Cwmbran, a canal, a river, four pubs, and two bugs

In Cwmbran for a couple of days in the sweltering sunshine again, today's plan is an early morning mixed-terrain outing along the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, and our river the Afon Llwyd. I've arranged to meet up with another runner, abbreviated nickname Shep, at Two Locks on the canal 6:30am. I have about a mile of road work to get to the meeting point and, by design, I am there first. I take a few pictures in the area and watch the canal for a couple of minutes waiting for Shep, he soon arrives from an unexpected direction, he has taken a wrong turn somewhere near the town centre.

Looking north along the canal at Two Locks from the road bridge

The old Ebenever Baptist next to the bridge. 

Looking south from the road bridge

To my left pub number one, The Waterloo

I remember fishing with nets here as a child

Shep arrives from an unexpected direction

We start running to the south along the canal down beside the water feature now at two locks, the actual locks are long gone, this part of the canal is far from navigable on the water. I'm enjoying the lilies on the still water. There is some restoration work on the locks further south. It seems like no time and we reach Pentre Lane. You can turn right here for a long steep ascent to the Castell-y-bwch and Henllys. We turn left for a shorter easier ascent to pass pub number two, The Three Blackbirds. Still on the roads we speed up as we descend again on the old Newport Road toward Llantarnam and pass pub number three, The Greenhouse. Shep comments on the pretty church here. I should have taken a photo for the memory, my brother and me were both christened there.

The water feature at Two Locks from below

Loving the lilies on the still water

Further south there is restoration work on the locks

Turn left to ascend Pentre Lane ...

... to the popular pub Three Black Birds, and  on the roads passing ...

... also popular pub Greenhouse

Now we pass the biscuit factory and share some stories about the bad smells from this place and the mars bar factory in Slough, then over the railway line and the river, and to the left a low section of stone wall. Below to the left are superb small trails through the woods alongside the river. You have to a little bit scramble down and then clamber over a barded wire fence. I get the impression Shep is less used to this kind of action, he feels a sense of adventure, and carries it off with aplomb. Aaah, now this is my kind of running, the sight of the river, and Shep takes a nice picture of the happy old plodder. I pause to admire a small weir and the trees in the parkland. Shep takes the opportunity for some refreshing splashing in the still water above the weir.

Down to the left for super trails through the trees ...

... this is more like it ...

... beside the river ...

... a happy old plodder

Pretty little weir and a nice spot for a paddle ...

... and admire the trees in the parkland.

Just a couple of hundred meters along we pass a larger weir and a briefer pause without paddling. Too soon we're off the trails into a car park, a footbridge over the river, and a minute or so on roads before little old dirt paths between the houses will return us to the trees. We are near to Chapel Lane now and nearby hotel where Shep departs to prepare for a day of work. I continue uphill on Bevan's Lane to return to the canal, and pause on the bridge to enjoy views toward the hills I ran over last weekend.

The second, larger, weir

Old dirt paths between the new houses

Shep departs, the day of work ahead

Uphill on Bevan's Lane

From the road bridge, I'm admiring views towards the hills ...

... and to the south along the canal

The canal here is very peaceful and soon disappears briefly through a tunnel. The water is still in the mooring area and you do see boats here, the canal north is navigable on the water. The pretty white house and reflection in the water are something to behold. Continuing south there is a flight of locks down which are long out of use, and some have been turned into water features. I see a mother duck and three little ones.

The canal is peaceful here ...

... and briefly disappears into a tunnel.

The water is still in the mooring area ...

... and I'm delighted by the sight of this pretty white house.

The flight of locks below is out of use ...

...  it makes a good place for a family of ducks.

The canal disappears underground and briefly reappears again near the shopping centre in Cwmbran. The footpath follows a cycle route although you can scramble down to peer along the water underneath an old bridge. I might explore here one day, but today I return to the cycle path. There's a fork ahead, the left is marked for bicycles, the right for pedestrians and bicycles. I know I must take the left bringing me to pub number four, The Halfway, in Old Cwmbran. I wonder if Shep had taken the right a couple of hours ago.
The canal is soon regained near the old iron arch as the cycle path runs alongside the water.

Peering under old bridge near two centre.

The best choice at the fork  brings me to The Halfway in Old Cwmbran ...

... and passing the old iron arch ...

... the canal is at last regained.

The cycle track crosses the canal at the end of Star Street on a small bridge and I've always crossed here. It looks like there's a nice rough bit of track through the undergrowth before the crossing so I decide to try that way today for a change. Its nice enough until the path becomes overgrown with bushes where I attempt to swerve around, my left foot crosses over in front of my right foot but alas does not find solid ground, I slide a little into the water, my right foot joins my left foot, luckily I can easily pull my way back out and backtrack to the bridge. Oh well, at least this little experience has cooled my feet. I'm soon approaching Two Locks again and back-tracking my footsteps of earlier this morning. There's a shady spot along the hard footpath where I can hop up the bank and over the fields. I can see the pimple atop Twmbarlwm on the horizon and I'm having pleasant memories of running up there last weekend. I just need to turn over the footbridge in the distance and then in a moment I'm dome.

Yay some rough stuff.

Returning to Two Locks

In this shady spot, hop up the bank ...

... and over the fields near the finish.

That was a good early outing today, just under 18km, an undulating route with a small total ascent of about 170m. I met Shep at Two Locks about 6:30am and we ran together for about 10km, which was really nice. Due to a bit of a garmin fail at Two Locks (forgot to restart the thing) I'm guessing my total run time at two hours, never mind, time doesn't matter to me this morning.

Update: Had a nice lunch with family at The Greenhouse!

Enjoy!