Bright sunshine welcomed us to Bargoed. No sooner had we arrived than we set off across the picturesque valley to Aberbargoed. It must have looked so different here in the last century when the mines were open. We had a brief stop at the bottom of the valley to welcome new members and talk aobut Alun Hoddinott, the composer who came from Bargoed and has a a hall named after him at the Millenium Centre.
In Aberbargoed we went to the Memorial Garden and heard about Glyndwr Michael, the man who was born here and helped change the course of WWII after he had tragically died homeless in London – ‘The Man Who Never Was’. The events are depicted in the film/play/book Operation Mincemeat.
Back in Bargoed we had some lunch with many feasting in the New Continental, one of the few remaining genuine Italian Cafes in the valleys.
In the afternoon we admired the spectacular Pit Heads sculpture before going up the hill to Bargoed Park then wended our way back to town via the birthplace of poet John Tripp. There was time to take in just one more sculpture, the Angel, before catching the train home.
Links to the notes I used on the day: Bargoed Notes and The Man Who Never Was.
