The knee rail around the Twmp and the steps to the top – which were damaged in the fires of 2018 – will be renewed – and other cosmetic repairs to the paths and landscape around the Scheduled Monument will be addressed. And the large stockgate by the car park leading up to the ridgeway will be improved to ensure that the livestock cannot get off the mountain onto the lower common and also deter illegal off-roaders. The double fence that the society installed 10 years ago – from the car park over the ridgeway to the forest drive – has been renewed and further hedgerow planting will soon take place between the fences. This is a joint venture between Caerphilly and Torfaen Councils who gained funding for development of facilities in a rough triangle taking in Hafodyrynys across Twmbarlwm and the Mynydd Maen Ridge to Pontypool and back along the canal.Īt long last, some of of the work involving the Society has started on Twmbarlwm – and if you pop up there now, you will find a splendid new dry-stone wall creating an impressive entrance coming off the ridgeway onto the hill-fort – there will eventually be information boards there too.
Over the past few years I have mentioned to you a project that the society has been involved with, dubbed the Adventure Triangle Project. In the meanwhile I hope you checked out the Great Dig Blog and photos on our website. We were hoping that the archaeologists would be able to present their report as a illustrated Power Point talk but that doesn’t look like a possibility this side of Christmas.
(Apparently the labs that do this work have quite a backlog of work after the lockdown). Speaking of the archaeology project I’m afraid I’ve nothing to report as yet – as I told you in the last newsletter, many soil samples were sent off for examination and date analysis and until those results come back the archaeologists cannot finalise their findings and publish their report. There’s been paperwork galore to sort out since the end of the archaeological dig and unlike many MPs I find it difficult to juggle two jobs at once. Sorry it’s been a while since the last newsletter but rest assured that things have been bubbling along behind the scenes. Just a Quick Note 17th November 2021 The e-newsletter of the Twmbarlwm Society