train station

Gwent Archives building in Ebbw Vale

Anyone with ancestors in Gwent will find the modern archives building a very useful resource, and easy to get too as it is next to the station.

The fine clock tower on the headquarters building of the former Ebbw Vale steelworks

Just part of the collection of artifacts in the Steel Works museum, each with its own story to tell no doubt, if it could. 

Ebbw Vale cable car

 There is a small cable car present that takes you up from the level of the station and college up to the level of the town. When I was there it was pretty busy with students from the college using it.  unfortunately is does seem to get vandalized on a regular basis and is frequently out of operation.

Once I was up in the town of Ebbw Vale I had a wander up and down the main street.  There were a few modern sculptures that interested me as did the  old Ebbw Vale Literary and Scientific Institute, now preserved and used for arts and entertainment purposes it seems.

Ebbw Vale Literary and Scientific Institute

In 2014 a derelict piece of land was transformed into an attractive public open space featuring a four metre high dragon.I must admit I liked the dragon. There is a geocache nearby too in case you are wondering.

The 36 foot tall stinless steel clock.  

If you look the clock up on Google you find local residents complaining that it is a waste of space and could be used for market stalls. whats worse if that the stainless steel balls at the bottom of the clock get hot in the sunshine and people are worried they may get burnt. Yes, I'm not joking. Or is it I wonder the local newspaper just looking for a story. Who knows.

After returning to the lower level of the railway station using the cable car again, I decided I fancied a walk so followed the track down the valley to Ebbw Vale Parkway station doing some geocaching on the way to keep myself occupied. I never did find the cache on the wooden footbridge even though I spent n age clambering all over it and underneath it. Ever so often I think of that cache and let out a sigh. I must go back one day.

A-Z of Railway Stations: D is for Dinas Rhondda

A day out, not so much to visit a town, but to walk up a hill. Dinas Rhondda is as the name suggests, in the Rhondda valley, between the more sizable town of Porth and Tonypandy, yes the town where Churchill sent the troops in during a miners' strike.  It is one of the stops on the way to Treherbert.

 

My Pacer for the day

It was a cold and frosty January day but the forecast was good and it did indeed stay dry all day, though the temperature never seemed to get above freezing.  One of those days when its best to keep moving.    After exiting the comfort (I use that word loosely) of my Pacer train, taking a few pics, I explored a bit of Dinas, picking up a geocache in the process.  One thing I wasn't expecting to stumble across in the town were pigs.   As I was stood just on the other side of the wall when I spotted them I had quite a freight. My dog looked a bit surprised too I must say. Their black colourings blended in very well with the colour of  field (that's another loosely used word).

A bit like a moth, this pig blends into its background very well. 

Time to head for the hills.  I'm still getting used to the fact that in South Wales you can quickly escape the noise and clutter of the town and soon be on the hills and hardly notice the towns below in the valley.  I thought I had done that today.  After a half hours walk the path was flattening out and the views beginning to appear.  The last thing I expected to see up here was ....... a town.  Trebanog seems to break the rules.  Its not nestling down in the valley for some reason but perched high up on a hillside.  Its as if someone in the planning department who didn't understand contour lines looked at a map and decided to build a village just here.  I can imagine it gets a bit nippy up here in winter when the wind is blowing.  Fortunately for me today all was calm. 

Trebanog - seems a strange place to build a town

The geocache I had come to find is aptly called Edge of theWorld.  I'd like to say it was a simple straightforward find but I'd be lying.  It took a fair old time to work out from the description given where I should be.  The undergrowth in January should be well short but the tufty reeds could hide a lot.  I read and reread the logs previous finders had left.  It seemed I was in the right place but just couldn't lay my hands on it.  I didn't want to give up.  It was a long way to walk back up here another time in the future.  Eventually I got it.  Phew. 

That's a nice way to look

I headed further along the path I had walked up and realised that if I was lucky I could descend off the hill a different way and end up in Porth and catch the train home from there.  The plan worked reasonably well except that the track, once it became steel also became very icy.  A pair of skis would have come in handy.  Luckily I stayed upright the whole way down though it was touch and go at times.  I've never seen a dog loose his footing but my poor collie dog Shadow was also sliding all over the place. 

Half way - up that is not down

The path down bought us almost into the middle of Porth.  There was just one geocache left to find and with the help of my decoy-dog it wasn't too tricky.  Another nice warm Pacer, still in Arrive Trains Wales livery, brought us back to Cardiff. 

Help me Rhondda, help help me Rhondda.

A-Z of Railway Stations: B is for Bridgend

The modern ticket office at Bridgend station

Well this is an easy challenge so far.  Spoilt for choice of where to go for a B.  In the end I decided on Bridgend more because I fancied a trip combined with a bit of geocaching.  It's an easy trip from Cardiff that's for sure as Bridgend is on the main Cardiff to Swansea line and most trains stop there.  Have I  been there before?  Not that I can recall though I must have been through it on the train many times before.

So regular is the service I didn't even bother planning my trip - just turned up at Cardiff Central and caught the next train to Bridgend.  Fortunately for me it turned out to be one of the new Class 800 trains.  My dog gave it the thumbs up and lay down quietly for the journey.

One of the new Class 800 trains at Bridgend station

Once at Bridgend I had a nose around the station, quite a mix of modern and old.  It was then out and virtually straight into the centre of town.  Yes, the River Ogmore does pass through the centre but if I was being honest it is not at its most attractive at this point.

The historic bridge in the centre of Bridgend

My hound isn't at his most comfortable in town centres - mainly sniffing out scraps of food that people have dropped.  So maybe that should be I am not at my most comfortable with my dog in town centres.  He's probably perfectly happy.  We soon escaped the main streets and the rest of the day was spent geocaching to the south west of the town along the banks of the River Ogmore, finding all bar one of the ones we looked for.  Some were a bit tricky but most were OK, some quite inventive in the way they were hidden. 

One of these creatures wasn't real.  

The Phoenix pub in an old chapel.

Another pub - tempting this one but not with the dog. 

For more news on this challenge visit:  A-Z of Railway Stations

Dewstow Hole in One

Here's a post to help some geocachers who are struggling with the cache 'Dewstow Hole in One' GC3YWND.  The golf courses on which this mystery cache was based on have now gone so getting the score cards is pretty trick.  I was lucky to be sent them by some finders which helps:-