The Valleys

A long winding serpent of stone terraces, steep streets and views to die for. ‘The Valleys’ used to be the lifeblood of Cardiff, pumping coal and steel out of the hills and down to the Capital. Magaret Thatcher put a stop to that.

The Valleys are now quieter, a lot of people are still out of work, but the community is strong. I love travelling there by train — babies, bikes, lively lads, easy chats, kids hop on and off like it was a game, everyone knows each other, the landscape you pass is bold, tall and on the surface barren. But if you step off the train and walk in the hills you find streams, stooping oaks, many pines, sheep, frogs an ice cream van on top of a quiet mountain.
Most of my experience of the Valleys has been through visiting my great friend Heather in Treorchy. I asked her to write something about her experience of living there, this is what she said:
«I began living in the Valleys 7 years and 8 months ago, it was a big gamble. I had been living in cities, all my life (23 years) including, directly previously Cardiff for 5 years.
I had a love hate relationship with Cardiff, my main motivation for leaving was that I needed something different. I wanted to look out the window of the house I lived in and see something other than more houses. I wanted to be able to take a walk to a natural space and observe wildlife and vegetation, without having to walk through streets of houses to get to it.
I was committed to living in Wales, but not Cardiff anymore, if there was an alternative. Possibly there was. However I had been warned about the areas outside Cardiff — those places outside Cardiff, at higher altitude known as ‘the Valleys’. The stories inspired fear — violence, aggression, (bestiality?).
Being a girl from the not-​so-​safe streets of Dublin, I reckoned I could cope with it. I will be forever grateful that I paid no heed to the voices and opinions in Cardiff who would have had me stick to it’s ‘safe’ (albeit lovely) streets. I am a person who likes ruggedness — if you agree, we can proceed together. If, however, you are an individual who takes comfort and inspiration from the soft, rolling Southern English hills — you are in for a shock — but then you probably aren’t going to be into Wales at all.
I’m Irish — so it’s a bit like home to me. It’s become more of a home to me than Ireland ever was in the time I have been here.»