Ruperra Open Doors Heritage Day Sunday September 14 at 2 pm

The focus of interest in this visit is the 17th century ruined castle of Ruperra. It is privately owned and can be viewed only from the surrounding countryside and footpaths, but these views afford a stunning perception of the former glory of the Ruperra Estate.
After the walk on the public footpaths surrounding the castle and a short talk by a heritage expert, there will be tea and cakes in the barn at Ruperra Home Farm. This is working farm which once provided the food for the Morgans of Tredegar living at the castle. There will be an exhibition about the Ruperra estate which will include pictures of the castle and outbuildings and extracts from a diary written by William Beechey the farmer who every night sat down at Home Farm and described briefly the events of the day stretching from the 1890s to 1920s.
Supplying food means that knowledge of numbers is required but numbers are not restricted, so please call 01656 741 622 or e-mail patjonesjenkins@googlemail.com with details of your telephone number and the names and number of persons booking. We need these details in case of changes due to the weather and so on. You will then be asked to send a cheque for £5.00 per person made out to Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust to Douglas Knight, 32 Afon Mead, Rogerstone, Newport, NP10 9JL
Meet for the start at Ruperra Home Farm NP10 8GG. Grid ref. ST 223 864 There is permissive access to the car parking facility at the Home Farm for this event. Starting at 2pm, the walk, talk, viewing the exhibition and eating the tea will take about 3 hours
Getting there - Please use sat nav or the grid ref and approach from the eastern side via the roads from Michaelstone y Fedw or Draethen. If you are coming from the west on the roads from Lisvane or Cefn Mabley, please go round to the eastern entrance to the Ruperra Drive. There will be Open Doors signs to guide you. Public transport bus stops from the Newport-Caerphilly road and the Caerphilly-Rudry road are about 1 mile from Ruperra Home Farm. Sunday timetables must be checked.
The approach along the Drive is quite rough and you need to drive slowly. There is no access to the grounds of the castle which are surrounded by barbed wire fencing and signed Private Property.

The pictures show, from left to right, steps up to Coed Ruperra from the Ruperra Drive, a view of the castle from Coed Ruperra. The aerial photograph of the castle grounds above was taken a few years ago before the more recent deterioration of the buildings. The public footpath from the Ruperra Drive to the south side of the Castle grounds threads its way through the trees.