Coity Tip Trail

BLAENAVON INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE COITY TIP TRAIL

Enjoy the countryside and respect its life and work; COITY TIP No access for motorcycles and off-road vehicles; Guard against all risk of fire; TRAIL Leave all gates and property as you find them; Keep your dogs under close control, preferably on a lead; Keep to the recommended route; Leave livestock, crops and machinery alone; Take your litter home; Take care near water; Help to keep all water clean; Protect wildlife plants and trees; Take special care on uneven ground; Make no unnecessary noise.

Cover photograph: ©Steve Smith

www.world-heritage-blaenavon.org.uk

of the birds moving on just ahead of you. of ahead just on moving birds the of

pond life. As you go up the hill you will spot many many spot will you hill the up go you As life. pond

as well as bramble and gorse bushes. gorse and bramble as well as

you can spot any birds, lizards, butterflies or or butterflies lizards, birds, any spot can you you can spot any birds, lizards, butterflies or or butterflies lizards, birds, any spot can you

Willowherb to establish themselves, themselves, establish to Willowherb

Look all around you. See if if See you. around all Look Look all around you. See if if See you. around all Look eyes. your Use •

ground that allow plants like rosebay rosebay like plants allow that ground

spot them. spot

are largely unmanaged areas of of areas unmanaged largely are

out for theirs songs then see if you can can you if see then songs theirs for out

Railway embankments and cuttings cuttings and embankments Railway

Lark and Meadow Pipit. Meadow and Lark

bushes or flying high in the sky. Listen Listen sky. the in high flying or bushes

is ideal breeding habitat for Sky Sky for habitat breeding ideal is

mines until 1980. until mines hard to see. They may be hidden in the the in hidden be may They see. to hard

The short grass cover of the tip tip the of cover grass short The

for coal from Big Pit and other local local other and Pit Big from coal for Many of the birds are are birds the of Many ears. your Use •

on the site. the on Blaenavon to Pontypool was in use use in was Pontypool to Blaenavon

spoil, and add to the biodiversity biodiversity the to add and spoil, in 1954, though the section from from section the though 1954, in

will see the birds before they fly away. The The away. fly they before birds the see will will see the birds before they fly away. The The away. fly they before birds the see will

colonised the less acid areas of of areas acid less the colonised passengers in 1941, and to goods goods to and 1941, in passengers

Then you you Then Then you you Then quietly. and slowly calmly, Walk •

Madder, Spring Sedge and Small Cudweed have have Cudweed Small and Sedge Spring Madder, at Newport. The line was closed to to closed was line The Newport. at

spot you! spot Some uncommon plants like Carline Thistle, Thistle, Carline like plants uncommon Some valley through Pontypool to the coast coast the to Pontypool through valley

Don’t miss out! Spot the animals before they they before animals the Spot out! miss Don’t

Here the line carried on down the the down on carried line the Here harsh nature of the soil. the of nature harsh

Railway at Abersychan & Talywain. Talywain. & Abersychan at Railway Top Tips for Spotting Wildlife Spotting for Tips Top vegetation is quite sparse and open due to the the to due open and sparse quite is vegetation

extended to meet the Great Western Western Great the meet to extended species which like acid and alkali conditions. The The conditions. alkali and acid like which species

Midlands, and eight years later was was later years eight and Midlands,

between the plants. There is an interesting mix of of mix interesting an is There plants. the between catch sight of a Buzzard soaring overhead. soaring Buzzard a of sight catch

built in 1866 to transport coal to the the to coal transport to 1866 in built

and Bilberry. Mosses and lichens both grow well well grow both lichens and Mosses Bilberry. and of the track. Don’t forget to look up as well: you may may you well: as up look to forget Don’t track. the of

Brynmawr to Blaenavon was originally originally was Blaenavon to Brynmawr

Hawkweed and occasional patches of Heather Heather of patches occasional and Hawkweed Linnets can often be seen in the bushes either side side either bushes the in seen be often can Linnets

and Blaenavon Railway. The line from from line The Railway. Blaenavon and

(Sheep’s-fescue, Heath-grass, Bents), Mouse-ear Mouse-ear Bents), Heath-grass, (Sheep’s-fescue, along the edge of the boardwalk. Stonechats and and Stonechats boardwalk. the of edge the along

see the railway line of the Pontypool Pontypool the of line railway the see

The tip spoil is being colonised by grasses grasses by colonised being is spoil tip The 3 the trail - you may see Common Lizards basking basking Lizards Common see may you - trail the

If you look over to your right you can can you right your to over look you If

On a sunny day keep an eye open as you walk along along walk you as open eye an keep day sunny a On

side of the valley. the of side

Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway Blaenavon & Pontypool

The Trail The which you can see if you look over to the opposite opposite the to over look you if see can you which

used for the world famous Blaenavon ironworks, ironworks, Blaenavon famous world the for used

parachute.

Big Pit both originally mined ironstone which was was which ironstone mined originally both Pit Big

special and rare. and special

tone as the bird drops back to the ground like a a like ground the to back drops bird the as tone

naturally in the surrounding ground. Coity Pit and and Pit Coity ground. surrounding the in naturally

of the species found at the tip and pond are quite quite are pond and tip the at found species the of

song with notes descending in in descending notes with song pipit’s Meadow •

pond. This comes from the ironstone that occurs occurs that ironstone the from comes This pond.

this has attracted many different forms of life. Some Some life. of forms different many attracted has this

speck in the sky while it sings. it while sky the in speck deposit in the bed of the stream which runs into the the into runs which stream the of bed the in deposit

formed from the water running from the tip, and and tip, the from running water the from formed

on for several minutes. The bird is usually just a a just usually is bird The minutes. several for on If you look carefully you will notice an orange orange an notice will you carefully look you If

rich with plant and animal species. A pond has has pond A species. animal and plant with rich

joyful, whistling song which can go go can which song whistling joyful, Skylark’s •

reclaim the tip and surrounding area, which is now now is which area, surrounding and tip the reclaim (known locally as whimberries). as locally (known

When the tipping stopped, nature began to gradually gradually to began nature stopped, tipping the When isten for: isten l Spring In and Tormentil, with occasional patches of Bilberry Bilberry of patches occasional with Tormentil, and

The drier grassland patches have Wavy Hair-grass Hair-grass Wavy have patches grassland drier The

this. environment forever. environment

Marsh-orchids may be found amongst rushes. rushes. amongst found be may Marsh-orchids

grass. Meadow Pipits don’t have have don’t Pipits Meadow grass. discarded on the surface, altering the landscape and and landscape the altering surface, the on discarded

Hairy Willowherb. In the wettest parts, Southern Southern parts, wettest the In Willowherb. Hairy

the wing as they fly low over the the over low fly they as wing the waste rock and shale from the mining process was was process mining the from shale and rock waste

tussocks of Purple Moor-grass, Marsh Thistle and and Thistle Marsh Moor-grass, Purple of tussocks

white line along the back edge of of edge back the along line white once a familiar site in industrial communities where where communities industrial in site familiar a once

Sloping down to the pond are wet grasslands with with grasslands wet are pond the to down Sloping

– Look out for the narrow, narrow, the for out Look – – Look out for the narrow, narrow, the for out Look – Skylarks • primarily an ironstone mine. Tips such as these were were these as such Tips mine. ironstone an primarily

Big Pit and its predecessor the Coity Pit, which was was which Pit, Coity the predecessor its and Pit Big grass. in the willow around the pond. the around willow the in

The Coity Tip was created during the working life of of life working the during created was Tip Coity The may find these under stones or in the the in or stones under these find may may find these under stones or in the the in or stones under these find may out for birds like Reed Bunting and Willow Warbler Warbler Willow and Bunting Reed like birds for out

– You You – Beetles Tiger green Shiny • Coity Tip Coity may be thousands of tadpoles in the spring. Look Look spring. the in tadpoles of thousands be may

In the deep water Canadian Pondweed grows. There There grows. Pondweed Canadian water deep the In those orange spots as they fly. they as spots orange those

Class: Gentle walk. Gentle Class: – You can’t miss miss can’t You – – You can’t miss miss can’t You – Butterflies Tip Orange •

and rushes. and

walk. circular minute 15 Approx

Greater Bulrush, Lesser Spearwort, Marsh Horsetails Horsetails Marsh Spearwort, Lesser Bulrush, Greater Look out for: out Look

which flourish on damp soils. The margins have have margins The soils. damp on flourish which

much more wildlife. more much

COITY TIP TRAIL TIP COITY The pond is surrounded by fast-growing willows, willows, fast-growing by surrounded is pond The

divide up into several small groups – you will see see will you – groups small several into up divide

Coity Tip Pond Tip Coity 2 BLAENAVON INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE INDUSTRIAL Keep to small groups. small to Keep • If you are in a big group group big a in are you If 4 After Aberfan 11 Some of the best heathland is developed on the steep slopes above the path, where there is a mixture of Heather and Bilberry (known locally as The tipping of mine waste continued with little regard for safety until 1966, ‘Whimberries’). The large whitish clumps which look like sponges between when a coal tip collapsed on the village of Aberfan killing 144 people P o Tank G n the heath are a Cladonia lichen. including 116 children. Following this disaster, great efforts were made to a ty r p n o L o make safe or remove large numbers of tips in Wales. a l k & e s B Protecting the Environment la e If you look to your right, you will see the remains of a coal n a v o When mines close there is often a problem with flooding. Flood water in tip which was re-profiled after the Aberfan disaster in Farm n R a mines turns acidic and becomes full of dissolved iron. If this water escapes i order to make it safe. lw ay into streams and rivers it can cause serious pollution that kills much of the life present. 5 An ever changing tip A way of preventing this The underground waste which formed the Coity Tip has Pond pollution is to pass the mine spontaneously combusted and slowly burned over the 2 water through specially years to form the ‘red ash’ which is visible in parts of the lk Pond constructed reed beds which tip today. 0 50m wa ard Bo absorb the iron and purify the If you look at the base of the tip you can see where some Aberfan, 1966 water before it enters the river. of this burnt waste has been added to repair damage caused when part of A joint project between Big the tip was removed for use in building works. 3 Pit, The Coal Authority and This will eventually regenerate, as the rest of the tip has, but the timescale is Torfaen County Borough very difficult to determine as it often relies on the prevailing micro climate, Council has created a mine and other conditions. Some tips are very slow to establish; in others this water treatment scheme to Reed beds happens relatively quickly. deal with the water issuing from Big Pit and the other mines in Blaenafon. 6 The differences between the heathland and grassland vegetation 1 This scheme at Blaenavon takes place at the River Arch the emergency 4 11 evacuation route from Big Pit, just below the Gilchrist Thomas Industrial at this point are due to the soils. The soils vary as different types of rock COITY TIP from the mine have been tipped in different places. On the dry, acidic Estate. 6 spoil on the west side of the path, Heather and Bilberry dominate. On the A Blaenavon Walks Pack is available which includes several walks in the flatter, better soils on the east side (towards Big Pit), grasses and flowers Blaenavon area. The walks range from easy strolls to energetic hikes, with grow better and produce colourful grasslands. Some plants which fix 5 7 8 distances of just under 4km (2 ½ miles) to over 18km (12 miles). Included nitrogen and improve the amount of nutrients in the soil have colonised the is the Iron Mountain Trail, a two-part circular walk which takes in the major grasslands, such as Bird’s-foot Trefoil. Pond sites of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site. This pack is available at the following outlets : 7 During times of hardship and depression, many people went ‘coal n o 9 v picking’ on tips. This was an illegal activity which could bring very severe Walk Route a n • Blaenavon Tourist Information Centre e

a penalties for those caught. However, during l Route to viewpoint B • Blaenavon World Heritage Site Visitor Centre major disputes like the 1926 Miners’ Lockout and • Big Pit National Coal Museum the 1984-85 Miner’s Strike, many miners were Road prepared to take that risk to provide fuel for their A text only version is available for download at: homes. If you look carefully, evidence of coal Track 10 www.world-heritage-blaenavon.org.uk/visit/activities/walks/walks.htm picking can be seen as indentations in the top of Railway Further information about the World Heritage Site can be found at: the tip. www.world-heritage-blaenavon.org.uk/ Stream In spring and autumn keep an eye open for Other useful websites: birds stopping off on their way to and from more Big Pit Coal picking, tips at Cymmer, Rhondda c.1939 Information Panel National Museum Wales including Big Pit National Coal Museum northerly nesting areas. If you are lucky you may www.museumwales.ac.uk see a Northern Wheatear perched on the waymarker posts: look out for the Directional Posts flash of white on its back as it flies. Car Parking 8 If you look beyond Big Pit at the valley below the town, you can get a good idea of how the area would have looked before the Industrial Revolution. The only sign of human presence at the time would have been roost in the trees around the Gilchrist Thomas Industrial Estate. An to treat, and the root of the plant was also to make an astringent tooth a few farms and cottages. impressive sight if you are in the area near dusk. powder for gum disease. It has been used to treat cuts, wounds, mouth In December 2000, Blaenavon was designated as a UNESCO World ulcers, inflammation, sunburn, haemorrhoids, diverticulitus, frostbite, burns 9 Coltsfoot is abundant in the grassland area to the east. Its yellow Heritage Site for the following reason: and diarrhoea. dandelion-like flowers appear in spring before the leaves and the wind- “The area around Blaenavon bears eloquent and exceptional blown seeds rapidly colonise bare ground. The potential medical value of biodiversity is one of the key drivers for testimony to the pre-eminence of South Wales as the world’s major conservation. Much of our food, clothing, building materials and medicines Before the National Health Service existed, Coltsfoot was essential in the producer of iron and coal in the 19th century. All the necessary elements originate from biodiversity. It could help provide a solution for some treatment of all chest complaints and is still used in herbal remedies today. can be seen, including coal and ore mines, quarries, a primitive railway incurable conditions in the future. It was especially effective in helping soothe miners’ chest complaints from system, furnaces, the homes of workers, and the social infrastructure of breathing dust. Today it has an essential role at this site as it has an extensive 10 Some trees and shrubs are already colonising the tip. Broom, Rowan, their community.” root (rhizome) system that helps stabilise the banks of the tips. Hawthorn and birches occur scattered on the drier ground, and willows Although now overgrown, the tips that dominate the skyline to the left are beginning to form a wood by the stream to the south-west. It will be Many of the plant species found at the Coity Tip have historically been used and north of the town would have been part of a black scar which spread hundreds of years before the tip is covered by oak and alder woodland, as to treat illnesses and ailments. across the original rural landscape as industry intensified. It would have the area probably used to be several thousand years ago. been inconceivable to people living in the area then that this valley would Lesser spearwort, which can be found around the pond was once used Several types of birds use the dense bushes in the small woodland as cover once again be green and pleasant. in a technique called ‘Blistering’. The juice of the plant was applied to the to build their nests. Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin and Chaffinch can be temples in the treatment of toothache, sciatica and other painful conditions. As you look out over the valley one of the commonest birds you will see seen nearly all year. In spring and summer the woodland may also be home is the Jackdaw which is the smallest member of the crow family. In the Tormentil, is a very versatile plant used to treat many different complaints. to Chiffchaffs and the Common Redstart. autumn and winter huge flocks of Jackdaws, Rooks and Carrion Crows Its name is derived from the Latin tormina meaning colic, which it was used