When I bought my house, I had a look at that public footpaths around. One of them went straight through the quarry. But I was soon to find out it wasn’t public anymore. It seemed to have closed for a limited time, but that time seemed to have stretched on and on and on. But then, not too long ago, some of my friends said there was a new public footpath through the quarry again. They had walked it!
I was keen to see it for myself, but I wanted to run it, of course. And I admit that I already had, before it was public; the gravel road that the path follows is not in use for quarrying, but for punter transport by Zip World. And that company had had to close over lockdown. So in that period, I had already tried it! But now it was entirely legal, even when the zip wires were in full use.
On a calm Sunday I went. I knew what the views were like, but still it was different! I just ran while the lorries with punters were trundling up and down. And that was okay. One driver even leaned out of his cabin to cheer me on!
It’s some 400m up; good practice for the Steepest Street in the World race. I think I'll be doing this more often! It is a there and back again route, though; the path just ends at a kissing gate that doesn't really lead anywhere. Of course you can trundle through the heather from there, but the going is a bit too uneven for trail running. And I am not a fell runner. I didn't see anybody else using the path, so I don't know how popular it is. That also means I don't know if there will be much of a demand to create a circular route. I would like that! But for now, I’ll just enjoy the route as it is…
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| Well-indicated |
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| The road is the footpath; behind the slate bank is where the go-carts go |
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| Good view into Nant Ffrancon |
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| Where it ends |
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| Near the top selfie |
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Punters zipping overhead
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View over quarry lake
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