A4107

The A4107 spends most of its time following the Afan Valley and goes over some of the highest peaks in South Wales. Although it falls outside some of the spectacular drives of the Black Mountain and Brecon Beacons, it does offer some pretty good scenery in its own right.

Route

An exciting bend as the road goes over Bwlch y Clawdd

The road branches off the A4061 at the top of Bwlch y Clawdd, where there's usually an ice cream van and hundreds of sheep wandering around the road. There's a brief climb up to a summit, followed by a hairpin as the road then gradually descends the Afan valley with the river down to the right. There's a brief collection of houses at Abergwynfi, and a larger bunch at Cymer, where the A4063 arrives from Bridgend and Maesteg.

Further down the valley, the rocky outcrops are replaced by trees as the road descends down through Afan Argoed Country Park. The B4287 then branches off to the right, while we swing round to the left and head towards more urban areas. The road runs along the outside of Cwmafan, whose centre is on the far side of the river, and heads towards Port Talbot, where there are a couple of sharp right turns before the M4 flies overhead at an alarmingly small junction, J40. There's then a short run towards the old docks before the road terminates at traffic lights on the A48.

History

The A4107 came into being on 1st April, 1925, as an upgrade of the B4284. At the time, it formed a dead end running from Cymer to Abergywnfi, though it was intended to be extended as a through route when the Bwlch y Clawdd Road was built as an unemployment relief project, opening in February 1928.

At the time of this extension, it ran along the new road down to the edge of the Rhondda, picking up the A4061 en route. It then followed local roads to meet the A4058 in Treorchy.

In 1935, the route's end points were both shifted westward as the A4107 took over the A4063's former Port Talbot to Cymer section whilst the road was truncated at its eastern end by terminating at Bwlch y Clawdd, from where the A4061 – now extended to run through from Bridgend to Hirwaun – took over the descent to Treorchy and the Rhondda.

The road was rerouted slightly on its approach to Port Talbot following construction of the A48(M) bypass (since renumbered M4) in 1966 to connect with the new road.