This tour consists of a series of linked pages, each with a photograph. They are not presented in a simple 'linear' format, rather there is flexibility for you to take your own route through the valley. There are three distinct routes from one end of Abertridwr to the other, and there are two major separate 'loops' in Senghenydd with several minor detours.
On each page there is a short description of the picture, and a list of 'exits'. Think of it as if you're playing an adventure game - it is possible to make a map of the locations. In fact, if you've got the time, this is a brilliant way to get to know the valley. However, I have produced two maps to help (see below).
The exits are presented as compass directions, and I've taken a couple of liberties with the actual layout of the valley to make mapping easier. New! (Dec '02 - Feb '03) I have decided to extend the experimental imagemaps to make the "walkthrough" easier to the whole tour. The idea is that you click on the picture in the direction you want to go. As of 27 February 2003 all pages in the Abertridwr section have an imagemap on at least the main picture.
I have tried to keep the size of images down. The details are below, but at the moment (Feb '03) the largest single picture is 70k (most are 30k - 50k), which shouldn't take more than 20 seconds to download at 28k8 (about 15 seconds with an "average" 56k connection). It is possible to take the tour (except the maps!) without loading the images, but you'll have to put up with my dodgy descriptions and, of course, the imagemaps won't work.
So, without further ado, why not make a start? You can
Most pages have just one photograph, though some have two or more for comparisons. All the original ones were taken from a photo CD at 768 x 512 pixels in 16 million colours, reduced to 576 x 384, and JPEG compressed. With a constant Q-rating of 80, this results in pictures which vary in size between 21k and 51k, which is, I hope, not too much of a burden for your 'phone bill. In the December 2002 and February 2003 updates some photographs were added which were taken from a Fuji Digital Imaging CD (the sort you get from Boots or Jessops - Kodak don't do the PhotoCD any more). These were reduced 1:3 from the 1840 x 1232 original to produce a picture of 614 x 411 pixels. With a constant Q of 80 again, these pictures vary from 50k to 70k. Progress, eh? There are three photographs in the Abertridwr section not taken by me. Please see the Contributors Page for details. There are a couple of old photographs in the Senghenydd section taken by someone else, too. Please see the Contributors Page again.
The camera equipment for the PhotoCD photographs was the same as for most other photographs on this site; my dad's Olympus OM1n. The configuration most often used was with a 28mm Tamron lens and polarising filter, but a few pictures were taken using a 70 - 210mm zoom lens or the standard Olympus 50mm. Films used were Fuji and Agfa 200ASA on the whole, although I think a couple may have been taken on Kodacolor Gold. Since moving away from my parents I have inherited a Chinon CE-4s. Any of my photographs more recent than Summer 2000 were probably taken using this camera. So far all the photographs from this camera on the site have been taken using a Tokina 28mm to 70mm zoom (usually around the 28mm end!) and often with a polarising filter. Again, film is usually Fuji, occasionally Agfa and Jessops.
Some pages also have 'archive' photographs. These are presented to contrast with the modern scene, or (in the case of the extremely bad one on the page about the Universal disaster) to highlight a point made in the text. All photographs that were not taken by yours truly are credited where the owner is known, and permission is being sought to use 'em.
On the 23rd of August 1997 I uploaded two maps to help you navigate around the valley. If you really can't get your head around mapping it yourself, or just want to go straight to a particular location, or have got hopelessley lost, click on the link at the bottom of each page, and that will take you to one of the two maps. The Abertridwr map had a major update on 27th February 2003 because I have added many new locations.
Each location is numbered, and bears a little tag name by which I know it. I have no intention of producing anything more elaborate! The HTML name of each page is based on the same numbering system, so if you can remember where you came from, you can find yourself quite easily. So long as your browser supports client-side image maps, you can also click on the locations to take you straight there.
On the 18th of December 2002 I began experimenting with imagemaps on the actual photographs on each page, by the 27th February 2003 update I had extended imagemaps to almost every page on the tour. I should have done this ages ago but I haven't had the time (I've done very little updating of the site at all between 1999 and 2002). The idea is that you can click on bits of the photograph to move in that direction. In other words, if the photograph has a road running (say) left to right, if you click on the road near the left of the picture you'll move to one location and if you click near the right of the picture you'll be taken to another location. If you know the valley this is in my opinion by far the easiest method of moving about the tour, but if you don't know the valley it is also the easiest way to get completely lost. Have fun!
Right. That's all. Use the list above to make your start!
Sorry about this, but I'm collecting info. This counter does not appear on any subsequent tour pages. It shows the number of people to have visited this page since 10 p.m. on the 28th of April
