The path leaving the Newtown district of Ebbw Vale does not follow the line shown on the gpx file, or the OS map. At East 317280 North 209948 it skirts the small depression to the north, not to the south as shown on both the OS map and the gpx file....

Steven Melia

I dithered a bit about giving it the full five stars because it could take a better way into/out of Brynmawr with a safe main road crossing on a bridge, and the way into/out of Blaeanavon could also might also be tweaked, but overall, it is a fine route. [A much better way out of town would be to use the cycle route 46, which goes from near the meeting point and crosses the main road over a footbridge, before heading up to join the plotted Slow Way at the bottom of the hill. It’s a sometimes gently undulating, mostly well-signed shared path and cycle route on a mixture of surfaces: metalled lanes, paved paths, gravelled paths, green paths fortified with matting and a couple of short sections of plastic boardwalk. Near Whistle Halt the route crosses a lane where there is a pub, the Whistle Inn, and the Slow Way follows the cycle path around the south of Garn Lakes. At the far end of Garn Lakes the Slow Way takes a tiny but puzzling detour round three sides of a square, which is fine access-wise, but it is best to go straight on along the cycle path ahead. It would actually be more efficient to leave the cycle path a little further along at w3w mandolin.badge.sparkle and go straight down Upper Glantorvaen Terrace....

Mockymock

A straight forward and functional SlowWay across the hills at the top end of the mountain Mynydd Carn y Cefn....

Paul Chilcott

Probably a 5-star walk on a clear day, but I happened to choose a day with limited visibility (contrary to the earlier weather forecast), it was a walk through the clouds on the mountain section. After the disused reservoir above Brynmawr, the path becomes a rocky mountain track all the way down to the road....

Paul Chilcott

I walked it as part of a longer Slow Ways walk between Barry and Hay - one of my favourite walks to date....

danravenellison

This is a good route that I managed to follow, but it's not walkable as drawn. Like Paul, I couldn't find the path behind Waun Ebbw Road. Happy to update this review if you can correct me on this....

danravenellison

Very usable route with a pleasant mix of scenery....

Steven Coombs

Pleasant easy walk mostly along the cycle path, before some road walking in Beaufort....

Steven Coombs

A lovely short walk, mostly along a cycle track / footpath (Photo 1) through Parc Nant-y-Waun....

Paul Chilcott

Coming from Brynmawr, I couldn't secure access from Clydach Dingle through the properties and onto the open access land behind the school....

danravenellison

Follow the route, look for cairns on the northern side of the hill, and you will be fine. Another route option could also go around the foot of the hill, avoiding a large amount of elevation....

danravenellison

I couldn`t find the path from Waun Ebbw Road, that`s supposed to cut through to the fields behind the houses, so I followed the road to the end of the houses and turned left on to another road to rejoin the path, which crosses the road and on through another housing estate, until it reaches the bridge over the main A467 road. After the bridge, the next section follows Farm Road, which is a quiet lane with housing on the left, but nice views over the fields to the right....

Paul Chilcott

It follows the old railway line up to the point where it meets the Blaenavon Heritage Railway, which the path then runs parallel to as it nears Blaenavon....

Paul Chilcott

There are a few deviations from the original railway line, where the land is privately owned, or the line used to go through tunnels, and here the path can become quite steep, along country lanes or dedicated alternative paths. The path is metalled most of the way, but there are some nice short stretches of grassy paths around Puck`s Valley, with a few wet patches here and there, but not too bad considering there had been heavy rain a few days before. The rail path itself is generally good for wheeling aswell as walking, with a single swivel gate and a single kissing gate along the way (the kissing gate is at the end of the rail path stage before the second diversion on to a country lane (grid ref. 32082123), although there is a possible alternative on another metalled lane)....

Paul Chilcott