Gilwern Mountain From Pant Y Beiliau

A Memory of Gilwern.

Looking across the Clydach Gorge from Pant-y-Beiliau Farm, before the Heads of the Valley Road was built. Brunant Farm in the middle of the picture. My grandparents’ house is in the middle left. The railway line running clearly across the middle. I grew up in a new house built next to my grandparents, so it’s fascinating for me to see how things looked before I was born. The thing that strikes me, apart from the new road, is how much the tree cover has grown since then. Yes, there’s a big new road at the bottom. I remember the second line of pylons being erected - but they don’t stand out against the hillside. You can still trace the railway line, even though it was perhaps already closed at the time the photo was taken. What’s changed is that the fields are less well tended, and the hedges have been allowed to grow.