The walk starts at a Victorian Manor House, built in the early 1860s by George Insole, a shipping and coal magnate. It involves some road and lane walking but is mostly across fields or along a disused railway track. It ends at St Fagan's Church: opposite the church is the entrance to the Plymouth Arms. The Plymouth Arms is a pleasant pub with an interesting history which serves a good variety of pub food, all day. Diagonally opposite the front entrance to the Plymouth is an entrance to the National History Museum, well worth a visit www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/.
Getting there from Cardiff:
by bus: Getting there:
(i) 33 or 33A from Central Station to Rookwood Hospital. At the stop walk back along the Fairwater Road and the entrance to Insole Court is about 80 metres on the right.
(ii) 61 from Central Station to Waungron Shops. At the stop get off and cross the road to the shops. Pass either side to the back of the shops where you will find a path through Insole Place to Western Avenue. Cross the avenue using the pedestrian lights and go 30 metres up Insole Grove East. Turn right into Vaughan Avenue and in 30 metres turn left into through 2 gates into the South Drive of Insole Court.
Returning:
32 from the bus stop between the Plymouth Arms and the National History Museum or a stop at the main entrance to the Museum back to Waungron shops.
Maps: Landranger 171, Explorer 151
Distance: 5km (3 miles)
Difficulty: Grade Easy
Start Point: grid ref ST151777 - Insole Court
From the garages at the back of Insole Court walk up the chestnut tree lined north drive to reach the Fairwater Road. Turn left into the road which, after 50 metres, becomes Pwllmelin Road. Carry on down Pwllmelin Road and in about 200 metres you will cross a bridge over the Radyr branch railway line. 50 metres after this bridge turn right into Fairwood Road. Go down it to the end and 20 m after passing a triangular, lightly wooded green space on your left you will pass the entrance, on your right, to Fairwood Close; immediately after this you will arrive at a wooden gate,
To the left of this gate is a gap in the fence which leads on to the footpath on the disused railway track which used to go to Llantrisant. Follow this footpath which starts off between 2 housing estates, then past a school and playing fields and gradually becomes an embankment, for about 1km. At this point there is a gap in the embankment: you will have to come off it to the right, then back onto it on the left. Some 200 metres after the gap you pass a pylon on your right; just after this pylon you turn down to the left to a stile in the hedge.
Cross the stile and ahead of you, about 30 metres, there is a metal footbridge over a stream. Cross the bridge to a stile about 40 metres away in the left hand corner of the field (sometimes this route is very wet and you might have to navigate your way across this field as best you can). Cross this stile and continue uphill for about 100 metres to cross another stile. Skirt the tump in front of you, to another stile in the hedge on your left. Cross this stile and go straight ahead for 200 metres, keeping the line of trees on your right to come to yet another stile.
Climb down into the metalled lane; turn right but be very careful, this lane can be very busy with vehicles taking a short cut from St. Fagans to Fairwater. Proceed along the lane and after about 350 metres and you will come to a stile on your left. Climb the stile into the field beyond and head at an angle of approximately 45% for a ladder stile in the right hand hedge. Over the ladder stile and turn left up a sometimes muddy and slightly stony track for 300 metres. Turn into a wide turning on your right and carry on for about 50 metres, past a big house to a road. Right opposite are some steps down. Take them and you will soon arrive at St Fagan's Church.