CC23 Manmoel Beeches (SVW1)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is the twenty-third of a series, the "Caerphilly Collection", that will explore the whole Borough Council area. This cache is also the first of a subset along the Sirhowy Valley Walk. The cache is in a "turtle" tub and only a short distance from convenient parking.
The Caerphilly Collection is distinguished with a unique CC number and is made up of 50 caches. The caches vary in difficulty and type and usually have other "C" word connections - castle, cheese, coal, canal, etc. There may even be Cryptic Clues for Clever Clogs! The current Caerphilly unitary authority grew out of the former Rhymney Valley and Islwyn Councils and stretches from the outskirts of Cardiff and Newport in the south to the Brecon Beacons, north of Rhymney. Despite a past dominated by coal and heavy industry, it has a diverse history and varied and dramatic scenery. We hope you will enjoy exploring it with us.
Towards the end of the Collection is CC48 The Accumulator, the location of which is given in coded form. The translation details of the code are distributed around the whole Collection, but only about a third of the caches will contain a piece of the code, which is on the back of the Log Book. To do the Accumulator, you will need to keep a note of each piece of code that you find. Unless you are very lucky, you will need to find the majority of the Collection in order to do the Accumulator. The Accumulator cache is hidden in an area of difficult terrain and demanding navigation, with a 5,4½ rating.
CC23 is also in a subset of the main series following the Sirhowy Valley Walk (SVW). This 26-mile long distance path links Tredegar House, in Newport, with the Nye Bevan Memorial Stones, which are just above the Sirhowy area of Tredegar. Caches in this subset are on the middle two thirds of the route that fall within the Caerphilly area and also avoid the section where this walk almost duplicates parts of the Raven Walk and Rhymney Valley Ridgeway. The Walk name does not seem entirely appropriate, since it extends someway south of the confluence of the Sirhowy with the Ebbw. Those expecting a gentle stroll along the valley bottom would also be surprised! Manmoel is an unspoilt oasis within the mining area of the Gwent Western Valleys and perhaps most distinguished by the abundance of mature beech trees along most of the field and road boundaries - especially attractive in the autumn. The suggested parking spot is near what appears on most maps to be the end of a road, ½ mile north of Manmoel. The surfaced road extends about 2 miles further north, onto Manmoel Common, to the Caerphilly
boundary and is worth following (watch out for the occasional pothole) for the views. Despite the reference to Manmoel as an oasis, don't expect to see a caravan crossing this area, because CC also stands for camel-less common here. Since this is also the Sirhowy Valley Walk, you could decide to walk it. Continuing north, the SVW follows 2 miles of quite good track (easy for 4WD's and some might try it in standard cars) and a mile of road, to reach the end at Waun-y-pound. The whole section north from Manmoel might appeal to mountain bikers. Our spell-checker suggested Manhole when we typed in the village name, but it is definitely not one of those. It even has a pub, the Manmoel Inn, although we have never found it open. However, local advice was that, in these circumstances, a knock on the door might have the desired effect!
While this may be treated as a quick cache-and-go, we are encouraging exploration of the long distance path and this could be linked with CC24, into a circular walk of about 3 miles with about 350 feet of ascent (and also passing the pub).
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)