The Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk is a waymarked

long distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

in the UK forming a circular walk in the

Rhymney Valley The Rhymney Valley () is one of the South Wales valleys, with the Rhymney River forming the border between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Between 1974 and 1996 a Rhymney Valley local government district also existed (one o ...

area of

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

.Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk - Long Distance Walker's Association
accessed 1 November 2013
accessed 1 November 2013.

Distance

The Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk is approximately 45 kilometres (~28 miles) long.

Route

The walk route starts at

Rhymney Rhymney (; cy, Rhymni ) is a town and a community in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. With the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymney is ...

and heads south down the

where it becomes a circular loop and runs around the

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...

basin linking the three main upland ridges of Mynydd-y-Grug, Thornhill/ Y Ddraenen and Eglwysilan and passes through Caerphilly,

Bedwas Bedwas is a town situated two miles north-east of Caerphilly, south Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Bedwas neighbours Trethomas, Graig-y-Rhacca and Machen, and forms a council ...

Hengoed Hengoed () is a village on the west side of the Rhymney Valley - between Ystrad Mynach to the south and Cefn Hengoed to the north. Across the valley it looks towards Maesycwmmer. The village is in the county borough of Caerphilly, in the trad ...

Rudry Rudry ( cy, Rhydri) is a small village and community (Wales), community located to the east of Caerphilly in Wales. As a community Rudry contains not only the village of Rudry, but also the villages of Draethen, Garth and Waterloo, Caerphilly, Wat ...

and

Machen Machen (from Welsh language, Welsh ' "place (of)" + ', a personal name) is a large village three miles east of Caerphilly, south Wales. It is situated in the Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly borough within the Historic counties of Wales, ...

, the highest point on the route is at Cefn y Brithdir at 446 metres. The South Wales Valleys offer a post-industrial landscape full of

industrial archaeology Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past. This evidence, collectively referred to as industrial heritage, includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, sites, infrastructure, docu ...

, reclaimed industrial sites and new light industry to replace the heavy

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

industry of old. The area also has castles such as

Caerphilly Castle Caerphilly Castle ( cy, Castell Caerffili) is a medieval fortification in Caerphilly in South Wales. The castle was constructed by Gilbert de Clare in the 13th century as part of his campaign to maintain control of Glamorgan, and saw extensi ...

and

Ruperra Castle Ruperra Castle or Rhiwperra Castle is a Grade II* Listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument, situated in Lower Machen in the county borough of Caerphilly, Wales. It was built in 1626, now it is in a ruined condition. History Built in 1 ...

, prehistoric and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

age sites and offers the day walker and the whole route walker a mix of demanding upland walking, panoramic views and, varied sites to visit and places to stay.

References

{{Transport in Caerphilly County Borough Recreational walks in Wales Long-distance footpaths in Wales Transport in Caerphilly County Borough