A section of the Taff Trail

 Following report from a walk leader has been referred to Authority for comments/attention.

Footpath that appears to have been dangerously diverted (and with no  signage) route no longer as shown on recent OS map OL12  SN 004147 
A short distance after passing the Cantref Reservoir, heading southwards on the Taff Trail and climbing through fallen trees! – when roughly level with Nant Ddu Church, the TT has been ‘diverted’ off the lower farm field to  a very narrow ‘path’ along the top of the field, with a line of barbed wire on the left strung along the top of the high fence and brambles on the right encroaching from overgrown woodland. Very difficult to avoid getting ripped by either and not surprisingly,  now neglected by walkers and falling into disuse. Not possible to clear manually.
Access’ down to the original Taff Trail has been provided by a short break in the barbed wire and rickety wooden bars to climb over, otherwise to access the Church and Nant Ddu, you either have to walk miles or cross earlier by the Dam, both forcing walkers a good distance along narrow grass verges on the busy  A470.
My questions are:
1. was the path legally diverted
2. why has an important Welsh Trail been allowed to become a disused hazard for walkers,

Response received from Authority

The route has been this way for as long as I can remember. I walked this section several years ago and found it this way, complete with furniture that has clearly been in place for some considerable time and is some distance away from the route shown on the OS map. That begs the question as to whether the route on the OS map is actually correct.
In addition, the route is not a public right of way here so there is no question of it being legally diverted. Neither is there public access at this point across the river to reach the church and Nant Ddu.
To be honest, the best way to pass through this section is to walk along the forest road, which is further up the slope to the west.
The Authority is working to improve this branch of the Taff Trail (the main Taff Trail is the other route to Talybont and the one that is promoted) but as considerable sections of it are not a right of way it is not an easy task. It could do with formal re-routing at this particular point onto the forest track but as that is not a right of way either there are landownership/liability issues which create barriers for us.
I will persevere with this as this section is the Taff Trail is not up to the standard of being a promoted regional trail.

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