Best of Backyard Hannah Davies

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From the cool and quiet of the Scottish Borders we, head to a the hustle and bustle of a fiery hot South Wales valley for the latest Best of Backyard series. Cwmcarn is one of the jewels of the Valley’s crown, sporting a good spread of official trails, as well as some above-the-radar off-piste options too.

Cwmcarn is the regular haunt of the latest HB.130 ambassador we’ve come to visit, one Hannah Davies. Cwmcarn lies on the eastern flank of the Ebbw valley that runs from Ebbw Vale in the north, to the north western end of Wales’ third largest city, Newport.

Whilst the landscape here is dominated by the heavy industry that was at its peak in the early 20th Century, the hill that the trail centre makes us of has been inhabited by Bronze Age settlers ahead of the Roman and Norman conquests. People have been making this place their home for the last few thousand years at least.

More recently, Cwmcarn had two coal shafts sunk into the hill, with the remnants of one of the more modest coal mines and Wales’ chief exports now being swallowed by the return of the ancient woodland.

Despite us meeting Hannah at a sensibly early time, the heat is already ferocious and we know we’re going to have to winch our way up Mynydd Maen at least twice. We all decide, without really ever saying it, that taking it easy might be the order of the day.

Through the Himalayan balsam we climb into the cool darkness of the woods. Cwmcarn’s Twrch Trail has a very different feel to Newcastleton, both in the type of trail underfoot and the massive increase in traffic that Cwmcarn has over its counterpart north of the Border.

We opt to make use of the easy ascent offered by the forest drive and despite the sun hammering down on us, it’s definitely a speedier march to the summit of the hill than it was on the singletrack. As we leave the treeline the wind drops and the heat becomes what will be the most oppressive heat of the day. This is also where Hannah will tell us “there’s shade ahead...” for the first time. The first of many. This would become the theme of the day, enjoying the cool breeze on the descents before darting between the darkness when not descending.

With the summit ticked off, we drop into the drops and berms that will lead us through the older trees on the hill, the speed ever increasing before we meet the road again. A quick blast back up the tarmac brings us to the first of the off-piste numbers and through the part of the forest that suffered a devastating fire a few years back.

While the trees that succumbed stand as reminders of the fire, hazel has taken hold and come back strong here. Beneath the statues of burnt trees is a bright green carpet of saplings as far as the eye can see. With a bit of height we can see the sea and Newport itself all glistening in the afternoon sunshine. The ground is baked hard or loose dust and thoughts turn to ice cream and lunch.

Luckily our route picks up the Twrch trail again, and after a short climb, we’re treated to the final descent to the car park that gives as much as you put in. Rollers beg you to double them up and I’m hard pushed to keep Hannah in sight, her Mullet-wheeled HB.130 making light work of the dips and crests that dive into ever-tightening berms.

As we’re spat out at the car park again, eyes turn to the cafe to take some fuel on. Ice cream, chips and some cold drink vanish before we swing our legs over our bikes and head upwards once again. More offpiste this time as we aim to try and re-do that last red descent. The jumps, whoops and berms are just too good not to lap again.

While the way-marked trails are packed hard and consistent, the off-piste offerings are loose and dusty but Hannah doesn’t seem to be struggling, local knowledge paying dividends as we do our level best to keep up. There’s a solid mix of everything here at Cwmcarn and that’s evident by the amount of different bikes in the near full car park as we roll back to the vans, happy, but sweaty.

Words & Pictures: Pete Scullion