Dyffryn circular ride via, Cosmeston, Barry and St Fagans
Round trip of 37 miles
St Lythans rhymes with pythons!
Having made our way to Costmeston previously we opt to make the route longer by continuing onto Duffryn Gardens. This was to be an all dayer so set of on a Saturday morning.
Taking our previous route to Cosmeston Lakes, minus the Alexandra Gardens, we head right out of lakes (After stopping for a snack and a coffee of course!) onto Lavernock Rd (B4267) using the cycle path until joining the main road at South Rd on the B4267, continuing along the road, heading straight across 3 roundabouts onto Barry Docks link road. This is a long hard slog uphill with traffic. Taking the first left on the roundabout at the top we emerge onto Port Rd in Barry (A4050) and continue forward, crossing straight ahead onto Port Rd West (A4226) With the school on your left keep an eye out for Highlight lane on your right (just before a road crossing and bus stop) following the road all the way down until reaching a foot path. This runs between a golf course, so beware of balls! The path gets tricky to follow at this point and a friendly farmer lets us cut across his field onto a unnamed road *
We follow this road and take the first right leading to Duffryn Gardens. This is another great place to stop and eat. The tea rooms offer hot food and beverages with spacious indoor seating area as well as outdoor patio area.
Heading out of Dufffryn Gardens we take a right down to a T junction and take a left onto St Lythans road. A little after this junction we spot a heritage sign for St Lythans Burial Chamber and stop to take a gander. The burial chamber is in the middle of the field and is included in the Wenvoe West circular walk. The field is also said to be haunted!
We continue on St Lythans rd, passing idyllic country side and quaint cottages until we reach Culverhouse Cross junction. Here we use the roundabout to circumnavigate onto Cowbridge road West and take the immediate left onto Michaelston rd. This is Juliet’s old haunting ground and knows her way around this neck of the woods (me - didn’t have a clue!) and was surprised to find that this road lead into St Fagans. We chat to a friendly porter at St Fagans National History Museum who directs us to the Ely Trail cycle route. Turning around and taking a left back onto Michaelston rd we only just spot the cycle path sign on our right. We follow the path along side the Ely river eventually leading out onto Bwlch Road in Fairwater. From here we head homewards onto the Western Avenue. At this point Juliet takes her leave to meet up with hubby and to pop into the “in laws “ for a Chinese take away while I head back for a home cooked stir fry! ;-)
All in all a lovely if not long ride taking in some pretty scenery and stopping off at some interesting places.
* An alternative route to Duffyn Gardens from Barry is to continue on Port road west - A4226, passing the Fire station and post office, at the next round about take a left continuing on the A4226 taking the first turning right sign posted Duffryn Gardens (road unnamed)
