IN ANCIENT TIMES
Fochriw is situated on a plateau called Blaenau Morgannwg at the head of the Darren Valley. The Darren Valley has been known by various other names such as the Bargoed Fach Valley and Cwm Ysgwyddgwyn.
Both Cefn Brithdir (Left of picture) and Cefn Gelligaer(Right on picture)descend to just over 900 feet northwards to the Blaenau Morgannwg plateau.
Within the curtilage of the Fochriw area exists a number of hill farms and a combination of dry stone walls built of local stone, hedgerows and fencing mark the boundaries of fields and farms. These walls, and wire fences, occasionally lean over showing that soil creep towards the valleys is occurring which is caused by steep slopes and a wet climate.
Looking south at Fochriw and the Darran Valley. Taken from the old railway track just below the cutting
Blaenau Morgannwg is almost a level surface which is said to have been produced by the planing action of the sea. The ridges are now covered mainly with bracken and course grasses with occasional patches of heather, bilberries, which are locally known as wimberries, and peat bogs. Sheep grazing is the chief land use.
The valley lies between two mountain ridges, the tops of which are called Cefn Brithdir to the east at 1607 feet above sea level, which separates it from the top end of the Rhymney valley and covers the area between Cefn Brithdir cemetery which overlooks Bargoed in the south and the mountain top at Fochriw. To the west is Cefn Gelligaer, or Gelligaer Common which seperates the Darran valley from the Taff Bargoed valley and covers the area between Gelligaer in the south and the mountain top at Fochriw which is 1,575 feet high at Carn Bugail on Mynydd Fochriw.
Large areas of these higher surfaces have remained unchanged in a region which has largely become industrialised.
Trees are not a natural feature of the village of Fochriw since it is situated above the natural treeline on a wind and weather beaten moorland, however strips of trees, largely featuring the sessile oak, line the slopes down to the valley from about Pen-y-Banc southwards and a Forestry Commission plantation exists on the eastern slope of the valley below the village
The source of the “river” on the moorland below Rhas Las pond. Taken from the railway track just below the cutting
