Got a long weekend in South Wales with the Mrs coming up, & thinking of biking on the Saturday, something else on the Sunday, finishing with BPW (& uplift) on Monday. So I have a couple of questions..
She’s quite fit & quite able on a bike, but would Cwmbran be a bit much for her? Is it well signed? Lots of pedalling?
Secondly, thinking of going to the Big Pit on the Sunday – is it worth doing? Or can you recommend an alternative?
TIA

Do you mean Cwmcarn? I don’t know of any trails in Cwmbran, but I haven’t been there in years.

BigPit is really good, unless you don’t like the dark of course – the tour goes on for about an hour and gives you a real insight into the history of Coal Mining, the ‘guides’ are all ex-miners, if you’re a bit of a Thatcherite you may not agree with all their views, but it some of the historical conditions they faced in the dim and distant past gives you a good idea of how they became so militant in the 70’s and 80’s.

Cwmcarn only has the Caffell trail open due to logging. The Forest of Dean trail centre is close as is Ashton Court in Bristol though.

Cafell trail at Cwmcarn if that’s what you mean is fine for anyone “quite fit and quite able” on a bike. The super fit will do it in under an hour, most regular riders in under 2, even the most chilled types in around 3. And yes it’s very well signed.

As an alternative to Big Pit, you might consider visiting nearby Caerleon: only one of the most important Roman archaeological sites in the country. It bpasts a fantastic museum, the old baths and an amphitheatre. Well worth seeing.

I don’t know of any trails in Cwmbran, but I haven’t been there in years.

There’s a nice track that goes over the mountain, but it’s cheeky 🙂

Re Cwmcarn – it’s ok for anyone fit and able on a *mountain bike*, but not a general public type fit and able. It’s hard going for a newbie. Lots of pedalling, 800m of climbing.

Yeah, but then our society seems to accept the goalposts set by the government for “general public type fit” which can be fulfilled by 2.5 hours per week of brisk walking…

edit: oh and carrying some shopping to develop strength

Thanks Molgrips – that’s probably the “trail” I’ve heard about at Cwmbran. (I’ve done Cwmcarn a few times now, so might just have to introduce her to the big climb at the beginning!)

With regards to the non-biking day, are the Big Pit & Caerleon both doable in a day? One in the morning, one in the afternoon type thing?

Probably.

If you did in fact mean Cwmbran and the trail over the mountain – it’s a bit.. well.. it’s just a trail that goes up the mountain. I only came across it once, it had loads of people on it, I was going somewhere else at the time. I gathered it was the one up from Cwmbran and subsequently I heard it was in fact the locally well known one. It might give a good sense of achievement, but it’s a bit bleak up there. However given the number of people on it it would seem to be a reasonable recreational trip.

It’d probably take you 45 mins to get from Blaenavon to Caerleon, so you could certainly do both in a day if you are organised.

Mynydd Maen and Mynydd Twyn Glas are the mountains I guess you refer to above Cwmbran? There are fire roads up through the woods and then sheep trails along the tops. There are cheeky runs through the woods.

Big Pit is worth a trip, free entry as it’s a Welsh Museum, there’s also the Rhymney brewery 1/4 mile down the road from it. Not sure if it’s open Sundays. The baths at Caerleon are impressive to look around. The amphitheatre too. You can park by the amphitheatre and walk to the baths through the old barracks. Caerleon has a one-way system and the amphitheatre is before the baths.

The food at The Lion in Blaenavon is quite nice, and if you get to Cwmbran then I can recommend the cafe at Llantarnam Grange arts centre. Park for 2 hours at Morrisons and walk across the road.

Nice one, thanks Molgrips & Shedbrewed. Very helpful. Now just got to decide if she wants to do Cannock (as we’re passing) or go for Cwmcarn..
Thanks again!