[1] From the far end of the car park, join the railway path; the noise of the road soon recedes with bird song taking over. Ignore a path forking up left by a derelict brick building and continue, eventually passing Govilon Wharf. Keep on the railway path as it crosses the canal, ignoring the path descending left.
[2] On reaching a road, cross over and walk up the drive ahead, passing the old Govilon station on your right.
The railway was part of the Merthyr, Tredegar & Abergavenny line when it opened in 1862, belonging to the London & North Western Railway. It closed in 1958.
Continue on, walking under a bridge to arrive at a small car park on the right. Leave the railway here and go left, along the road. Pass a footpath and cottages on the right, then take the driveway right to Upper Mill Farm (the footpath is unsigned at this end). Follow the drive beyond the farm buildings and through a black metal field gate, then descend a track, keeping straight ahead when it turns to grass and bends round to the right, to reach the canal.
[3] Go left to climb a stile in the field corner, then before the aqueduct, take steps down to the road and turn right under the bridge. Just down the road is the Bridgend Inn. The walk resumes via steps on the other side of the bridge that lead you up to the canal towpath, walking now with the canal on your right.
(A) The spur on the far bank was originally a dry dock and a loading point for iron produced by furnaces located a short distance up the valley. (Older maps spell Govilon as Gofilon, derived from the word ‘gefaelion’ meaning forges.)
Follow the towpath to a road bridge where you are obliged to swap banks, now walking with the canal on your left. There are good views of the hills away to your left now, the prominent peak being Sugar Loaf. Pass beneath the railway bridge to reach Govilon Wharf.
(B) The canal was built between 1797 and 1812, running for 32 miles to link Brecon with Newport and the Severn Estuary. Stone and processed lime from nearby quarries were transported by tramway to the canal and then by barge to Newport. Govilon Wharf was the terminus of the original Brecknock & Abergavenny canal. Work began in 1810 to extend it to Pontypool, where it joined the Monmouth Canal.
Continue along the canal, crossing to the opposite bank when necessary and passing steps down to the railway path on the left, to eventually arrive at Llanfoist Wharf.
(C) This is a tranquil site now, but in the early 19th century the wharf was a hive of activity and the trees beyond hide the remains of a tramway incline (to be visited later in the walk). Iron products from a forge on the Blorenge hillside were taken by horse-drawn tram around the hill to the first of three inclines that brought them to the canal. The low building on the right was the warehouse; built into the hillside, the goods entered on the first floor then were lowered onto waiting narrow boats before making the two-day journey to Newport Docks. Coal and limestone, also extracted from the hill, were taken in the opposite direction to Brecon. The low, cast-iron bridge under which you must pass connected the incline to a lower tramroad that ran to Abergavenny. In 1860, a railway linked Blaenavon, the site of the relocated forge, to Newport, so this new, quick route replaced the incline and canal as a means of transporting the iron.
To continue the walk, proceed beneath the cast-iron bridge and follow the towpath, passing beneath a road bridge at ‘Canal Cottage’, then bypass an old stone bridge, beyond which you can glimpse the River Usk left, and Blorenge up to the right.
[4] The next bridge is number 93; immediately beyond it, and before Bridge Farm, climb the stone stile on the left, then double back over the bridge and climb the stile by a field gate. Continue ahead for 10 metres, then go diagonally left, climbing gently and picking up a plantation boundary corner by a waymark on a fence post. The next waymark points up to the right, follow it to the top corner of the field, where you climb a stile (very difficult to locate in summer) just below the belt of conifers. Now go left, towards a ruined farmhouse down to the left. Just before it the path forks at a signpost. Go right, and follow an (initially) indistinct rising path the through the woodland. Cross a stile and continue climbing to a junction. At this ‘U’ bend, continue your climb, soon crossing a broader track, then on and upward to reach a property boundary on the left. Follow the sporadic waymarks ahead to a three-way signposted junction.
[5] Continue uphill, to a stile with a farm to your right. Cross to reach the open hillside, then keep to the right boundary as you continue in the same direction, eventually climbing a further stile to access a road. Turn right and follow the road, almost immediately passing a left turn and continuing to a waymark and stile on the left. Cross, and follow the hedge boundary up the field, climbing another stile to reach a road. Walk right, then follow the road as it makes a left turn. More climbing now, passing a parking area on the right where you can take a breather and enjoy the views over Abergavenny and the imposing shape of Ysgyryd Fawr on the skyline beyond. Continue on the road until you reach a cattle grid. Cross over and go through the wooden field gate on the right.
[6] Follow the broad track ahead with an old stone wall to your left, a wire fence right, and soon begin descending. When you reach a wooden gate, go through it, ignoring the path forking right, and follow a descending route that swings left, eventually reaching a lake, in an area called ‘The Punchbowl’.
(D) The Punchbowl, is a remarkable glacial hollow. Here the trees, immense beech pollards, form one of the highest native woods in Britain and one of the steepest not on a cliff. Also, it is one of the few native woods to be affected by avalanches.
Keep the lake to your left and follow the path that bears right. About a quarter of a mile later, ignore a signed path and farm gate to the right, and climb ahead to leave the Woodland Trust land via a field gate.
[7] Continue on with the boundary on your right, ignoring a descending path joining from the left and enjoying fine views to the right, until you reach a conifer plantation. As this peters out, you approach a cleft in the hillside. Check directions carefully now. ] When you reach a clear, but narrow path climbing up to the left, ignore it and continue on a level course following a broad, grassy path and soon picking up the wire fence on your right. When you arrive at the boundary corner and signpost, climb the stile on the right, and head down the hill.
Had you taken the path up to the left, you would have reached the end of the tramroad running from Blaenavon, to the hillside forge below Blorenge, and on to the top of a set of inclines that you are about to follow.
Part-way down the field there is a stile and gate on the left make a short detour here.
(E) Through the gate on the left is the site of the tram assembly area. The first incline ended here and iron-laden trams were given priority for the journey down the second incline. The trams ran on iron rails fixed to stone sleepers, and were attached to a continuous chain, full trams descending by gravity and pulling empty tubs back up a parallel set of rails.
Now go back through the gate and resume your descent, keeping to the left boundary (the incline was beyond this) and passing a signpost at a crosspath. Your way is signposted 'Llanfoist Via Tunnel'. Go left through the gate and immediately right down to a stile. Climb over and follow the course of the incline to reach a deeply rutted cross-track. Cross over and continue down to cross a further stile.
(F) This was the third, and longest incline, known as ‘The Big Drop’. Moss-covered stone sleepers can now be seen at intervals, with the holes that took the iron pegs holding the tram rails, still visible.
This toe-stubbing descent finally brings you to the canal at Llanfoist Wharf, passed earlier in the walk. Here, an information board and reconstructed trams give some idea of this lost industry. Now follow the right of way ahead, through a tunnel beneath the Wharfinger’s house, to emerge on the far side of the canal.
[9] Continue ahead, going left at the junction and following the tarmac track downhill, passing Llanfoist church on the right.
(G) Many notable ironmasters lie beneath the turf here. The rose-coloured granite pillar on the far side of the churchyard marks the grave of Crawshaw Bailey (1789-1872). He developed one of the world’s largest ironworks, was involved in canal, tramroad and railway construction, and eventually was elected Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire and Newport.
To complete the walk, continue to the road and cross over to reach the car park.