Came up to the twrch from the opposite side of the mountain today. Snuck past the fences to have a nose at the trail and how it’s been affected by the tree felling. I was gutted to see that there is lots of damage to the trail!
Dose anyone know when the felling is supposed to stop? I hope they put the twrch back together before they start on the cafall side of the valley.
I think they should use some of this chopped wood to make some north shore style lines to make up for the ruined ones!
Needless to say the twrch will never be the same again!

Spoke to Bob the ranger a few weeks ago, there’s no scheduled end to works, they need to get all the effected trees out and it wasn’t ‘planned’ he was expecting months rather than weeks of work followed by a lot of rebuilding work.

It’ll never be the same, and it’ll add to the long list of trail centre trails that are almost devoid of trees 🙁

Is it the same blight that necessitated the felling at Afan?

The problem with monoculture you see.

Yeah same blight, really…. They should have closed Penhydd as soon as it was found rather than waiting 12 months – yeah they put in a free bike wash and asked riders and walkers to be careful but it’s spread to lots of other places popular with walkers and riders – that’s with 100% hindsight of course.

Fingers crossed it will get some new bits/updated sections as part of the reopening.

A bit of a shame as it’s one of the only Welsh trail centres I find enjoyable but maybe it’ll give them a chance to updated it in line with modern riding? I’m sure it’ll be back better than it was before.

I’m hoping it won’t affect the surrounding woods with natural / local trails, which are far better than the twrch ever was. Not looking good though

Been riding that trail since it first opened, glad I managed to do a lap on the last day it was open (unknowingly, I might add!). It’s been brilliant seeing it evolve and improve, one of the few really engaging and challenging trail centre climbs.

The locals are worried about Forest drive never reopening, let alone the trail. The road is destroyed in a few places from the heavy machinery pounding along it. That side of the place is going to need a massive amount of work to make it useable again. The Cafall is good but the place is definitely quieter than it was before it opened.

Sad news. I used to ride there pre twrch and even raced there on my 93 clockwork before the trails were put in! We used to work in the area forestry contracting planting lots of trees (some of the affected Larch probably). Used to love the scenic drive. Lets hope it gets sorted post felling.

It’s really gutting because it’s local, I can ride there from my house! The only other option if Cwmcarrn is buggered would be an hour over to afan or FOD which is a bit tame!
I just really hope they build the twrch back up before taking cafall apart, but I think they won’t and they’ll just bugger the whole place up!

I’m hoping it won’t affect the surrounding woods with natural / local trails, which are far better than the twrch ever was

I wish some of you smug gits would share.

And yes I have got maps out and explored, and found some interesting places.. just not found any decent singletrack!

Forget the map, get strava segment search on the go.

Wyllie, machen, hafod, pontypool and stuff off cwmcarn all close by.

D’oh, didn’t think of looking there…!

Molgrips, lots of fun to be had in Blaen Bran/Mynydd Twyn-Glas/Mynydd Maen and a very good pub (The Bush).

That’s a shame about the Twrch. We used to go to Cardiff for family weekends, and I’d always take trip there for a couple of hours blat round. Never cleaned the climb up, but the return leg was absolutely mega, fast as you dare stuff. Brilliant!

Ah.. ta shedbrewed – I never go up there because back in the day when I was exploring with a map there are only footpaths marked up there and in those days I didn’t do cheeky 🙂

Not like anyone gives a monkey’s up there though. The locals are probably pleased I’m riding a bike and not driving a stolen car.

Heading up to Cafall later today, anybody know how it’s bedding in and current conditions?

Cafall is now completely bedded in, but it’s still loose / soft in places as designed – no idea how it is at the moment, but Castle Coch is a bloody swamp.

Cheers!