Yes, I admit it. I’m a bit of a list man. So with my challenge to have a pint of Guinness in every European Capital City soon drawing to a close it was time to think of a new challenge. That’s where this one came from. The idea was to travel a bit more by train, but to take the effort of having to think about where to go next I thought I would go through the alphabet, hence A is for Aberdare. There’s quite a few stations starting with A in Wales so why did I choose Aberdare? Well it’s not a town centre I have explored much in the past, only sort of driven through it – not that there is that much of a town centre. Someone asked if I was doing the challenge in Welsh or English. No need to decide just yet. They both begin with A. So in January 2019 I thought let’s go and see what there is.
From the train station it is only a short walk up into the town though not exactly in a straight line. There are some main roads to get across and the route is a bit wonky.
From Aberdare town centre we walked up to Dare Valley country Park. It’s a pleasant walk of around an hour I guess, though I was dawdling quite a bit or should I say geocaching, which slowed up progress a bit as some of the geocaches were tricky to find. It was a good route for the dog too. At the end we were rewarded with finding a tea shop. No dogs allowed in the main tea room but they are allowed in the foyer of the building on the opposite side of the courtyard so we went there and sheltered from the cold weather.
There was just time to walk back down to town and meet up with a friend for a drink in a good Aberdare pub before heading home having enjoyed the start of another challenge. Only 25 letters to go now. Will I make it I wonder?
Date of visit: 11 January 2019
See progress so far: A-Z of Railway Stations
Cardiff Capers 