Caerphilly Woodlands Trust

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The 'long pond', located within Coed Y Werin.

 

Welcome

Coed Y Werin (loosely translated as the woods of the common people) is an area of forestry owned and managed by the Caerphilly Woodlands Trust (CWT) on behalf of the people of Caerphilly - who know the area by its old name of 'the clay pits'.  

The site has been given the important status of site of specific scientific interest because it reveals over 350 million years of geological history, a sort of 'storyboard'.  You will be able to see coal seams that were famously mined in the Rhondda, Taff and Rhymney valleys.  The coal was taken all over the world from the ports of Cardiff and Barry.  You may be able to find fossils that were trapped in the layers of coal, mudstone and ironstone, formed when tropical swamps covered the area in prehistoric times.

Wildlife

Coed Y Werin is full of wildlife, including endangered dormice.  There are bats that can be seen in the late evening, and amphibians such as frogs and newts.  

The area is a birdwatchers paradise, with buzzards, woodpeckers, herons, crossbills, kingfishers, owls and many others in abundance.

Location

Coed Y Werin lies within the forested area at the Wernddu end of Cefn Carnau Lane and is found by walking along the route of the old dramway, a rail track built to take clay and coal out of the site.  

From Caerphilly town centre take Van Road, travelling past the Goodrich Hotel and Caerphilly Business Park.  Turn right into Cefn Carnau Lane at Wernddu, cross the railway bridge and the entrance to Coed Y Werin is on your right as Cern Carnau Lane bends sharp left.

From Cardiff take the mountain road towards Caerphilly.  Pass the Travellers Rest Inn and Ridgeway Golf Range then turn right into Cefn Carnau Lane.  After 1 mile approx, the entrance to Coed Y Werin is on the left as Cefn Carnau Lane bends sharp right.

 

Work in progress rebuilding narrow gauge railway bridge

 

Caerphilly Woodlands Trust is a registered charity (number 1094799)     Website created by Business By Computer Limited