By Joy Strangward

A GROUP of fifteen walkers joined Sheila from Penarth and District Ramblers at the main car park of Hensol Forest at the start of a 7.5 mile walk taking in some of the glorious Vale of Glamorgan countryside.

In beautiful summer sunshine they set off strolling along forestry paths before joining a country lane and heading past and down the side of Llwyn Du, a house that was once owned by the famous Welsh superstar Sir Tom Jones during the 1990’s.

Following a leafy corridor between two fences that zig zags around the property they emerged into a field containing young cattle who challenged them temporarily.

Then making their way along a path that had been previously cleared by the leader they emerged into open fields with stunning long distance views to the north, east and west. After stopping for their morning break they headed across fields that surround Gareth Bale’s country home in Wales before crossing a stile for some road walking.

As they moved on they caught occasional glimpses of Talygarn, where the house and grounds were created by George T Clark, whose interests veered from qualifying as a doctor and surgeon to engineering when he worked for Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the construction of the Great Western Railway and later managing the Dowlais Ironworks.

They turned off the road into the cool forest which was sheer pleasure as the heat was rapidly rising and made their way towards the manicured lawns of the Vale Resort, pausing to admire Llwyn Yoy pond with its collection of geese, damsel and dragon flies and delightful water lilies. A little further on they stopped for a break in the shade of the trees at Llwyn-rhyddid Heronry, that was once one of the most important breeding sites in Wales but which has been closed for several years because of Ash dieback in the trees where the herons nest.

Suitably refreshed they continued walking around Home Farm admiring its beautifully restored buildings before making friends with a lovely Boxer puppy who wanted to join in the walk. Some more lane walking led them to the imposing entrance to Llwyn- Rhyddid which was the principle farmhouse of the Hensol Estate, let by the Talbot family to Samuel Richardson who was High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1798 and who improved the countryside during his tenure, and one of its outbuildings still has a water wheel attached.

Passing through a kissing gate they crossed two meadows that were filled with a variety of grasses and thistles, while identifying self- heal, common birdsfoot trefoil and wild mignonette. Back onto the road and pausing to allow a horse box to manoeuvre out into the lane led them to the entrance to The Gallops, which was very overgrown as they passed through on the journey to Tre-Dodridge.

Deviating off the road and entering a recently cut meadow where the footpath has been diverted they headed up a slope before pausing to drink in the surrounding views and passing through two kissing gates, a climb led them to Ty-Fry Farm, once the country estate of the Insole family. Unfortunately the landowner had bolted the gates shut despite it being a public footpath, but having climbed over they stopped to enjoy their lunch taking full advantage of the shade of some magnificent beech trees.

A descent towards a wooded area led them past cattle grazing for the climb towards Warren Mill Farm, a 17th century farmhouse which had a corn mill and pond. Descending back into the forest, a narrow winding path bordered with tall foxgloves led them past fallen trees and back out onto a lane. Past the Vale Cider complex and Owl’s Lodge re-named from Forester’s Lodge, to arrive at Pysgodlyn Mawr Lake where a new weir has been built. The lake and surrounds are a triple SSSI and 64 species of birds have been recorded within a 5- mile radius. Glorious pink and white water lilies adorned the surface as they watched damsel flies and dragon flies dance over the water, before returning onto cool paths in the forest for the last mile back to their start.

You can follow the group at www.penarthramblers.wordpress.com or on Facebook.