Cefn Manmoel
Encyclopedia
Cefn Manmoel is the name given to the broad ridge of high ground between the Sirhowy Valley
and Ebbw Vale
in the Valleys region
of South Wales
. It straddles the boundary between the unitary areas of Caerphilly
and Blaenau Gwent
.
The NNW-SSE aligned ridge achieves a height of 504m at OS grid ref SO 166072. To the south it drops away to a broad saddle southeast of the village of Manmoel, beyond which lies Mynydd Pen-y-fan.
Parts of both its eastern and western flanks are afforested with conifer plantations such as at Coed y Rhyd and at Coed y Llanerch.
, a rock assigned to the Carboniferous Upper Coal Measures
.
The flanks of the hill owe their steepness in part to the action of glacial ice
during the succession of ice ages
.
There are numerous abandoned quarries on the steep flanks of the ridge.
under the CRoW Act thus giving a right of access to walkers. Similar rights apply to some of the afforested areas. There are a number of public footpaths and other public rights of way over the hill. The Sirhowy Valley Ridgeway Walk
and the Ebbw Valley Walk
follow some of these routes.
Sirhowy Valley
The Sirhowy Valley is an industrialised valley in the eastern part of the Valleys region of South Wales. It is named from the Sirhowy River which runs through it. Its upper reaches are occupied by the town of Tredegar within the unitary area of Blaenau Gwent...
and Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...
in the Valleys region
South Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
of South Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It straddles the boundary between the unitary areas of Caerphilly
Caerphilly
Caerphilly is a town in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, located at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport, which are located some 7.5 miles and 12 miles away, respectively...
and Blaenau Gwent
Blaenau Gwent
Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and...
.
The NNW-SSE aligned ridge achieves a height of 504m at OS grid ref SO 166072. To the south it drops away to a broad saddle southeast of the village of Manmoel, beyond which lies Mynydd Pen-y-fan.
Parts of both its eastern and western flanks are afforested with conifer plantations such as at Coed y Rhyd and at Coed y Llanerch.
Geology
The entire hill is composed of sandstones and mudstones dating from the Carboniferous Period. There are also numerous coal seams within the sequence, most of which have been worked. The upper part of the hill including the summit plateau is formed from the Pennant SandstonePennant Measures
The Pennant Measures are a sequence of sedimentary rocks of the South Wales Coalfield. They are also referred to as the Upper Coal Measures and are assigned to the Westphalian 'C' and Westphalian 'D' stages of the Carboniferous Period....
, a rock assigned to the Carboniferous Upper Coal Measures
Coal Measures
The Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term for the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio-deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks interstratified with the beds of coal...
.
The flanks of the hill owe their steepness in part to the action of glacial ice
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
during the succession of ice ages
Quaternary glaciation
Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, the current ice age or simply the ice age, refers to the period of the last few million years in which permanent ice sheets were established in Antarctica and perhaps Greenland, and fluctuating ice sheets have occurred elsewhere...
.
There are numerous abandoned quarries on the steep flanks of the ridge.
Access
Significant parts of the hill are moorland and have been mapped as open countryOpen Country
Open Country is a designation used for some UK access land.It was first defined under the 1949 National Parks Act , and was land over which an appropriate access agreement had been made...
under the CRoW Act thus giving a right of access to walkers. Similar rights apply to some of the afforested areas. There are a number of public footpaths and other public rights of way over the hill. The Sirhowy Valley Ridgeway Walk
Sirhowy Valley Ridgeway Walk
The Sirhowy Valley Ridgeway Walk is a -long recreational walk which runs from the southwestern outskirts of Newport north to the eastern edge of Tredegar in South Wales. The route is managed and maintained by Caerphilly County Borough Council who publish a free A3 leaflet describing it....
and the Ebbw Valley Walk
Ebbw Valley Walk
The Ebbw Valley Walk is a -long recreational walk which runs from Festival Park in Ebbw Vale southwards to the Sirhowy Valley Country Park west of Risca in South Wales. The route is managed and maintained by Caerphilly County Borough Council who published a 24 page booklet promoting the route in...
follow some of these routes.