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| The "Castle" |
Today Anne and I pootled off to Margam County Park near Port Talbot for a walk and a mooch. We haven't been there for donkeys years, since the kids were very small. It's only a 30-40 minute drive down the M4 from Cardiff and we got there at 10am as the park opened. It's no doubt been very busy of late, but with the schools back, and an early arrival there were just a handful of folks and a couple of dog walkers about.
Talking of dogs, at the handily placed loos near the entrance, there's a self service dog wash, which could come in handy if you have a dirty pooch after your walk.
It's £6.60 to park (pay at the entry kiosk) which seems a bit steep until you realise there's no entry fee to the place. We started off with a wander around the Orangery, a place very popular for wedding do's apparently, and as you can see from the photo, it's an impressive building.
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| Orangery |
In the same area, were the ruins of the old abbey, and quite impressive they were too. Certainly gave a feel for how the old abbey, or at least parts of it may have looked.
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| Abbey ruins |
We then walked up towards and past the "castle". This 19th Century Tudor Gothic Mansion was designed by the architect Thomas Hopper for Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot. The house was built in 1830 – 40 at a cost of £50,000 using sandstone from nearby Pyle quarry. Listed Grade I as a mansion of exceptional quality, the Castle has some spectacular features such as the vast staircase hall and octagonal tower.
Unfortunately it's closed to the public currently, and is covered in scaffold as there's restorative work going on. However, I managed to get a photo (see above) that cropped out most of the scaffold, fences and containers.
Adjacent to the castle is another set of toilets, Charlotte's Pantry, a small snack/coffee take out shop and Margam Adventure where you can hire electric bikes, mountain bikes (there are numerous bike trails around the park), pedaloes etc. However, at £15 for 30 minutes the pedaloes seemed pretty pricey to me - not that we were ever going to hire one!
Our plan was to do one of the four walks, ranging from about a mile and a half to 3 three and a half miles. All have downloadable PDF''s on the website. We chose the Cwm Phillip (green way markers). All the trails were very well marked - see the photo below, so you're unlikely to get lost. However, also note that when the guide says there are some steep parts, they're not joking!
Our path took us on a good path/trail through a quiet (we saw no-one else) valley with a stream running at the bottom. There were birds a-plenty flitting amongst the trees, and the occasional rustling in the undergrowth although we saw no four legged wildlife at this point. After a good while of (mostly) level-is walking the track turned right up a hill. It said it was steep, and it was - not ridiculously so, but you do need to be pretty fit an/or or take your time to climb up to the highest point in the park of 240m. Once up there you have pretty good views out over Port Talbot and it's steelworks towards Swansea Bay and the Gower beyond. It was pretty hazy for us, so the views weren't as good as they might have been.
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| Cwm Phillip |
As the track started to descend we bore right along an old medieval drover's track (that's what the guide said!) but instead of turning back down the valley, we went a further few hundred yards to the "Pulpit" (which is part of another trail). This circular outlook was originally built apparently as a spot for shooting pheasants, and the large rock on it was opened by Prince Charles to commemorate the Prince's Trust in Wales. The views again would be spectacular if it hadn't been such a hazy day.
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| The Pulpit |
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| Photo on the Pulpit |
As we can round the bluff at the bottom of the hill, we unexpectedly spied deer lurking on the ridge looking at us, much closer than the deer we'd previously seen had been. We had an excellent look through at them through the bins.
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| Deer on the ridge |
A little further on, we then saw another deer in a field! Beyond her we could see quite a large heard, with a large stag lying down. In an attempt to move closer we crept cautiously towards a slight rise. As I topped the rise I was confronted with another twenty or so deer about 50 yards away! Whilst a few got up, giving us the eye, they weren't overly startled, so we backed slowly away, but it's the closest I've ever been to a herd of deer!
After our deer encounter, we continued down the path and came down to the main area of the park. Along the way the views back up the ridge to the Pulpit were quite fabulous.
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| The Pulpit from the bottom of the valley |
Choosing not to go directly back to the castle, we detoured to a small farm park, adjacent to the Margam Discovery Centre a field studies centre. In the farm park were various poultry, sheep, goats, horses, cows and donkeys. Anne can't resist a donkeys so a of photos was mandatory!
Coming back out of the farm park towards the castle, we stopped by the lake for a quick snack and a 5 minute rest. By the lake we saw an inevitable array of wildfowl, plus a heron and a couple of big fish (I'd say at least a foot long) breaching on the lake.
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| One of several lakes/ponds on the estate |
Then it was the final bit of the return leg to the Castle where we grabbed a coffee and a cake before walking back to the car park for the journey home. Even by the time we left, at around 2pm the place was still incredibly quiet, so if you prefer a bit of peacefulness in your visits, I'd wager it's best to come during term-time. As an aside, it's also well served for picnic benches, benches and toilets around the main buildings.
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Recommended.
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