Tontal one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Tontal here.

The first part of this walk was lovely, although I would recommend taking the right turn after leaving Mill Street in Tonyrefail rather than going straight ahead, and following the path to link up with the suggested route. This path is beautiful (see first picture), whereas going straight up the road is extra climbing, and leads through a farm where there were cattle on the road when I passed.
On the second part of the route (after crossing Ely Valley Road and A4119 at Coedely), there were some problems. After ascending and turning left, the route descends beside a stream - the hillside is covered in brambles and only a worn wooden sign gave a clue as to where the path might once have been. The path at the bottom, parallel to the road, was lovely to run along (see second photo), but got progressively narrower before reaching the road through the forestry, which is not pleasant for walking/running - no pavement, cars approaching fast around bends. Finally, the tight left turn which is shown as taking you back to the A4119, goes through a property where dogs were running loose - and there was no way through to the A4119. So I completed the route on the road.
There is a walking/cycling path which closely follows the A4119, which you could turn on to almost immediately after crossing the roads at Coedely - this takes you approx 1km to the next roundabout on the A4119. Alternatively, it may be possible to follow a slightly higher path which joins the suggested route (I didn't have time to check that out fully) but I'd still advise descending to the roundabout, as after the roundabout there is a beautiful woodland trail all the way to Talbot Green.

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