Cymru am bydd!

The insert that I sent out with Christmas cards this year concluded with the following rousing

reminder that the Tawe Valley, where we now are, is, despite its industrial past, very different from 'the Valleys' as the English usually think of them. It's a beautiful and intriguing place, and, what's more, very convenient, for the Gower, the Brecon Beacons, and the southern reaches of mid-Wales - the Towy Valley and Brechfa Forest. A whole wide area which anyone with a taste for British landscape and regions should know. Come and see it / us!

If you come by train, it's better to head for Neath, than Swansea. We can meet you at the station.

This is how to find us by car.

From the M4
Take the A4067 Brecon from Junction 45 (it's signed A4067 N on the junction roundabout. The lane markings on the roundabout are a bit of a pain, but basically, coming from east or from Swansea itself, you need to end up in the middle lane.) Follow A4067 Brecon signs throughout these instructions as far as the Church Road turn-off, where you leave the main road. The signing will take you over several small roundabouts (getting into the right lane can be important at at busy times). When you pass a large Tesco, you're getting closer. When you then come to a set of traffic lights, go straight over, but now look out for the Ystalyfera name sign on the left-hand verge, and then immediately for a blue bus-shelter and a left turn into Church Road. Take the turn. Go up the hill and round the bends. At the top (virtually a right-handed hairpin) you'll get a 'Pant-teg' sign. Look out for a large chapel on the right, and then two blue bus-shelters. Turn down the steep little lane before the shelter on the right. There's a small lay-by a little way down. Park there, and come in at the gate a little way back up the lane.
From the A40 (Brecon / Hereford direction)
The A4067 branches off the A40 just before you get into Sennybridge, signed to Ystradgynlais and Swansea. Enjoy a very pleasant ride! Eventually, the A4067 threads between Ystradgynlais and Ystalyfera (it actually comes through Ystalyfera in a cutting, and Ystalyfera is 'bracketed' by roundabouts where the 'new' A4067 intersects with the 'old' A4067). After the second roundabout, look out for the Godre'r Graig name sign on the left-hand verge, and then immediately Pant-teg is signed to your right. You turn right into Church Road just in front of a bus shelter. Thereafter route as above. If you come to traffic lights, you've gone too far. See route from the M4.
There is a curiosity here : the Church Road turn is in both Ystalyfera and Godre'r Graig, according to the roadside name signs ! It's not altogether without meaning - there are many small touching communities in this part of the valley, and it's evident in several locations that the exact boundaries have shifted over time.