The Great Cynon Valey Tour Part Three

From Trecynon I cycled up towards Cwmdare, where I lived for the first few years of my life. Standing at the bottom of the hill, with Coleg Morgannwg on one side, and Aberdare Boys (now Aberdare High) on the other, it reminded me very clearly of how wide ranging RCT's plans are for the reorganisation of Secondary Education in the Valley. I'm strongly against getting rid of the Sixth Forms and I'm supporting local groups who are campaigning to keep their Sixth Forms.

From Cwmdare, I went over to Abernant. The picture here is of me by the old Aberdare train station. I think it is a disgrace that this building has been left to decay. Aberdare train station could and should be a gateway to the Valley and there are several potential uses that could be made of the old station building - how about a bike hire centre, cafe and exhibition?

On from there to the centre of town where I met my Mam and agent Peter Fenner, and a lot of voters. There was a mixture of reactions to my cycling. I'm not sure that I wanted to hear 'I was going to vote for you, but you'll never finish the cycle ride in one piece, so you won't be on the ballot paper will you!'

The last visit of this section of the trip was to Cwm Cycles. Cwm Cycles is a great project that hires out a range of bikes that are suitable for people with a wide range of different abilities - including many who wouldn't get an opportunity otherwise to get on a cycle. The grounds of the Sobell Sports Centre provide a great area to cycle safely and enjoy the outdoors. Gavin one of the helpers on the project took this picture of me with one of the bikes.