Cynon Valley

Gloriously situated on the broad valley floor, Dare Valley Country Park close to the town has masses to do and see with wonderful walking and cycling trails and a wide variety of events including open-air concerts.

Cwmaman just to the southwest of Aberdare is a fascinating small valley deserving of a detour from the main valley. The former mining village in dramatic forest surroundings is where the Stereophonics and war poet Alun Lewis originated. Its annual environmental festival is centred on St Joseph's Church, the starting point of a wonderfully innovative woodland sculpture trail with works by renowned artists such as Robert Koenig. The community-owned Cwmaman Institute with a cinema and theatre is at the heart of the village whilst close-by the Queen Ti’s Tea Rooms is a fantastically quirky setting for some of Valleys’ tastiest snacks.

With its rows of terraced houses seemingly defying the steep western banks of the Cynon Valley, Mountain Ash (Aberpennar) perhaps epitomises a first-time visitor’s vision of a Valleys town. It hosts the famous annual New Year’s Eve Nos Galan road races, which commemorate local running hero, Guto Nyth Bran, whose statue is in Oxford Street in the town. Started in 1958, the races now attract more than 800 runners and up to 10,000 people come to see them and enjoy the associated street entertainment. Each year, a famous sports personality, whose identity is kept secret until the night, takes part in the races. Prior to the race, they place a wreath on Guto Nyth Bran’s grave at the picturesque St Gwynno's church in the deeply-wooded Llanwonno Forest overlooking the Cynon and Rhondda Fach valleys, perhaps most easily reached from the small Clydach valley via Ynysybwl just north of Pontypridd.

The Cynon joins the Taff at Abercynon, the terminus of the world's first steam railway journey at the former Glamorganshire Canal which once had 16 locks at Abercynon within the space of one mile.

Amidst the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, at the head of the Cynon Valley, Wales’ only distillery, and one of the smallest of the world,  Penderyn produces award-winning whisky. A tasting session at its visitor centre will show you exactly why it is gaining a huge reputation world-wide.

Also close to Hirwaun is Tower Colliery whose recent story is an epic one as local miners’ leader Tyrone O'Sullivan achieved heroic status by successfully organising a workers' buy out in 1992. The pit closed again in 2008 but exciting plans are afoot to develop the site.Aberdare, the main town of the Cynon valley, was built on the iron industry and greatly expanded with the sinking of coal pits in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Cynon Valley Museum and Gallery housed in the wonderfully-restored wagon repair shop of the former Gadlys Ironworks is well worth a visit with its gallery exhibiting some of the best in contemporary Welsh art, craft and design. Formerly known as the ‘Queen of the Valleys’, some have wittily tagged the town more recently as the ‘Drama Queen of the Valleys’, with the lovely 1930's art deco Coliseum Theatre a focal point for the area’s artistic activities.