The Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure, Cllr Ann Crimmings, has recently attended a site visit to celebrate completion of the first two phases of the Rhondda Fach Active Travel Route.
The Council is committed to creating the shared walking and cycling route, which is proposed over five phases and will span 10km between Maerdy and Tylorstown.
Phase One was completed in late 2023, creating the route’s northernmost section – stretching from north of Maerdy industrial estate to a point near the Gateway Memorial. Phase Two was completed earlier this year, and resumed the route in a southerly direction following the alignment of the former railway line.
Cllr Crimmings met with representatives from Welsh Government and the Active Travel Board, along with Council officers and the Elected Member for Ferndale and Maerdy.
During the visit, the group discussed ongoing progress in constructing Phase Four on site – as well as future aspirations of constructing Phases Three and Five, to connect even more communities.
In addition, the Council’s Heritage Manager also spoke about the four heritage benches that have been installed along the route, and what they mean to the local community.
One commemorates Spanish Civil War volunteer Frank Owen at a point near his memorial, and another marks the end of mining in the Rhondda Valleys – inspired by the lyrics of Max Boyce’s song ‘Rhondda Grey’.
A third bench honours the pioneering women of Maerdy who formed the first Women’s Support Group in South Wales during the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike – and finally the ‘Maerdy Monster’ commemorates both the name of the most powerful locomotive ever built in the UK which worked its entire life at the Maerdy Colliery, and a new species of millipede only found in Maerdy.
