Machen Forge Trail

Up until late afternoon it's been a gorgeous day, and a pleasure to take my son's dogs out on the penultimate day of dog sitting. We're quite lucky as we live in a village surrounded by fantastic countryside.

Within a few minutes of leaving the house, I was on The Machen Forge Trail which mostly follows the line of the old railway that had it's heyday in the industrial age. Today it's a nature trail and ideal for walks, cycling and runs.

The blip photo shows the dogs under one of the arches of the now defunct railway bridge over The River Rhymney.

Machen Industrial history

Machen was a village rooted in the iron and coal industries stretching from the 17th Century. Though little trace remains, the village was the site of the Machen Forge and several coal mines. A local history trail visits some of these sites. Machen Forge was an early adopter of the Osmond process for the production of wrought iron.

Machen was a station on the Brecon and Merthyr Railway and a branch to Caerphilly on the Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway, closed to passengers in 1956.

Today a residual branch of the B&MR remains open to service the Hanson Aggregates quarry at Machen.