Leave from Barry castle, go up the hill and take the right down Oxford Street (which becomes Salisbury Rd) to it’s end where it meets Pontypridd Road.
Take a left and follow Pontypridd Road to the end where you’ll see a roundabout next to a Coop petrol garage.
Go straight across (or go via the pavement to the pavement opposite which has a cycle path).
This is the new 5 Mile lane and has an integrated cycle path at the side of the carriageway until just after the Hawking centre when it veers left and joins onto what is left of the old 5 mile lane. This lane is closed to traffic on both ends and so only gets the odd car passing through.
Cycle up the hill, past the solar farm on the left and keep going past the sign for Moulton and Llancarfan.
As we want to get onto the road to Dyffryn which is on the other side of the main carriageway, we’ll need to keep on going up this lane/cycle path until it meets the carriageway again (be careful here as we are crossing 2 lanes of sometimes busy traffic!). We’ll then need to take a right and zoom downhill again until the first junction on the left which is the one we want. Why there isn’t a bridge or underpass here is truly mindboggling!
( Another alternative would be to just cycle up the main carriageway with the traffic and make a right but for my money the cycle lane is much more pleasant)
We are now on the pleasant, hedged road to Dyffryn. We go down hill for a while and eventually pass some lovely houses on the right and then a small bridge at a junction with signs left for Dyffryn House and right to Dyffryn Springs.
We’ll go left for now up the hill shrouded by some lovely trees.
We take the first left and ride down the hill beside the gardens to Dyffryn House.
The House was closed when we took these photos but you could see it through the gates.
You’ll finally arrive at the main gate, go in for a look around if it’s open.
Dyffryn House is the partially restored home of the Cory family. The present house, which was built in 1892-3, is an eclectic mix of many different styles of decor. It stands at the heart of the gardens. Listed at grade II* status, it had been remodelled from an earlier mansion and was completed in 1892-3.
The Cory family were industrialists and made their wealth through coal. The house provided a secluded family home within commutable distance of their business interests across south Wales.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dyffryn-gardens/features/discover-the-house-at-dyffryn-gardens
Follow your tracks back up the hill to the junction but take a left and in a couple of hundred yards you’ll come to a small iron gate on your right with a recorded commentary and an info sign. You’ve reached St Lythans Burial Chambers and the sun is getting very low in the sky.
Lonely Neolithic tomb with links to Arthurian legend
This bare and imposing Neolithic (New Stone Age) tomb stands alone in the centre a field on the outskirts of Cardiff. While it was originally covered by an earthen mound around 90ft/27m in length, only traces of this now remain, leaving its huge stones fully exposed to the skies. The largest is the massive capstone, still supported by three unusually tall uprights. The chamber has never been excavated, so who or what is buried here remains a mystery.
Despite its Neolithic origins, the site’s name may derive from the Arthurian legend of Culhwch and Olwen, which appears in two 14th-century texts.
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/st-lythans-burial-chamber
We’re heading back now but this route will be quite lovely.
Cycle back down the hill, past a post box and past the ‘bridge’ we initially arrived at following signs to Dyffryn Springs.
This stretch is very beautiful with thatched cottages and streams running either side of the road.
Keep going over another bridge past ‘Arts at the Old Mill’, past another couple of farms and up a hill.
Take a right at the top and in a short while you’ll meet the main carriageway of the Five Mile Lane again.
Take a left and freewheel down the hill to the Hawing centre then up the hill to the roundabout.
Follow your tracks straight across down Pontipridd Road and back to Barry Castle.