I like an amazing bike trip, even within the chilly winter months, when you possibly can wrap up, hit the paths, and revel in a sizzling chocolate
I like an amazing bike trip, even within the chilly winter months, when you possibly can wrap up, hit the paths, and revel in a sizzling chocolate. With a gothic fortress, free-roaming deer, and beautiful views, Margam Park in Port Talbot is well-known for its historical past and wildlife. However do you know there are additionally cycle trails right here?
Set in 1,000 acres of wonderful parklands, Margam Nation Park gives pure magnificence, historical past, wildlife, and a variety of enjoyable actions and services, making it probably the greatest days out in Wales for all of the household. It is simply £8.50 to park for the day.
This historic 850-acre property is ready on the southern slopes of Mynydd Margam, a largely forested mountain rising to 349m that may be explored by bike.
The property’s historical past might be traced again to prehistoric instances, with Bronze and Iron Age relics and proof of Roman and intensive Celtic occupation. Based on their web site, Margam’s very personal deer herd was in all probability launched by the Romans.
It’s additionally dwelling to Grade I-listed gardens and landscapes, biking and mountaineering trails, wildlife, a Norman Abbey and Margam Fort, a grand Victorian mansion, and a formidable 18th-century orangery.
This grand-looking fortress is a Nineteenth-century Tudor Gothic mansion designed by the architect Thomas Hopper for Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.
The outbuildings across the fortress courtyard home the customer centre and park administration, and throughout the summer time months, the Nice Hallway is on show to the general public.
Among the finest actions in Margam Park is mountain biking. You’ll be able to cycle across the park on tarmac roads and tough tracks to a improbable viewpoint.
The park is a part of the Nationwide Cycle Community, The Celtic Path Route 4, which runs throughout South Wales and thru the North of the Park. Right here, you will discover a number of trails, together with a waymarked mountain bike path and a household cycle path if you’re biking with the little ones. Keep knowledgeable on all the pieces Neath Port Talbot by signing as much as our publication right here
The household path is a straightforward cycle alongside largely flat tarmac paths. It passes near the journey playground, farm path, and open parklands. Children will love stopping off on the farm path to fulfill the animals and use the animal feed stations.
Right here, you will discover a vary of lovable animals, from pygmy goats and ponies to alpacas, rabbits, pedigree sheep, Glamorgan cattle and donkeys.
The mountain bike path is a comparatively quick 2.3 miles and features a difficult ascent midway up Margam Mountain. Alongside this scenic route, you may spot the resident deer.
Based on the Margam web site, the well-known Margam Deer Herd roams by roughly 500 acres of parkland, together with Pink and uncommon Pere David deer. In the event you go to throughout the rutting season (sometimes between September and November), the male deer, or stags, compete for dominance and the proper to mate with females.
Throughout this time, male deer (stags or bucks) begin displaying aggressive behaviours like roaring, clashing antlers, and parallel strolling to compete for females. It is a good time to identify the largest stags, which is able to maintain harems in the midst of the rut when many of the feminine deer are in season.
It is strongly recommended that you just maintain a secure distance of round 50 metres always to make sure security for you and the deer. Throughout rutting season, male deer can develop into aggressive and are extremely territorial, so do not run as much as them for a #deerselfie.
A good way to identify the deer is to hop in your bike and discover the nation park. As you wind your means by the monitor, you will begin a bumpy ascent up Margam Mountain; that is the place an e-bike is available in actually useful for these burning thighs! If you do not have your individual, you possibly can lease bikes from Margam Park Journey, which runs a spread of actions.
As you climb up, you will have fabulous views of the park and the encircling countryside. The path then ranges off and returns on a steep descent onto the Cwm Phillips entry street with a return trip to the fortress, seemingly probably the most haunted locations within the UK.
In the event you love historical past and ghosts, positively take a tour of this spooky spot after your bike trip. Guests to this Nineteenth-century Gothic mansion in Neath Port Talbot have lengthy shared eerie tales of spectral figures, unexplained laughter, and objects that appear to maneuver of their very own accord.
From the Bronze Age by Roman instances and later the founding of the Cistercian Abbey within the twelfth century, this web site has seen centuries of human life and lingering spirits.
The fortress, constructed between 1830 and 1840 by architect Thomas Hopper for Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot, is a putting instance of Tudor-Gothic structure and is hauntingly stunning.
The Talbot household owned the property till 1942, when the fortress fell into disrepair following a devastating fireplace in 1977. The council owns the property at present, and ongoing restoration work ensures its grandeur is preserved.
Regardless of the hearth’s destruction, many unique options stay, from the intricate stone carvings to the elegant stained glass home windows, which date again to when the home was constructed nearly 200 years in the past.
Whereas the fortress impresses with its structure and historical past, its eerie ghost tales attract thrill-seekers and paranormal lovers.
Probably the most notorious spirit of Margam Fort is Robert Scott, a gamekeeper who was murdered on the property, some say by a poacher, others by an escaped convict. His presence is claimed to rage by the fortress and the property to today.
Scott is often noticed making a decided ascent up the Gothic staircase that results in the fortress. His presence is a recurring theme amongst paranormal investigators, who all agree that his spirit seethes with fury, unable to relaxation after his premature and unjust loss of life.
After dusk, the fortress’s safety guards report the unsettling sounds of hurried footsteps and low, chattering voices echoing by the empty halls—although no hint of one other soul is ever discovered.
Psychic investigators have described his presence as considered one of anger, with inexplicable slamming doorways and objects being hurled throughout rooms attributed to his spirit. Guests who’ve dared to research report an amazing sense of dread, as if Scott’s rage nonetheless lingers.
One other often reported prevalence is the sound of youngsters’s laughter echoing by the fortress’s lengthy, empty corridors.
Guests declare to have seen ghostly figures of youngsters in Victorian clothes flitting out and in of rooms, as if enjoying an everlasting sport of hide-and-seek. Others describe objects mysteriously shifting or disappearing, believed to be the playful antics of those mischievous spirits.
Margam’s haunted historical past made waves throughout the Atlantic when Ghost Hunters Worldwide filmed an episode right here for the SyFy Channel.
The investigation, broadcast to over 1,000,000 viewers, shone a worldwide highlight on the location’s paranormal exercise, cementing its standing as considered one of Britain’s spookiest locations.
Paranormal investigators used low-lux cameras, full-spectrum images, and tremendous delicate recording units to seize “digital voice phenomena,” that are mentioned to be spirit world voices.
The enthusiastic American group claimed to have captured on digital camera the floating determine of a monk sporting a white behavior.
In addition they claimed to have “spoken” with a medieval monk named Brother Tom, seen a “ghost” within the shadow type of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot, the person who commissioned the constructing of the fortress, and heard Girl Emily Charlotte’s footsteps within the bed room by which she died nearly 100 years in the past.
For these desirous to expertise the fortress’s ghostly environment, Haunting Happenings gives in a single day ghost hunts at Margam Fort, a frightening however thrilling prospect.
These spooky occasions present a singular alternative to seek for the spirits that roam the fortress’s many haunted rooms. Company can count on unusual gentle anomalies, loud footsteps echoing on the grand staircase, and sudden, excessive drops in temperature. Few are courageous sufficient to spend time alone within the fortress’s most lively areas.
This in style in a single day expertise consists of entry to ghost looking gear reminiscent of EMF Meters and K2 Meters, and interactive experiments like glass divination, desk tipping, and Ouija boards. It options small group séances, ghost looking vigils, and even free time to discover the fortress’s shadows alone.
The fortress isn’t the one historic sight; Margam Nation Park has lengthy been a spot of non secular and historic significance. Right here, you’ll discover Margam Abbey, based in 1147. It was an essential Cistercian monastery till its dissolution in 1536. This exceptional abbey now serves as a parish church.
The small Margam Stones Museum, positioned subsequent door to the medieval abbey church, can be effectively value a go to. Right here, you’ll discover a exceptional assortment of almost 30 inscribed stones and crosses, some courting from the early days of Christianity in sixth-century Wales.
They initially stood as milestones on Roman roads or, in a single case, on high of a Bronze Age barrow. In the event you love historical past, it is a must-visit.
Wish to make a day of it? Margam has loads of occasions all year long the place you possibly can get pleasure from particular actions or keep after darkish at considered one of their chilling Halloween occasions or ghost looking occasions. Try their web site for extra particulars.
Have to know
- Tips on how to Get There: Margam Fort is positioned inside Margam Nation Park, simply off Junction 38 of the M4 motorway in Neath Port Talbot, South Wales. The park is well-signposted and simple to entry by automotive. The closest practice station is Port Talbot Parkway, a 15-minute drive away.
- Entry Charges: Whereas entry to Margam Nation Park is free, there’s an £8.50 car parking cost for the day. Some particular occasions and guided excursions may additionally cost a further charge.
- Bike Rent: Rent Bikes by Margam Park Journey
- Reserving a Tour: Guided excursions of Margam Fort might be organized by The Associates of Margam Park or straight with the park’s customer centre. Superior reserving is really useful, significantly throughout busy durations.
- Services: Margam Fort has a visitor-friendly cafe providing a collection of drinks, snacks, and lightweight meals. Public bogs are additionally accessible on-site.
- Study Extra: For extra tales, historical past, and spooky tales about Margam Fort and the Dramatic coronary heart of Wales, tune into this episode of the Journey Objectives Podcast: Pay attention Right here.
