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A bridleway is a highway over which the public can travel on foot or on horseback. Bridleway 9 is about 6.5 km long, starting on Onllwyn Road passing through Heol Hen, Seven Sisters and ending at Path 4 at the old Crynant Colliery, Creunant.
Virtual walk in pictures along Bridleway 9
The Brecon Forest Tramroad linked collieries around Onllwyn to limestone quarries at Penwyllt, and carried lime north to Sennybridge to improve the land in the upper Usk valley. When the rural market for coal and lime proved to be limited, the line was extended southwards to the Swansea Canal enabling a more profitable line in coal exports to be pursued. Joseph Claypon took over the tramroad in 1827 and extended it southwards to Gurnos. The line continued to function until 1863 when the Neath to Brecon Railway was opened.
Virtual walk in pictures along Claypon's Tramway
This walk marks the route of a Roman military road, Sarn Helen, which ran the length of Wales from Neath (Nidum) in the south to Caernarfon (Segontium) in the north. A section of this road connecting the forts at Neath and Coelbren traverses the ridge of Hirfynydd where walkers can follow in the sandaled footsteps of Roman soldiers.
Virtual walk in pictures along Sarn Helen
St Illtyd lived in the late fifth and early sixth centuries, and was held in high veneration in Wales, where many churches were dedicated to him in Glamorgan. St. Illtyd’s Way also forms part of the modern, St. Illtyd’s Walk - extending 64 miles from Margam (in Glamorgan) to Pembrey (in Carmarthenshire). This section links the Neath Valley with the Swansea Valley.