Gelli Gaer Quarry

I love common land and one very large open space with an expanse of bleak but beautiful upland moor sandwiched between the Taf and Rhumney Valleys is Gelli Gaer Common.

As you drive through Gelligaer nowadays, it is hard to imagine that this has been a key location through the history of south Wales. Here, as well as a Roman fort, you can find evidence of Bronze Age burials, Norman churches, Medieval settlements, ancient pastures, some of the earliest educational provision in Wales, evidence of the rise of non conformity, industry and even a post WWII housing boom. Why has this area such a rich past? It all comes down to Location… Location… Location…! Situated on a hill top, with good supplies of water and minerals, Gelligaer occupies a strategic as well as a spiritual and even nurturing location even today.

The area is still mined today. The Blipfoto shows the Hanson Quarry with an amazingly large made made mound of stone at it's centre. Looking over is a view down the value, south, towards Caerphilly.