Images of Wales

Mynydd Allt-y-grug
The Moving Mountain of Godre'r Graig
Glamorgan

Photography by John Ball - 12.30pm, 7th February 1998
(with Agfa ePhoto307 digital camera)

After a number of minor warnings in the 1950s, disaster struck the Upper Swansea Valley in December 1965 when a major landslide swept part of the village of Godre'r Graig down the slopes of Mynydd Allt-y-grug.

Above: Mynydd Allt-y-grug, showing the villages of Godre'r Graig (left) and
Pant-teg (right). The landslip destroyed the road which once joined these two
villages. Some of the houses at the bottom of the valley were built to
replace those lost in the landslip.

Above: Houses in the village of Pant-teg, perched under the rocky outcrops of Graig Arw
on Mynydd Allt-y-grug.

Above: The last few houses which avoided the landslip are just visible through
the treetops on the upper left of this view.

Above: One of the houses in Godre'r Graig which did not survive the landslip.
Thankfully, no lives were lost when the mountain moved.

Above: Forlorn remains (left) of some of the terraces of cottages destroyed by
the landslip. Villagers claimed the landslip was caused by poor drainage from
a quarry further up the hillside. The drainage pipes (right) were installed in an
attempt to stabilise the hillside after the landslip.

Above: Looking up the hillside at the site of the landslip reveals these ominous
mounds of earth which one day may slip again. A local resident told me that vill-
agers who lost their homes in 1965 were awarded a meagre £50 in compensation.
The authorities claimed the landslip was an act of God!

Above: These cottages at the Pant-teg end of the road, just avoided the land-
slip. Mynydd Allt-y-grug is now known locally as the Moving Mountain.