Cambrian Way: the Black Mountain

Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th August 2024

The rain that fell all through the night finally stopped in the morning and as I began to leave the campsite in Glyntawe I could see breaks in the clouds that promised better weather to come, though the rain had left everything wet and the ground saturated. I set off again on the Cambrian Way for the start of the eighth stage on a footpath that after crossing the River Tawe climbs up to the long ridge of Fan Hir. I have come down this ridge on several occasions, most recently in 2019, and it is much better done in that direction with views into the Swansea Valley before you, but on this occasion the clouds were still quite low so I didn’t have much to see, therefore I had little to relieve the tedium of a long ascent. My agony was prolonged for many hours as I plunged into the clouds while slowly making my way along the ridge with a steep escarpment to my right. I reflected that despite the lack of a view, walking in mist is an integral part of the mountain experience and I have lacked that this year. While passing over the unmarked highest point on Fan Hir I noticed that the sun was trying to break through the clouds with hints of blue sky overhead, but this disappeared while crossing Bwlch Giedd and during my ascent to the top of Fan Brycheiniog, the highest point on the Black Mountain. At the trig point the clouds began to break and soon after setting off down to Bwlch Blaen-Twrch the clouds suddenly cleared to reveal stunning views down the infant Afon Twrch and across the wide expanse of the Black Mountain.

On this mountain the best views are from the top of the northern edges and so as I slowly made my way along the path, passing over Picws Du, I stopped repeatedly to take many pictures in the stunning, sunny weather that had been suddenly revealed to me. Far below, Llyn y Fan Fach sat at the foot of the escarpment in a perfect bowl as I walked around the edge of Bannau Sir Gaer before slowly descending the broad, grassy slope off the mountain. It was great to be at the top of a mountain in bright sunshine so I was not happy to be coming back down so soon and especially with the knowledge that I would not be so high again for another week, but at least I was now heading north again after several days heading west while traversing the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. While on the mountain my way had been unimpeded by walls and fences but now I was at the bottom my way had become a lot more complicated with a complex network of footpaths that had to be negotiated with an early one being so overgrown with nettles I turned back and walked along the road instead, which led me into the village of Llanddeusant. As the location of a former youth hostel this is a place that I had been aware of for many years, but never been until now, so it was poignant to finally reach the village where I stopped for lunch and quietly contemplated my location while sitting beside the quaint, little church.

The Cambrian Way doesn’t go into Llanddeusant so after eating I retraced my steps along the road to an enclosed lane that led me to the edge of the open moorland where I slowly headed north while fatigue began to set in with the tedium. Before leaving the Bannau Brycheioniog I had to weave a course through a range of low, grassy hills, which summits on Mynydd Myddfai, where I had a last look behind me to the Black Mountain before finally descending onto a road that led me through the village of Myddfai and out of the National Park, which I had just traversed from south-east corner to north-west. I loved the opportunity to do so and was surprised to realise that this was the first time I had been in the area without my car. Ahead of me were the Cambrian Mountains and my next exciting adventure, but my onward progress was tedious and slow meandering along many different footpaths until eventually, after many hours, I finally crossed Waterloo Bridge and entered the town of Llandovery. The morning’s crossing of the Black Mountain had been sensational, especially after the clouds cleared, but the afternoon’s slow progress to Llandovery was exhausting and uninspiring. The following morning the weather was much worse with grey overcast skies and rain almost all day, which I was surprisingly not too bothered about as stage nine of the Cambrian Way is a relatively easy, level walk mostly along minor roads and tracks. With nothing to see through the misty conditions I just settled myself in for the day and enjoyed the easy walking. When I finally left the road, several hours later, the rain had eased and a wood-lined path brought me to the River Towy where an interesting path followed the river to bring me to a campsite near the village of Rhandirmwyn.

After the enjoyable walk beside the river, I stopped to have my lunch before continuing on the other side of the river along a tricky, undulating path until it finally brought me back onto a road and the best part of the day was over as the rain returned. All reports claim that the scenery in this valley is spectacular but I was not able to see that or appreciate it in the heavy rain. After passing the last farm in the valley I came off the road to follow a narrow path that delved deeper into the valley of the Afon Doethie and as I battled through dense bracken my only compensation was the purple flowers of heather that lined the path and seemed so bright against the grey background. This was a very tough and challenging walk where navigation was sometimes very difficult with one moment when I completely lost the path and had to wade through bogs and bracken to exhaustingly find the faint path again, while slowly through the afternoon I got soaked to the skin. Finally, mercifully, I came to a heavily eroded track that led me to Ty’n Cornell, one of the Elenydd Wilderness Hostels, where I received a warm welcome that included a cup of tea and a blazing fire. The biggest tragedy of this walk was not my getting saturated, but my not being able to see the stunning scenery that I had passed through, so I definitely want to come back next year and see the Doethie Valley at its best.

Cambrian Way: Fforest Fawr

Tuesday 13th August 2024

At the end of the previous day I had reached the Storey Arms, where the sixth stage of the Cambrian Way ends, and immediately I set off down the Taff Trail on a hostel variant to reach the Brecon Beacons Youth Hostel, previously known as Llwyn-y-celyn. This follows the track of an old road, so gave me easy walking after the strenuous traverse over the Brecon Beacons until finally I crossed the valley and came up to the hostel where I was looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed after two nights of wild camping. The following morning I continued to follow the hostel variant rather than returning to the Storey Arms to begin the seventh stage of the Cambrian Way. My Cicerone guidebook recommended that I went through the Graig Cerrig Glesaid National Nature Reserve, which I was more than happy to do, climbing steeply to the left of the crags and soon I had far-reaching views across the reserve and down the valley of Glyn Tarrel, despite grey, overcast skies. Once at the top of the crags I passed above Craig Cerrig-glesiad, down to a col and up the other side before I realised that I had missed my turning. My guidebook offers two alternative routes to return to the Cambrian Way with the first turning off the clear path before reaching the top of the crags to cross the open moorland on faint footpaths, but I opted for the second which follows the Beacons Way on clear paths but branches away from the crags at the col so when I realised I had to retrace my steps back down.

A wide path took me across the featureless, grassy hillside above Craig Cwm Du and up to the northern ridge of Fan Dringarth, which the Beacons Way traverses, but the Cambrian Way takes a pathless, cross-country route from the Storey Arms straight over this ridge. When I finally came to the route of the Cambrian Way I turned off the Beacons Way to head down the grassy slopes, across the gathering grounds of Nant Ystwyth and over the imperceptible rise of Bryn Melyn to suddenly find the clear track of the Roman road, Sarn Helen. I was walking in Fforest Fawr, an extensive upland area that was formerly a royal hunting area but is now a little visited range of grassy hills used primarily for sheep grazing. I was last in the area in 2003 when I did a walk over these hills starting from the car park by the nature reserve, but it has little appeal for me so it has been ignored in my subsequent visits to the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. I did enjoy following the clear footpath of the Beacons Way, even though it was rather boggy, but trying to find my way over the pathless hillside was rather arduous and Sarn Helen was no relief as I soon had to come off that and negotiate a course through the bogs at the head of the Afon Llia. Eventually a clear path emerged through the bogs, though not without getting my feet wet, and brought me to Maen Llia, a Bronze Age standing stone, while not far away was a road which I followed north, with strong winds blowing through the pass, until I reached the edge of a steep drop into the valley of the Afon Senni.

After lunch spent looking into the valley, I set off up the ridge of Llethr, which fans out from Fan Nedd, but the Cambrian Way ignores this hill and I didn’t have the energy to waste needlessly climbing to the top, and besides I had previously visited it in 2002. A wall provided me with a handrail as I braved the cold wind up the ridge and across the steep northern slopes of Fan Nedd to the saddle at the head of the Senni Valley. The dreary, grassy slopes continued up to a broad ridge adorned with a wide, gravelly track, but the Cambrian Way ignores that to follow a faint path through the grass above steep north-facing slopes with views to Cray Reservoir and beyond. While the cold wind continued to blow I slowly made my way up the tedious slopes towards Fan Gyhirych with views behind me across the Fforest Fawr all the way to the Brecon Beacons in the distance. The trig point at the summit has been decorated with patriotic Welsh slogans that meant nothing to me and with rain on the nearby Black Mountain I was keen to get off the hill as quickly as possible so I made my way onto the wide, grassy track that I had seen earlier and walked along that all the way. This provided me with an easy descent as the weather worsened and views towards Cwm Tawe, also known as the Swansea Valley.

On a linear walk your view is always changing and now that I had passed over Fan Gyhirych the Brecon Beacons had been left behind and I had a completely different view to anything I had seen previously, and since I could now see wind turbines then my view must be now stretching to outside of the National Park. I had a very enjoyable walk down the gentle slopes of the gravel track that eventually led me into Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve, which contains the remains of Penwyllt Quarry so there was a fascinating assortment of caves and disused tramways, whose sleepers were still imbedded in the ground. It finally started to rain before I left the disused quarries so I donned my waterproofs and continued the descent along a delightfully narrow path, which I would have enjoyed more if it hadn’t been raining and I was cooking in my waterproofs. When I reached the main road at the bottom of the valley I turned right to look for accommodation having completed stage seven of the Cambrian Way. I hadn’t booked anything in advance, but the first campsite I found in Glytawe had plenty of space and was very cheap. This was a surprisingly pleasurable walk considering the overcast skies that always promised rain and finally arrived late afternoon, and although the scenery was not as spectacular as previously the cooler temperatures helped to make this a much less strenuous walk than on the previous three days.

Cambrian Way: the Brecon Beacons

Monday 12th August 2024

I had difficulty sleeping on the night before this walk because it was too warm and no breeze was blowing through my tent so I didn’t get much sleep for the start of the toughest and most demanding section of Cambrian Way. Stage six starts in the town of Crickhowell, but to reduce the length of this stage I had started it the afternoon before and walked for about four miles to a wild camp in Waun Ddu. In the morning, I set off through the thick bracken that surrounded the bog and brought me to a farmer’s track a short distance away from a road. My Cicerone guidebook recommends avoiding the fast road by following a track that parallels the road, however at this time of the year it was choked with bracken which made the walking difficult and later I began to climb above the crags of Craig y Castell even though the guidebook recommends descending to the road at that point. I was forced to walk across the top of the crags until I was at the far end where I battled through thick bracken down to the road. It was still very warm and humid with weather forecasts promising the hottest day of the year in Britain, although maybe not in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park as the weather was initially very changeable with fleeting sunshine and attempts at rain, though for most of the morning it was just overcast. I was not looking forward to the promised hot weather reaching Wales as that would make an already strenuous walk even more difficult.

At the end of the road I took to a track that led me out onto the open moor and with the earlier sunshine gone and bleak, open moorland before me under overcast skies I put my trust in the clear path that led me to an trig point and later to Ogof Fawr, a cave used by the Chartist movement in the nineteenth century. Soon after the cave I should have turned off the track as it curved to the south, but I missed the faint path and by the time I realised it was too late to turn back so I turned north crossing the pathless heather moorland until I reached the route of the Cambrian Way which was almost non-existent on the ground and brought me to a quarry access road. A track branched off the road and took me around the Cwar yr Hendre limestone quarry soon providing me with misty views into the quiet valley of Dyffryn Crawnan. At a waterfall I crossed the stream and walked along a terraced path with views down the valley until I eventually realised I was going the wrong way and retraced my steps back to the bridge to follow the stream up past a distressing array of industrial waste. Plastics and tyres littered the ground on the edge of the quarry until I finally moved onto open moorland just as the mist dropped and the weather deteriorated so with no path navigation was an interesting challenge.

There was nothing to see in the bleak grassland until the ground steepened below Bryniau Gleision and I reached a ridge, but the ground was still no better with deep ruts left behind by off-road vehicles. However, the weather was now improving with views to my right into the valley that houses Talybont Reservoir while to my left Pontsticill Reservoir was surrounded by thick conifer plantations. I have planned to walk along this ridge on many occasions and for many years, but I don’t think I ever have, so I was devastated to find it in such a terrible state and the desolations continued beyond the trig point at the top of Pant y Creigiau with terrible scarring where the ground steepens from vehicles trying to climb the hill. At the bottom of the pass, I took to a muddy path that crossed the hillside to the stream Nant Bwrefwr where a clear, well-made path leads up the hillside. This is part of the Beacons Way, a long distance trail that I first considered doing twenty years ago, so it is great that I was now finally doing a walk that traverses the whole of the national park. As the sun broke through the clouds, a little later than it had done on the previous two days, I made my way across the open top of Waun Cerrig Llwydion to the escarpment edge above Craig Cwmoergwm. After my exertion it was great to now have a relaxing stroll with great views in all directions with the distinctive peaks of the Brecon Beacons ahead of me and arrayed in splendid sunshine.

The path above the escarpment brought me towards Fan y Big, but I stuck the route of the Cambrian Way which bypasses the top, and never seriously considered the option. From the pass, Bwlch ar y Fan, I had a choice of whether to follow the Beacons Way in bypassing the next peak, Cribyn, or to stick to the precise route of the Cambrian Way and climb Cribyn. I had decided to base my choice on the time, as recommended by the Cicerone guide, and since it wasn’t even three o’clock yet I braved the steep slopes and climbed all the way up to the top of Cribyn. The climb rewarded me with fantastic views in all directions including Twmpa, in the far distance to the east. where I had been two days ago. Now a steep descent led me to another ridiculously steep ascent that led me all the way up to the top of the highest point in the Brecon Beacons, Pen y Fan, where the stunning views continued stretching for many miles to the north. This is one of those mountains that draws the crowds so I didn’t stay for long at the top before making my way along the ridge that connects Pen y Fan with its neighbour, Corn Du, where I began my descent keeping to the escarpment edge until I reached an obelisk that commemorates the death of a five year old child. It is probable that I have not previously visited this memorial very often with the last time being in 2006, but the Cambrian Way makes the diversion so I did again before crossing the pathless grassy slopes onto the main path that led me down the hill to the Storey Arms.

This was an epic day with a lot of arduous walking across featureless moorland in grey, miserable weather until finally in the afternoon the weather cleared just as the landscape became much more interesting for a stunning traverse of the Brecon Beacons. Pen y Fan was the highest point on the Cambrian Way so far and would not be surpassed until I reached Cadair Idris more than a week later.

Cambrian Way: out of the Black Mountains

Sunday 11th August 2024

At the end of my previous day on the Cambrian Way I had stopped a little short of where I’d originally planned, but later than I should have walked after a strenuous day. I was near the head of the short valley that contains the stream Nant Bwch which flows into the Vale of Ewyas in the Black Mountains. This is an area that I have many fond memories of walking and I loved the opportunity that walking the Cambrian Way gave me to revisit these delightful hills. After a good night’s sleep I woke to overcast skies but once I was back on the ridge I had far reaching views across the Wye Valley and a brisk wind. My first climb was up the sprawling grassy hill of Rhos Dirion and to avoid going in the wrong direction I needed to keep to the edge of the escarpment that overlooks the wide valley, but I soon lost the views as I plunged into the low cloud that enveloped the hill. My excesses of the day before had left me aching and these now continued, especially on the steepest sections of the walk, so with more than two weeks strenuous walking ahead of me I was careful to take my time as I slowly climbed to the trig point that marks the top of Rhos Dirion. At the shallow col beyond I turned right to descend the escarpment a short distance in search of some water from the stream that flows through Cwm Cwmstab, which despite being a mere trickle was enough to fill my water bottles and quench my thirst until other sources of water could be found. Back on the path I continued along the ridge slowly climbing through the misty conditions until eventually I reached the top of Waun Fach, the highest point in the Black Mountains and now much improved compared with my first visit in 2002 when the top was bare mud.

Turning right I descended the ridge over Pen Trumau and enthused at the easy walking that the broad grassy ridges of the Black Mountains provides, so despite the poor weather I enjoyed walking along the curving ridge that led me down to a pass and up to Mynydd Llysiau where heather now decorated the landscape. At the next hill, the Cambrian Way obstinately climbs to the top of Pen Twyn Glas even though the clear path skirts around it, so I had to tackle the bogs that defended the approach before turning right at the top to rejoin the path and head along the ridge to Pen Allt-mawr where a steep ascent ensured that I was so tired when I reached the trig point I collapsed in the nearby shelter to hide from the strong winds and have my lunch. Soon after leaving the summit along the eastern edge I passed someone who commented that the weather had turned out good, which was a surprise for me to hear until I later realised that while I had stopped for my lunch the mist had cleared to reveal blue skies and sunshine. Although views ahead of me, to the south, were hazy, when I reached Pen Cerrig-calch and finally turned around I found that there were extensive views back along the ridge all the way to Waun Fach. I felt sure that I had walked over Pen Allt-mawr and Pen Cerrig-calch before, but I could not remember when and I cannot find any record of it. Fortunately the Cambrian Way was bringing me to places that I had not walked in over twenty years, if at all.

I was disappointed to have missed out on the views throughout the morning, and all too soon the views across my beloved Black Mountains disappeared as I turned back to the south and descended the broad slopes with views across the Usk Valley beyond. The sharp peak of Sugar Loaf, which I had climbed the day before, was to my left while Blorenge, which I had climbed a month before, was on the other side of the valley. My gradual descent brought me to Table Mountain and the Iron Age fort of Crug Hywel that overlooks and lends its name to the modern town of Crickhowell. Rather than walk all the way around the earthworks I soon came back down descending through bracken that towered above my head with the heat increasing significantly as I descended with the day becoming disagreeably hot. When I reached Crickhowell I had completed the fifth stage of the Cambrian Way, and since it was only half two in the afternoon I took the opportunity to rest for a while and keep out of the hot sun. With stage six being very long and arduous I wanted to keep going so eventually I left Crickhowell, across the River Usk and up to the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal where a short but delightful walk brought me to some disused lime kilns where a straight route, formally a tramway, led me up the hill and towards the awesome cliffs that line the valley.

A very steep ascent up an old incline was torture at this late time of the day though thankfully it was initially under the cover of trees and the earlier heat was beginning to fade, but the ascent was unrelenting and I was more than relieved when I finally reached the level path that runs along the base of the disused quarries. With stunning views across the valley I had a majestic walk across the side of the hill that gave me a chance to catch my breath. At a bend in the escarpment is the large, open cave of Eglwys Faen, but I could not find it despite searching several paths that led to treacherously steep drops into tiny openings in the hillside. I didn’t want to risk injury hunting for the cave so I returned to the path where I was able to admire the impressive crags of Chwar Mawr before continuing along the path that descended to the open moor of Waun Ddu in the National Nature Reserve of Craig y Cilau where I camped well away from the path. This was a much better day than the previous when I had struggled with tiredness and a lack of energy, but much of the walk was relatively easy along the grassy ridges of the Black Mountains that are always a pleasure that has been enjoyed many times over the past twenty-five years. I loved the opportunity to return on this occasion but I would have many more places to visit while on the Cambrian Way.