Hieroglyphic Ladybird (Coccinella hieroglyphica) from heathland at Sirhowy Hill Woodlands, Blaenau Gwent, this morning.
August 21, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Hieroglyphic Ladybird (Coccinella hieroglyphica) from heathland at Sirhowy Hill Woodlands, Blaenau Gwent, this morning.
Buzzard inspecting, at Sirhowy Valley Park #gwentbirds #wildlife #birdwatching #nature #UKbirding #ornithology
December 24, 2024 at 9:44 AM
Buzzard inspecting, at Sirhowy Valley Park #gwentbirds #wildlife #birdwatching #nature #UKbirding #ornithology
January 16, 2025 at 10:28 AM
To be honest. I'm not interested in an Oxbridge Silicon Valley. That function can be carried out across universities and companies here without physical agglomeration. I'm more concerned with the Ebbw valleys, the Sirhowy, the Rhymney, the Taf, the Cynon, the Rhondda valleys and the others.
January 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
To be honest. I'm not interested in an Oxbridge Silicon Valley. That function can be carried out across universities and companies here without physical agglomeration. I'm more concerned with the Ebbw valleys, the Sirhowy, the Rhymney, the Taf, the Cynon, the Rhondda valleys and the others.
Birthday walk along the old dram road through the woods by the Sirhowy. Saying hello to the Blackwood piggies en route.
December 24, 2024 at 4:20 PM
Birthday walk along the old dram road through the woods by the Sirhowy. Saying hello to the Blackwood piggies en route.
Vegan lunch options being in short supply on the post-Christmas Sunday, the crew went to The Sirhowy and then for a drive over New Tredegar mountain.
December 28, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Vegan lunch options being in short supply on the post-Christmas Sunday, the crew went to The Sirhowy and then for a drive over New Tredegar mountain.
Three-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), Horse Leech (Haemopis sanguisuga) and the clown beetle Margarinotus neglectus among some of the finds at Sirhowy Hill Woodlands, Tredegar, today.
May 9, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Three-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), Horse Leech (Haemopis sanguisuga) and the clown beetle Margarinotus neglectus among some of the finds at Sirhowy Hill Woodlands, Tredegar, today.
Back to Sirhowy Hill Woodlands today to continue the invertebrate survey. The reserve looked lovely, and great to see the bee hotels in use — even spotted a Wood-carving Leafcutter Bee (Megachile ligniseca) basking on one!
Among today's nice finds was the leafhopper Rhopalopyx adumbrata.
Among today's nice finds was the leafhopper Rhopalopyx adumbrata.
July 24, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Back to Sirhowy Hill Woodlands today to continue the invertebrate survey. The reserve looked lovely, and great to see the bee hotels in use — even spotted a Wood-carving Leafcutter Bee (Megachile ligniseca) basking on one!
Among today's nice finds was the leafhopper Rhopalopyx adumbrata.
Among today's nice finds was the leafhopper Rhopalopyx adumbrata.
We need your help! We have a box of photos but no further info. Can you #namethechapel?
I think this was in Tredegar, and the photo is from the 1990s.
#GwentArchives #Monmouthshire #chapel #capeli #Tredegar #Sirhowy
I think this was in Tredegar, and the photo is from the 1990s.
#GwentArchives #Monmouthshire #chapel #capeli #Tredegar #Sirhowy
May 19, 2025 at 9:42 AM
We need your help! We have a box of photos but no further info. Can you #namethechapel?
I think this was in Tredegar, and the photo is from the 1990s.
#GwentArchives #Monmouthshire #chapel #capeli #Tredegar #Sirhowy
I think this was in Tredegar, and the photo is from the 1990s.
#GwentArchives #Monmouthshire #chapel #capeli #Tredegar #Sirhowy
The Sirhowy is rising in the valley below; up here on the hillside the wind knocks and howls like a lonely Christmas spirit.
youtu.be/xCov0TYXBp8
youtu.be/xCov0TYXBp8
Joni Mitchell ~ River Live
YouTube video by MademoiselleNobs1973
youtu.be
December 22, 2024 at 8:21 PM
The Sirhowy is rising in the valley below; up here on the hillside the wind knocks and howls like a lonely Christmas spirit.
youtu.be/xCov0TYXBp8
youtu.be/xCov0TYXBp8
#RecordOfTheWeek today is a ferocious Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris), spotted in Sirhowy Valley Country Park by Richard Cowie.
Thanks for the record & photo, submitted via www.sewbrecord.org.uk
Thanks for the record & photo, submitted via www.sewbrecord.org.uk
March 28, 2025 at 1:29 PM
#RecordOfTheWeek today is a ferocious Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris), spotted in Sirhowy Valley Country Park by Richard Cowie.
Thanks for the record & photo, submitted via www.sewbrecord.org.uk
Thanks for the record & photo, submitted via www.sewbrecord.org.uk
Busy day yesterday at the Cefn Fforest Miners Institute: our members removed the last of the old concrete patio, put in new floorboards upstairs and began stripping plaster from the ceiling.
Every week we get closer to finishing this project for the people of the Sirhowy Valley!
Every week we get closer to finishing this project for the people of the Sirhowy Valley!
December 4, 2024 at 5:26 PM
Busy day yesterday at the Cefn Fforest Miners Institute: our members removed the last of the old concrete patio, put in new floorboards upstairs and began stripping plaster from the ceiling.
Every week we get closer to finishing this project for the people of the Sirhowy Valley!
Every week we get closer to finishing this project for the people of the Sirhowy Valley!
Upriver/downriver. The Sirhowy is one of the fastest rising rivers in Europe. Lyndon Songdog says when he was a boy it ran black with coal dust. Above, the Gossy Steps, which once led to the railway line and the local station but now to the back of Asda.
December 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Upriver/downriver. The Sirhowy is one of the fastest rising rivers in Europe. Lyndon Songdog says when he was a boy it ran black with coal dust. Above, the Gossy Steps, which once led to the railway line and the local station but now to the back of Asda.
Fascinating maps showing Harford Tunnel, built 1832, to link Sirhowy Ironworks with Ebbw Vale Ironworks. Tredegar entrance is still there today.
Mapiau diddorol yn dangos Twnnel Harford, adeiladwyd 1832, i gysylltu'r Gwaith Sirhywi â'r Gwaith Glynebwy. Mae'r fynedfa Tredegar dal yno.
#TheValleys
Mapiau diddorol yn dangos Twnnel Harford, adeiladwyd 1832, i gysylltu'r Gwaith Sirhywi â'r Gwaith Glynebwy. Mae'r fynedfa Tredegar dal yno.
#TheValleys
January 2, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Fascinating maps showing Harford Tunnel, built 1832, to link Sirhowy Ironworks with Ebbw Vale Ironworks. Tredegar entrance is still there today.
Mapiau diddorol yn dangos Twnnel Harford, adeiladwyd 1832, i gysylltu'r Gwaith Sirhywi â'r Gwaith Glynebwy. Mae'r fynedfa Tredegar dal yno.
#TheValleys
Mapiau diddorol yn dangos Twnnel Harford, adeiladwyd 1832, i gysylltu'r Gwaith Sirhywi â'r Gwaith Glynebwy. Mae'r fynedfa Tredegar dal yno.
#TheValleys
I’ve had a very good festive break in the valleys and been well looked after by my gang. After ten days with the run of a house it’ll seem strange to be back in one room. Packing up my bits to return home tomorrow, weather permitting (the Sirhowy was high and rising when we drove past earlier).
January 1, 2025 at 10:48 PM
I’ve had a very good festive break in the valleys and been well looked after by my gang. After ten days with the run of a house it’ll seem strange to be back in one room. Packing up my bits to return home tomorrow, weather permitting (the Sirhowy was high and rising when we drove past earlier).
Thought I’d post my morning sky here on Bluesky … from Sirhowy Valley in South Wales. Hope your Thursday is fabulous!
November 14, 2024 at 8:12 AM
Thought I’d post my morning sky here on Bluesky … from Sirhowy Valley in South Wales. Hope your Thursday is fabulous!
Yes, Songdog. Sirhowy Valley though.
September 21, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Yes, Songdog. Sirhowy Valley though.
In the 1800s, Wales was a global leader in iron production with works at Merthyr Tydfil, Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Penydarren, Bleanavon and Sirhowy. The experience of Welsh iron workers would have been welcomed at the recently established Farrington, Hyatt & Co in Stockton.
November 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
In the 1800s, Wales was a global leader in iron production with works at Merthyr Tydfil, Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Penydarren, Bleanavon and Sirhowy. The experience of Welsh iron workers would have been welcomed at the recently established Farrington, Hyatt & Co in Stockton.
This photograph, taken in June 1977, shows Leo Abse unveiling a stone recording the building of Sirhowy Court at Cwmbran. At the time, he was MP for Pontypool and later for Torfaen (1958 – 1983).
June 19, 2026 at 9:01 AM
This photograph, taken in June 1977, shows Leo Abse unveiling a stone recording the building of Sirhowy Court at Cwmbran. At the time, he was MP for Pontypool and later for Torfaen (1958 – 1983).
My Achillies Class Starship, USS Sirhowy. With a new paint job 🥰
January 13, 2025 at 11:43 AM
My Achillies Class Starship, USS Sirhowy. With a new paint job 🥰
Taken in June 1977, Leo Abse unveiled a stone recording the building of Sirhowy Court, #Cwmbran. He was MP for Pontypool & Torfaen (1958 – 1983) and a leading social reformer – he promoted the 1957 Wolfenden report’s recommendations to legalise homosexuality.
Ref: D2603/C/3413
#PrideMonth2025
Ref: D2603/C/3413
#PrideMonth2025
June 12, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Taken in June 1977, Leo Abse unveiled a stone recording the building of Sirhowy Court, #Cwmbran. He was MP for Pontypool & Torfaen (1958 – 1983) and a leading social reformer – he promoted the 1957 Wolfenden report’s recommendations to legalise homosexuality.
Ref: D2603/C/3413
#PrideMonth2025
Ref: D2603/C/3413
#PrideMonth2025
As the year draws to a close, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank our friends and followers for your continued support. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year / Blwyddyn Newydd Dda and we look forward to seeing you in 2025! In the meantime, here are some of our favourite encounters in 2024.
December 31, 2024 at 4:44 PM
As the year draws to a close, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank our friends and followers for your continued support. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year / Blwyddyn Newydd Dda and we look forward to seeing you in 2025! In the meantime, here are some of our favourite encounters in 2024.
Petition alert. Coal mining dressed up as ‘coal tip reclamation’. Climate and local biodiversity impacts. Feel free to register your disapproval here >> www.change.org/p/halt-the-p... #Bedwas #Trethomas
Sign the Petition
Halt the proposed reclamation plant and haul route within the Sirhowy Valley Country Park
www.change.org
May 11, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Petition alert. Coal mining dressed up as ‘coal tip reclamation’. Climate and local biodiversity impacts. Feel free to register your disapproval here >> www.change.org/p/halt-the-p... #Bedwas #Trethomas
Mining families tend to be employed by the same mine and therefore live in the same neighbourhood. So checking along streets on the census is really useful. I found four branches of one family living in a single storey house in Sirhowy
May 11, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Mining families tend to be employed by the same mine and therefore live in the same neighbourhood. So checking along streets on the census is really useful. I found four branches of one family living in a single storey house in Sirhowy