Blogs About Dogs

From coal tips to country park: Dare Valley Country Park, near Aberdare, opened in December 1973 after two years of land reclamation that included re-routing the River Dare. All the collieries in the valley had closed by 1977. The park now covers about 500 acres with two lakes. Rhondda Cynon Taf itself has three AboutDogs

Look up on a clear night in Bannau Brycheiniog, the national park formerly known as the Brecon Beacons, and you’re under an International Dark Sky Reserve, a status it gained in February 2013. Over half of the park lies in the south of Powys. For Powys we have a local dog trainers directory, a Powys

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park was established in 1952 and is described as Britain’s only coastal national park. The 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path lies almost entirely within it. Pembrokeshire is one of the better-covered Welsh areas on AboutDogs, with a local dog trainers directory, a Pembrokeshire swimming guide and a vets guide. Sitters, groomers and

Since 1584, according to the National Trust, water has powered industry at Aberdulais Falls, where a German engineer is said to have chosen the site as a discreet place to smelt copper. The waterfall has been part of more than four centuries of industrial activity, and the waterwheel there is over eight metres across. Neath

Which bridge in Britain still has its gate tower standing on the bridge itself? Monmouth’s Monnow Bridge, completed in the late 13th century, is described as the only remaining fortified river bridge in Great Britain of that kind, and its Grade I listing calls it unique in Britain. Monmouthshire has that sort of heritage in

Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa, is 1,085 metres high and the highest mountain in Wales. The Snowdon Mountain Railway has been running up its flank since 1896, and its summit station sits about 21 metres below the top. Plenty of people take dogs up there, so this page leans on practical notes. As for what we’ve

Not every mill in Greenfield Valley, near Holywell, was built from fresh stone: John Smalley’s cotton mill used some taken from the ruins of nearby Basingwerk Abbey. Most of the valley’s factories went up in the late 1700s, driven by water wheels on the Holywell Stream, and most had shut by the 1960s. Today the

George III’s Golden Jubilee was meant to be marked at Moel Famau with a grand tower, started in 1810 and never finished. A storm brought the unfinished Jubilee Tower down in 1862, and the hill it stood on rises to 555 metres in the Clwydian Range. The summit itself sits just inside Flintshire, so Denbighshire

The wild goats of the Great Orme, the headland at Llandudno, are Kashmiri goats. The story goes that they descend from a pair the Shah of Persia gave to Queen Victoria, who passed them on to Lord Mostyn. Fun fact for the walk, and also a good reason to think about recall. Conwy has three

You don’t need a boat to look for dolphins in Cardigan Bay. Visit Wales lists several shore spots, including the harbour wall at New Quay, the hillock above Mwnt beach and the end of the Ynys Lochtyn promontory. On AboutDogs, Ceredigion has a local trainers directory, a vets guide and a swimming guide filed under