Skewen: Crymlyn Bog, Tennant Canal and Culture

Skewen offers an unusual combination of lowland marshland, historic waterways, walking destinations and cultural discoveries. Anyone planning a trip with a variety of day-out ideas will find both boardwalks through a distinctive natural setting and a historic canal, a park with facilities for children and young people, as well as notable architectural and archaeological monuments. This variety helps you choose a holiday apartment or holiday house based on the preferred focus of your trip.

Marshland and woodland as a nature experience

One defining landscape feature is Crymlyn Bog, the largest lowland bog in Wales. The lowland bog has walking trails, including boardwalks through its centre. This allows you to experience the landscape along a designated route while organising your day around the respective trail. West of Skewen, Great Crymlyn Bog also extends for approximately 2 square miles to the sea. The approximate figure remains an important part of the orientation.

Coed Maesmelin, an ancient woodland, is also part of Skewen’s character. It offers visitors a retreat in nature and complements the open bog landscape with a location of a different character. If you would like to switch between bog, woodland and trails during your trip, you can take these different landscape characteristics into account when planning, without having to limit your holiday to a single activity.

Canal, cycle route and walking trails

The Tennant Canal opened in 1824 and is 8 miles long. National Cycle Route 4 runs along the canal as far as Jersey Marine. This provides a clearly defined theme for your travel planning centred on canal history and cycling. Those who prefer to travel on foot can also consider Skewen as a starting point: the Skewen Station–Drummau Mountain walking trail begins at Skewen railway station and leads to Carreg Bica.

Carreg Bica lies north of Skewen and is a 4.3 m-high monolithic slab of local sandstone. The destination connects the walking trail with a specific geological and cultural point of interest. The early railway embankment near Skewen also recalls the area’s engineering history. It was built over a deep, still water-filled canal cutting on the Tennant Canal. This means you can take nature trails, water engineering and transport history into account when planning your stay.

Park and historic heritage

Skewen Park opened in 1929 on land acquired from the Tennant Estate. Today, the park has a children’s playground, a paddling pool and a skate park. Families can therefore incorporate different interests into their day planning: younger children have a dedicated play area, while the paddling pool and skate park provide other forms of leisure activity. The facilities available are concrete reasons to consider the desired balance between excursions and time in the park when choosing accommodation.

The St John the Baptist Church is part of Skewen’s cultural history. It was built in 1850 in the Early Decorated Gothic style to a design by the architect R C Saunders and has stained-glass windows by Clayton & Bell. The churchyard also contains the grave of Sir S T Evans. These details make the church and its surroundings an interesting stopping point for visitors who would like to include architecture, design and local history in their trip.

Choosing the right base

Which holiday apartment in Skewen suits your plans depends above all on which experiences you would like to make the focus of your trip. For days in nature, Crymlyn Bog, Great Crymlyn Bog and Coed Maesmelin are important reference points. Those wishing to combine cycling and canal history can take the Tennant Canal and the route of National Cycle Route 4 into account. For walks, the information leads to Skewen railway station and onwards to Carreg Bica. Visitors interested in culture will find further themes for a varied stay in the church, the churchyard and the historic railway embankment.

If you would like to compare other places in addition to Skewen, you can find further destinations here: Pontardawe, Crynant, Ystalyfera, Rhos, Cymmer, Glynneath, Seven Sisters and Aberdulais.

For the broader travel overview: Neath Port Talbot.