All walks › Bannau Brycheiniog: Fforest Fawr and the Waterfalls
Bannau Brycheiniog: Fforest Fawr and the WaterfallsThe Penderyn Tramway
Old tramway between the limestone quarries and the Hirwaun ironworks, running level across the ground where the coalfield meets the park.
- Distance
- 3.7 mi / 6 km
- Time
- 2 hr
- Ascent
- 120 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Shape
- There and back
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
Follow the tramroad formation between the two villages and retrace your steps. Level with good surfaces.
Worth knowing
- The tramway carried limestone down to the ironworks as flux for smelting iron.
- Penderyn distillery in the village is the first legal Welsh whisky distillery in a century.
- Level walking, which is unusual for this edge of the park.
What you’ll see
The tramroad formation, limestone quarry ground, and the escarpment north.
Background
Hirwaun ironworks needed limestone flux, and the tramway supplied it from the quarries above Penderyn from the 1810s.