Cambrian Way rerun: Brecon Beacons Youth Hostel to Llyn y Fan Fawr

Wednesday 21st May 2025

My previous day on the Cambrian Way, while climbing over the Brecon Beacons, had been very tiring so I was glad when I finally reached the Brecon Beacons Youth Hostel at the end of the day, despite a relatively early finish that gave me a chance to rest. I appreciated sleeping in a bed and in the morning I felt refreshed as I set off on the seventh stage of the Cambrian Way, which still traverses wild mountain scenery in Bannau Brycheiniog, but is less strenuous that the sixth stage. Technically the seventh stage starts from the Storey Arms car park, but my Cicerone guidebook offers a shortcut from the youth hostel through the Graig Cerrig Gleisiad National Nature Reserve, which I was more than happy to take, initially through woodland decorated with bluebells before emerging onto the open hillside with the impressive crags before me and immediately I crossed the stream to climb steeply up to the top. This was an enjoyable path that snaked ingeniously up the hillside while behind me were stunning views down the valley of Glyn Tarrell and towards the town of Brecon. The rain when I got up at the start of the day had soon ended and already I had blue skies and sunshine for my walk, which was much better than the overcast weather that had accompanied me last year on this stage when I first attempted the Cambrian Way. My path took me around the top of Craig Cerrig-gleisiad before turning left to head into the Fforest Fawr, which is a quiet, less trodden part of the national park and lies between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountain.

Feeling upbeat and more energetic than on the previous two days, I made my way along the clear path of the Beacons Way crossing bare grassy slopes before climbing onto the northern ridge of Fan Dringarth and over the other side to rejoin the Cambrian Way but with no path to follow. Eventually I reached the Roman road of Sarn Helen, which now appears to be little more than a toilet for sheep so I came off the track at the earliest opportunity and headed west ignoring the diversion that the Cambrian Way makes to the south taking in the standing stone of Maen Llia. I did that path last year so I had no hesitation in cutting the corner now, which I hoped would avoid the boggy ground in the area, though some bogs were still encountered on my new path. Soon I reached a road where I stopped for my lunch just as I had done previously to take in the stupendous views that are available from this point down the valley of the Afon Senni. This was a mesmerising sight, so I was more than happy to stop for a rest before setting off again across the northern slopes of Fan Nedd with the valley behind me continuing to attract my notice while ahead of me, beyond the steep hillside, I could see the highest point on this stage of the trail, Fan Gyhirych, while a strong wind encouraged me to put on my cagoule. With nothing but grass covering the hillsides I had nothing to interest me except for the distant views, which were mostly behind, so I just kept going focusing on the music I was listening to and on reaching the far side of Fan Nedd I climbed the dull grassy hillside of the eastern ridge of Fan Gyhirych.

I ignored the wide, gravel track at the top of the ridge to follow a faint path beside the edge of the escarpment with views north over Cray Reservoir while behind me the twin peaks of the Brecon Beacons, Pen y Fan and Corn Du, dominated the skyline. I was becoming conscious of the need to not take the same pictures as I had last year, though on this walk the better weather was encouraging me to do just that. I took loads of pictures of the valleys of Glyn Tarrell and Glen Senni, and from this point back to the Brecon Beacons, but since I had used those same angles on this blog last year, though the weather then was not so good, I feel the need to find some different pictures this time that showcases other parts of the walk, even though they may not be as spectacular as the aforementioned. When I reached the trig point at the summit of Fan Gyhirych I sat for a rest while several people passed by and were the first I had seen all day, which made the top seem busy. The Cambrian Way descends the southern slopes of Fan Gyhirych to eventually end the stage in Glyntawe, which is what I did last year, but my Cicerone guidebook also describes a direct route for those not seeking accommodation in the Swansea Valley. So, this time I turned north, after avoiding the steep northern slopes, crossing the gentler western slopes following a line of boundary stones that were not prominent enough to aid navigation, and so I constantly felt the need to check my location to ensure I was keeping on route.

A final, very steep and tricky descent brought me to the A4067 road where my difficulties continued over a tiresome, uninteresting ridge, Cefn Cul, which had to be traversed with hardly any path to follow. Eventually I reached a narrow road on the other side where a clear path now led me up the hillside beyond beside the Nant y Llyn stream and though it started to rain this was ultimately short-lived and it was the strong winds that were my biggest problem. It is much more pleasant walking when it is not windy, but the winds are always stronger at the top of a hill, so they are often unavoidable. Eventually I reached the lake of Llyn y Fan Fawr where I spent a good while wandering around trying to find some shelter from the wind, but eventually I found a spot beside the eastern shore of the lake where I put up my tent and spent the night. I believe this is a popular place to wild camp and though this was my first time, I could immediately see why it appeals, especially in the sunny weather. Except for the climb up to and around the crags of the nature reserve, there was nothing particularly interesting or fun about this walk as the rest of the terrain has been ruined by overgrazing that has left the hills as bare grassy mounds. It was all just dull, dull, dull, immensely dull grassy hills with no redeeming features at all for me, apart from the good sunny weather that at least provided me with stunning views in all directions.

Cambrian Way rerun: Chartist Cave to the Brecon Beacons Youth Hostel

Tuesday 20th May 2025

Before this walk I spent the night in the Chartist Cave, Ogof Fawr, which was not a pleasant experience as I had trouble sleeping and made me want to reduce the nights I was sleeping out as I prefer to sleep in a proper bed. It was a fabulous location and I spent a lovely evening there in warm, sunny weather and the following morning it was soon just as warm when I set off along the Cambrian Way again trying to avoid my mistakes of last year when I first attempted to do the trail. However, soon after the Chartist Cave the Cambrian Way comes off the clear path and it is difficult to keep precisely to the sketchy paths that cross the moorland, passing Garn Fawr cairn and heading west. Eventually I successfully crossed the moor and onto a wide quarry road where I turned right and followed it to the edge of a conifer plantation where a track skirts the wood with many fallen trees blocking my way. I was feeling very tired and in need of a drink, so when I reached a stream I stopped to have a rest and a long drink of water while gazing at the calming views ahead of meinto the valley of Dyffryn Crawnon while behind me were the exposed rocks of Cwar yr Hendre limestone quarry. Last year the weather had been poor at this point with low cloud but now I enjoyed blue skies and warm sunshine.

After a long rest I set off again beside the stream between a field and the quarry until I eventually emerged onto pathless grassland where navigation had been difficult last year due to low cloud and this year, despite much better weather, I still had difficulty keeping to the trail until I surmounted a rise and had a view across the head of Cwm Callan of a faint path, merely an indentation in the grass, heading towards the ridge west of Bryniau Gleision. A tedious, exhausting slog across the grassy hillside brought me onto the ridge that undulated with views to my right into Glyn Collwn and down Taybont Reservoir over terrain that was no better than what I had seen the year before due to scarring from off-road vehicles. I ploughed on passing the trig point on Pant y Creigiau and steeply down to the Torpantau Pass where I crossed a road and headed up a path that had been very wet last year, but was now dry and eventually brought me to the Nant Bwrefwr and the clear path of the Beacons Way. The path uphill was torture in the hot weather and my weakened state, sweating buckets and struggling to keep going, so when the gradient finally, mercifully eased I stopped to have my lunch. The weather from this point on cooled as clouds began to build overhead, which made my pictures less spectacular, but made walking easier for me. When I set off again I followed the eastern edge of Craig y Fan Ddu until upon reaching Blaen Caerfanell I turned left onto a sketchier path that led me across the hilltop to a cairn and then turned north until on the edge of the escarpment awesome views were suddenly revealed down Cwm Oergwm. 

Sunnier weather away from the hills and dappled sunshine in the valley made this a stunning sight that had me gazing in awe, while taking many pictures until eventually I turned towards the Brecon Beacons where dark clouds lingered above Pen y Fan. Slowly, I made my way around the escarpment edge heading towards Fan y Big, however, the Cambrian Way avoids the top, which I was more than happy to do, crossing the slopes on a gradual descent to reach Bwlch ar y Fan. The Cambrian Way now climbs Cribyn, which I did last year, but now I elected to follow the Beacons Way around the southern slopes slowly climbing to the col and beginning the ascent of Pen y Fan. I took my time on this, stopping frequently for a rest while the dark clouds above me dropped their rain. The cloud cover and light rain made this climb much easier than it would have been if the hot weather had persisted, to which I was thankful, but it didn’t seem to have had any effect on the large numbers of people who are attracted to this particular mountain for no apparent reason. I didn’t stop on Pen y Fan, but kept going to the neighbouring top of Corn Du and down the other side, ignoring the Cambrian Way’s diversion to the Tommy Jones obelisk by keeping to the main path that descends the broad grassy slope that eventually led me down to the Storey Arms. 

On the descent I reflected that it would be a while before I climbed anything higher than Pen y Fan and was astonished when I tried to work out when that would be. The Cambrian Mountains have nothing higher so I would have to wait until I entered Eryri, that is Snowdonia, and Cadair Idris, which is just seven metres higher. However, I had a lot of walking ahead of me before I would get that far, so it would not be for another ten days but, in fact, bad weather intervened when I got there so I didn’t do Cadair Idris, which means I didn’t climb a mountain that is higher than Pen y Fan until Yr Wyddfa, better known as Snowdon, more than two weeks later. This left me feeling happy for being tired as I had clearly just climbed a major obstacle on the Cambrian Way and it was all going to be relatively easier for the next couple of weeks. At the Storey Arms I turned right to follow the Taff Trail along a track that gradually descended into Glyn Tarell until I eventually reached the Brecon Beacons Youth Hostel. This was a very tiring day, which had started with my being very tired, so I never had a chance. Last year I had walked even further and even that was less than the recommended length of this stage, which is probably the most strenuous of the whole trail. I had gone to excessive lengths to prepare for the Cambrian Way this year after my experiences last year, so I was worried that it didn’t seem to have helped. On my first two days on the Cambrian Way I was excited to be on the trail with almost three more weeks of this, but the next two days had proven to be extremely strenuous and knocked my enthusiasm, so I was now thinking, “Not another two and a half weeks of this!”

Cambrian Way rerun: Blaenavon to Chartist Cave

Monday 19th May 2025

After two days on the Cambrian Way covering much longer distances than recommended I was feeling very tired, however, things would now get even tougher. On those two days I had enjoyed the luxury of walking with a light rucksack while returning to my accommodation in Newport every night, but now I left Newport behind and with all my camping gear on my back I caught a bus to Blaenavon and set off up the hill to the Foxhunter car park to rejoin the Cambrian Way. From there, I made my way along a good path across gentle gradients and soon I was at the rocky cap, adorned with a trig point that sits at the top of Blorenge. The day had started overcast but the clouds were now beginning to clear and reveal the same fabulous weather that I had enjoyed on the previous two days. When I was on Blorenge last year, on my first attempt at the Cambrian Way, the weather had been much worse with low cloud, soon turning to rain and little or no view, but now I had great views in all directions, most strikingly up the Usk Valley, while the distinctive top of Sugar Loaf lurked on the other side. On the edge of the escarpment the town of Abergavenny was revealed with the peculiarly shaped hill of the Skirrid, Ysgyryd Fawr, beyond, while the Black Mountains in the distance hid in the haze. The official route of the Cambrian Way descends the escarpment steeply down the bracken-covered north-eastern slopes, but my old knees and heavy rucksack encouraged me to take an easier descent south until I reached a track that led me through gorgeous woodland to the Punchbowl, a fabulous tree-lined cirque on the side of the hill where I stopped for lunch sitting beside the lake.

After eating I continued along the path climbing out of the bowl to meet the Cambrian Way and then turned right down Cwm Craf past a bank of small bluebells that gazed across the valley at the Sugar Loaf. The descent continued through a wooded dell to the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal where the path continues to descend through a tunnel underneath the canal and some buildings. The Cambrian Way now crosses the River Usk and enters Abergavenny to end the third stage before setting off into the Black Mountains on the fourth stage and then emerges back out again on the fifth stage just a few miles up the Usk Valley. I did those two stages of the Cambrian Way last year so, although I have great affection for the Black Mountains having been walking over them for over twenty-five years, I had no problem with missing out those stages this time. If you look at the route of the Cambrian Way across Wales the loop through the Black Mountains seems unnecessary and those two days I had just saved will be better spent later in the trail to have a rest. After walking through the tunnel I turned left onto the canal to walk along the towpath for a pleasant walk in the dappled sunshine under the trees that lined the canal. 

Far sooner than expected I came away from the canal onto a quiet road slowly climbing the hillside under a hot sun until mercifully I finally reached the top of the road where I turned right to follow the contour around the side of the hill with great views across the valley over the town of Crickhowell to the Black Mountains beyond. I was reminded of the route I should have taken on the Cambrian Way into the Black Mountains over Sugar Loaf and out again over Table Mountain, although I was glad that I had missed out the ridiculously steep climb that the Cambrian Way takes up to this terraced path. The road I did take up may have been tiring, but it was nothing like as bad as the path I should have taken. After being rejoined by the Cambrian Way my path deteriorated as I skirted around the side of the hill with mesmerising views ahead of me of the limestones cliffs of Craig y Cilau that loomed to my left while the hawthorn bushes covering the slopes to my right were filled with white flowers. Where the path turned right around the hillside were many small openings into the hills where a maze of subterranean passages can be explored by those properly equipped and with the necessary experience. Last year I had a look into the mouth of some of these, but I was unable to find the main entrance into Eglwys Faen, so this year I had done some research and now I was able to find it and venture into its dark interior, but I didn’t go far into the main chamber, preferring to just gaze in wonder at the unexplored depths.

Returning outside where it was much warmer I resumed my walk along the path that now began to descend but at a junction I turned left when I should have turned right. I had consulted my Cicerone guidebook and read “bearing left”, so either there is a misprint or I misread it. I had followed the correct route last year, but this route was much rougher, narrow and rocky with several fallen trees. Eventually I rejoined the correct path and soon I reached Waun Ddu, the black marsh, which was so dry this year I was able to walk across the middle of it, while last year it was too wet. On the other side I climbed up to a farmer’s track and then down to a busy road with cars thundering past at speed. My Cicerone guidebook recommends taking a path through the bracken above the road, which I tried to follow last year, but it just led me into difficulties, so this time I just walked beside the road for almost two miles until at a T-junction I headed straight onto the open, featureless moorland. With the skies clearing I had a tiring walk following a faint path across the moor, passing a trig point until finally I reached Ogof Fawr, a small cave that had been used by the Chartist movement two hundred years ago to store weapons. I used it to sleep, which was a novel experience for me that I just couldn’t resist, even though I hadn’t planned to sleep inside the cave. This was my first proper day on the Cambrian Way, with a heavy rucksack and was how it would be for almost the next three weeks. I had a great evening at the Chartist Cave in fabulous weather with extensive views north towards the Black Mountains and towards the setting sun was my next day’s destination: the Brecon Beacons.

Cambrian Way rerun: Crosskeys to Blaenavon

Sunday 18th May 2025

After I abandoned the route of the Cambrian Way when I attempted it last year, I was eager to try again and so on the day before this walk I started my second attempt. Setting off from Cardiff beside the River Taff I climbed onto the ridge between Caerphilly and Cardiff to eventually reach Machen in the Rhymney Valley where the first stage officially ends, but since it was still early I decided to keep going passing over the hill of Mynydd Machen and down into the Ebbw Valley where I caught a train from Crosskeys back to my accommodation in Newport. At the start of this day I caught a bus back to Crosskeys and immediately set off along the Cambrian Way, across the railway line and up to the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. This was a beautiful stretch of canal with loud birdsong filling the air, but all too soon I turned left to climb steeply up the hillside. This was an agonising climb, relieved by being first thing in the morning whereas last year when I did this climb it had much later in the afternoon, but that advantage was hardly felt as it was already warm and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. The unrelenting climb didn’t end of the pass, Pegwn-y-bwlch, as I turned right and continued the ascent all the way up to the top of Twmbarlwm. Behind me I had extensive views stretching all the way to the Brecon Beacons where I could clearly see the distinctive summit of Pen-y-Fan, which I would be walking over in a couple of days, so it felt odd to be walking in the other direction. 

The summit of Twmbarlwm was hidden from view for most of the climb until I finally passed through the earthworks of the Iron Age hillfort where the gradient mercifully eased and the views south were revealed to me, though they were rather misty and not as clear as they had been last year. The best views were north towards the Brecon Beacons and rest of Bannau Brycheiniog, so that was where I concentrated my camera before setting off onto the long broad ridge of Mynydd Henllys, with little variation in height, even when the ridge broadens to rise onto the vast top of Mynydd Maen as I maintained the contour along the eastern edge. I appreciated this relaxing walk after the climb up to Twmbarlwm and so I strode along the path quickly devouring the miles, eventually descending to the Blaen Bran Community Woodland, which I entered by squeezing through a narrow kissing gate. Fortunately my rucksack was light for this walk, so I had no problem, but my Cicerone guidebook suggests bypassing the woodland if you are unable to get through the kissing gate, which I was tempted to do anyway since I had gone through the woodland last year. However, I had hoped for a spectacular display of woodland flowers but it wasn’t to be and the best that I saw were actually on the approach, on the moorland edge, where bluebells decorated the bank. Eventually I climbed out of the woodland and was soon walking beside a narrow mountain road before turning right to descend into the Llwyd Valley and the town of Pontypool.

At the gates of Pontypool Park, where the second stage of the Cambrian Way ends, I stopped to have my lunch just inside the park and to have a rest as it had been a pretty strenuous morning and I wasn’t done as the third stage of the Cambrian Way lay before me. After a steep climb through the park alongside bluebells I eventually reached the Shell Grotto where I had extensive views across the valley and in all directions. Turning north I headed up the ridge passing the Folly Tower and alongside the boundary for the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, which I would follow for the rest of the day. After going around Little Mountain, I crossed a stream that was no more than a trickle and then climbed open moorland to reach the trig point on Mynydd Garn-wen. When I did this stage of the Cambrian Way last year the weather had been poor with low cloud that threatened rain while now there was hardly a cloud in the sky though the distant views were often so hazy they were little better. It was fantastic to be walking in such great weather with just a cold crosswind to contend with as I strode along the faint path making my way over the flat top of Mynydd Garnclochdy while disengaging my brain, relaxing and eating up the miles.

The end of the third stage of the Cambrian Way is in Abergavenny, which was still a long way away, but it wouldn’t have been too late by the time I eventually reached the end, so I did consider it, but I didn’t need to get that far ahead of myself. My plan was to drop into the historic mining town of Blaenavon, which I could have done branching off at the first road I reached, but I kept going over Mynydd y Garn-fawr where the terrain was now predominantly heather with a rocky path that prevented me from maintaining the brisk pace that I had previously been able to achieve. By the time I reached a second road, beside two transmitters and a car park, I was exhausted so more than happy to come off the trail and descend the hillside into Blaenavon where I caught a bus back to Newport. This was a rather tedious walk with little to see on two broad ridges, especially with the misty weather, but I enjoyed being able to blindly follow the trail with little thought to navigation and so I found it very relaxing. I was struck by how picturesque the Welsh Valleys looked, which had been heavily industrialised in the past but were now being reclaimed by nature with trees lining the steep sides and impressive hills between. The thought occurred to me that some great walking can be done in the area, along the ridges and through the less populated valleys. That is a possibility for the future, but at this point I was excitedly looking forward to almost three weeks of tremendous walking along the rest of the Cambrian Way.

Cambrian Way rerun: Cardiff Bay to Crosskeys

Saturday 17th May 2025

Almost immediately after coming back from my ill-fated walk along the Cambrian Way last year I started to plan a return visit to the sections that I had failed to do previously because of bad weather, but then, a couple of months later, I had a crazy idea of doing the whole trail again. The Cambrian Way is about three hundred miles long starting in Cardiff, by the south coast of Wales, and following a course over the mountains all the way across the nation until eventually ending in Conwy on the north coast, three weeks later. Despite the many difficulties I had last year, the idea of doing it again and learning from my previous mistakes was exciting and proved irresistible. After months of meticulous planning over the winter and eager anticipation I eventually arrived at the railway station in Cardiff and immediately set off in the wrong direction. The Cambrian Way starts at the gates of Cardiff Castle, which is north of Cardiff Central station, and yet I headed south towards Cardiff Bay. Since I’ve already done a lot of the Cambrian Way before I felt I was under no obligation to stick rigidly to the trail this time, so while I would follow new sections of the trail for me, I had no qualms about cutting corners on sections that I had done before. Last year, I started my trail by walking around Cardiff Bay as I felt that was the more fitting place to start a coast to coast trail across Wales and this time was no different, so I headed south to Roald Dahl Plass outside the Millennium Centre where I had views across Cardiff Bay.

From the Water Tower I set off along the Taff Trail, soon joining the river and heading north. Since the Cambrian Way also follows the River Taff out of Cardiff, I thought this be a good route for me to take from the bay, along the west bank of the river passing the Millennium Stadium and bypassing Cardiff Castle, while the exciting thought filled my mind that my epic, three week journey had just begun. The weather was warm and sunny, but I knew that in Wales this was not going to last for three weeks, though I hoped that this time I would be prepared for anything. My path coincided with that of many cyclists and runners, and while the Cambrian Way passed through Bute Park on the eastern side of the river I kept to the western shore passing through the pleasant landscape of Sophia Gardens and into Pontcanna Fields. The river was lined with trees while cow parsley and buttercups lined my path, which I had not seen when I left Cardiff last year since that had been in August, so I was looking forward to the change in vegetation that I would see this time on the trail. At Black Weir I crossed the bridge and finally joined the Cambrian Way on the east bank of the Taff where wild garlic decorated the woodland floor. At Gabalfa the Cambrian Way crosses the river for a needless diversion to Llandaff Cathedral, so I stayed on the east bank following the Taff Trail and when the trail turned right around the edge of Hailey Park I stayed beside the river. This wasn’t deliberate, but preferable and soon I reached a railway bridge where I rejoined the Cambrian Way and where a short stretch of road walking led me to one of the highlights of the whole trail.

I had entered a disused length of the Glamorganshire Canal which is now a nature reserve and was a fabulous place to walk, totally overgrown and given over to nature. It was gorgeous with the shallow waters of the canal filled with water lilies, looking beautiful even though they were not in flower, while yellow iris filled the bank to my left. Eventually I came to the end of this surviving section of canal where I had my first climb of the trail up to the complex network of paths that took me through the junction of the M4 motorway with the A470 trunk road, that soon led me into the village of Tongwynlais where my first proper climb took me up the road to Castell Coch. I was not bothered about the red castle, but the steep climb that took me through woodland that soon had me sweating in the warm weather, so I was thankful when the gradient eventually eased. Last year, I turned left at this point to head back down into the Taff valley with my first day on the trail already finished, but this time I kept going along the popular, wide path. The yellow flowers of broom decorated the thick green vegetation that lined the path until at the Three Bears Caves, a disused mine, I stopped for lunch. My onward course took me past a golf course on my left while to my right the woodland floor was carpeted with wild garlic, though not at its best as it was going to seed. After passing a car park, I crossed a road and followed a narrower path that weaved around the contours before widening and becoming easier underfoot, so I strode on, enjoying the walk with the trees shining a bright green in the sunlight.

When I reached a junction I checked my location and realised that I had missed a turning, so I had to retrace my steps back through the brightly lit trees until I eventually returned to the point that I should not have missed. I had thought that having done a lot of the Cambrian Way before the navigation would be easy for me so I could relax and just enjoy the trail, but much as I would have loved to have disengaged my brain, this incident showed that I couldn’t afford to since I had not missed that turning last year. I should at least have been able to learn from my missed turnings last year, but at Thornhill I made the same mistake I’d made before. The undulating trail continued along a broad ridge with little or no view so I just ploughed on and appreciated having the shelter of the trees from the sun. My interest was only awakened by the frequent appearance of wild garlic and particularly in one place where it covered the woodland floor and had not gone to seed. When the views did finally appear, on the edge of an old quarry, they were rather hazy, so despite the clear blue skies, they were not as appealing as they had been last year at this point. My route took me over Cefn Onn and continued for many miles until I finally turned north again on a wide forestry track through Coed Cefn-pwll-du and descended into the Rhymney Valley to reach Machen where the first stage of the Cambrian Way ends. I had originally planned on stopping at this point, but since it was still early and I was feeling strong, I decided to keep going, climbing up the hill towards Mynydd Machen. 

This was a tiring climb in the hot weather with the young woodland not providing me with any shelter, though as I climbed the views opened out towards Newport, where I was staying for the weekend, and beyond to the Bristol Channel. Eventually I turned north again to climb an eroded path that brought me to the radio transmitter and trig point that sits at the summit of Mynydd Machen, but I was just glad that the climbing was now over and I had a long descent into the Ebbw valley. Previously I had made a number of mistakes on this descent, so I now made sure to take the correct route into woodland decorated with bluebells and down a complicated sequence of paths that had previously been overgrown but it was not too difficult now to find my way, especially with the benefit of hindsight. Soon, I reached the Ebbw River and the road between Crosskeys and Risca where I turned left to reach the railway station at Crosskeys. This was a great start to the Cambrian Way and after spending all year doing exercises to strengthen my legs I felt better prepared for this walk than many others that I have done. I was eager for what the next three weeks lay in store for me.