Our Playground - We welcome you to join us for some adventures you will never forget

South Wales, while arguably being the most popular part of Wales, also contains large areas of unspoilt countryside and coastline with excellent road and motorway links and a wide range of things to do. South Wales is a great leisure destination.

Located in the heart of the proposed Valleys Regional Park, the Welsh International Climbing and Activity Centre provides the perfect base for visitors to stay whilst exploring all the area has to offer.

With its multitude of Castles and ancient monuments, tiny churches and wonderful museums to visit, South Wales really does have something for every visitor to enjoy.

Cardiff, the capital city of Wales is located on the South Wales coast. The shops, nightclubs, cinemas, wine bars and restaurants of vibrant Cardiff make a great destination for a spot of R & R after the adventuring is over!

Cardiff’s coal came from the nearby valleys of South Wales, an area rich in industrial heritage, which you can experience in the many museums and heritage centres in Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd and Pontypool. The Valleys’ natural beauty and wealth of attractions never fails to surprise.

The Brecon Beacons, the mountains and hills and coast offer superb outdoor activities, everything from canoeing to coasteering, rock climbing to golf, surfing to cycling and pony trekking to bird watching for the rare red kites or other hunting birds.

To the east of the Valleys, along the Welsh border, lie the Wye Valley and Vale of Usk; areas rich in natural beauty, steeped in history and perfect for all outdoor activities.

The Taff Bargoed Valley

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, The Taff Bargoed Valley was home to a few scattered hill farms. By 1925 the population had risen to over 10,000, mostly miners attracted by the expansion of the coal mining industry into the valley, as the British Empire demanded ever more coal, iron and steel.

At its height the three main pits in the valley (Deep Navigation; Taff Merthyr; and Trelewis Drift) worked day and night producing coal, the river in the valley ran black with dust and the area was surrounded by heaps of mine waste.

Nowadays peace has returned to the valley once again and the people of the valley, who live mostly in the three small towns of Trelewis, Bedlinog and Treharris, or in the small hill farms that still scatter the hillsides around the valley, share it with the local wildlife, including buzzards, otters, peregrines and curlews. The coal mines have gone, the once black river is home for dippers and wagtails, the pit heaps that marred the skyline have been replaced with wooded hillsides.