I HAD never heard of a walking festival before moving to Wales in September last year.

Growing up in the south of England, in an area which does not possess the beautiful landscapes of south Wales, the concept seemed very foreign to me.

As a composite, I had experience of both though - I have undertaken walking tours while on holiday and I had also experienced festivals focused around food, musical, etc.

Covering Torfaen as a reporter, particularly the north of the borough around Blaenavon, one is acutely aware of the area’s magnificence in terms of natural beauty and historical importance.

The Wales Valleys Walking Festival is currently in its 12th year, with 18 walks across the South Wales Valleys taking place until Sunday September 18.

Five boroughs from the south Wales valleys, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Torfaen, provide the backdrop for the festival - serving up staggering sights across varying degrees of difficulty in terms of walking routes.

Three take place in Torfaen. The first was held on September 6, It was called the Industrial Town to Natural Reserve Walk.

The final ramble assigned to Torfaen will take place on Thursday September 15 which is the Industrial Pathways – Llanfoist to Govilon circular route.

Sandwiched between those tours was the one that I took part in.

It followed the Iron Mountain Trail, which sounds like an East German rollercoaster, and was billed as a six hour long, ‘strenuous’ walk that would be eight miles in distance.

To say I was unprepared would be an understatement.

In my mind, a rambler is a person who talks at great length rather than walks great distances.

Undeterred, I dusted off my underused walking boots which I bought almost a decade ago during an ill-fated and ill-conceived attempt to complete the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award during my sixth form school years.

Since I was planning to return to the office after the walk, I wore my standard smart trousers and shirt. An error.

As I approached Keepers Pond, I noticed that the six ramblers that I would be joining were mostly wearing waterproof trousers.

Our guide for the walk as it turned out was equally as unprepared as me, but only because Torfaen countryside warden Jonathan Howells was a last minute replacement for our original chaperon.

“I was on my way to get a bacon sandwich, before I received a call five minutes before the walk was about to start asking if I could lead the walk,” he said.

“It is quite a nice change from what I’d normally be doing.”

A Torfaen native, the warden regaled the group, which consisted of six walkers, a journalist, his understudy and two dogs, with stories relating to the area’s history.

“Some of the stories are based on what I was told by my grandmother. So whether they are wholly true or not remains to be seen,” added our impromptu leader.

Ramshackled sites of Blaenavon’s former industrial prestige were pointed out, with the dredged Balance Pond, remnants of Garndyrys Forge and the incline tram road by Canada Tips, which stands opposite the Lamb and Fox Inn now, detailed as specific sites of interest.

A beating sun overhead and boggy terrain in places added to the strain of the gradient along the route, further tested our groups’ prowess to completing the walk.

There were also other obstacles to content with.

The sheer volume of sheep on the various hillsides, and the gifts they leave behind on the ground, were among the most constant, along with hidden holes and crevices harking back to the industrial age.

We stopped for the second break by a reconstructed chimney and in the distance, one of the town’s modern monuments, Big Pit, became visible – another reminder of Blaenavon’s industrial importance.

Among the hidden treasures of the walk was the Pwll Ddu tunnel, which was used to transport iron through the mountain rather than over it.

The guide told the group that the discovery and uncovering of the tunnel was funded by EU investment, so further work on the underground passageway will be unlikely.

On another sour note, there was, at various points, rubbish lying on parts of the tracks, ruining the aesthetic of a beautiful area of Welsh landscape.

The walk ended close to the site of Foxhunter’s grave, the wonder-horse who helped Great Britain claim gold at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and an air raid shelter from the Second World War.

“My nan said that during the war, valuable items from the museums in Cardiff were stored up here away from the bombings,” added Mr Howells.

“But again, it could just be one of my grandmother’s stories.”

The Wales Valleys Walking Festival is a wonderful way to explore the sights and sounds of Wales, with the beautiful scenery complimented by the occasional bleating of a sheep.

It is a wonderful Wales that lies on our doorsteps, and what better way to see it than walking the walk.

For more information about the walking festival, or to find out which walks are still yet to be walked, visit walesvalleyswalking.co.uk

To book a place, contact walkingfestival@thevalleys.co.uk.