Cambrian Way rerun: Ty’n Cornel to Domen Milwyn

Sunday 25th May 2025

After spending a day at Ty’n Cornell not doing anything, resting from the Cambrian Way, I now set off on stage ten, which covers a wild and remote stretch through the Elenydd, the Cambrian Mountains, a sparsely populated area of Wales where I would hardly see anyone or any sign of civilisation all day. I had previously done the Cambrian Way in August last year until bad weather intervened and my memories of this stage were not encouraging as there were hardly any highlights or points of interest, so I was rather resigned to my fate as I set off from the wilderness hostel along its access road. The track runs beside the Doethie Fawr river before crossing and climbing out of the valley while I branched north onto a rougher path that took me onto boggy, featureless hills that are notorious on the Cambrian Way, prompting some to avoid them. To my left was a conifer plantation while to my right were gently rolling, grassy hills as I tried to follow the top of the low ridges of Esgair Wynt and Esgair Cerrig that lay between. I now had a strong westerly wind in marked contrast to previously on the trail where I had been followed by light wind and warm sunshine, and while I still had sunshine the weather was definitely on the turn. At the end of the ridge the view was revealed to me of the head of the Camddwr valley with an unenclosed road crossing and a track leading to the isolated Nantymaen farm. 

My route took me towards the farm, bypassing the buildings onto a path that follows the stream towards the marsh that is the source of several different rivers. In this remote landscape the path was difficult to follow and often wet and boggy, though it was much better than it had been last year while trying to make my way through this wild countryside and the path was now relatively clear and weaved a route around the bogs. There is an indistinct junction that caught me out last year so I was careful not to be led astray again, and turned north off the clear path to head towards the hill of Garn Gron. I could have missed this summit out as I had visited it last year, but I felt almost duty-bound to do it as I remembered that there were great views from the top and it wasn’t much of a diversion. However, the strong winds forced me to hastily retreat as soon as I got there and descend the vast, pathless, northern slopes trying to pick a better route down than I had taken last year until eventually I found the gate that led me into a conifer plantation and out of the winds. 

At some ruined buildings I stopped to have my lunch where I remembered that I had previously been confused by the paths at this point, so after I had eaten I made a point of taking the correct route alongside a wide forestry track, but not on it, though my path still ascended onto the track earlier than it should have done. When I reached the turning off the track it was just as ominous as it had been before, seeming to plunge into dense vegetation, but, after crossing a stream and passing through an overgrown line of wet, young conifers, the path got better as I gradually descended until finally I emerged from the plantation. After crossing a field I took a lovely little walk, that I remembered from last year, beside a stream, through ancient woodland and decorated with bluebells. This delightful walk brought me to Strata Florida where there are the ruins of a Cistercian abbey and although I hadn’t stopped there last year, this time I took the opportunity to have a cup of tea and wander around the abbey, enjoying the sunshine, sheltered from the strong winds. 

This was a pleasant and relaxing rest from the Cambrian Way, but all too soon I picked up my heavy rucksack again and set off along a narrow road until eventually I branched off to climb through a gorgeous valley to a signpost that marks the halfway point on the Cambrian Way. Unfortunately, it was not my halfway point because I had missed out stages four and five, so with more than half of the trail still to do I toiled up the valley into landscape that was now more tedious with grass dominating. By the time I reached Llyn Egnant clouds had smothered the sunshine again and I was also exposed to the strong winds again since I was no longer in the shelter of the bottom of the valley. An access road led me around the reservoir and onto an unenclosed tarmac road to the point where stage ten technically ends, though in practice that is at Claerddu Bothy a short distance away. I was reluctant to spend the night there, partly because it was still early, but mainly because I was worried that the bothy might fill with people due to it being a Bank Holiday weekend. I spent a while wandering around until eventually I decided that I didn’t like the atmosphere, probably because of the enormous amount of graffiti on the walls. 

I prefer to be on my own so I headed off again, climbing uphill with stunning views behind me of the Teifi Pools thanks to the sun coming out again and giving me a tremendous walk in the sunshine, past Llyn Fyrddon Fawr until finally I reached Domen Milwyn. In the shelter of Carreg Ddiddos, with the trickle of Nant y Domen nearby and the distinctive hill not far away I put up my tent. I had camped in this area last year, saving the top of Domen Milwyn for the following morning, only to find low cloud, so this time, after dinner, I made a point of heading up to the top while the weather was good, though braving the strong winds, to take in the views which I hadn’t seen last year, however, there is little to see except rolling hills, covered in grass, and little else. The walking this day would have been much better if it hadn’t been for the strong winds, which make it feel very unpleasant and even difficult for me to catch a breath, but it was surprising how much I enjoyed the walking, especially when I was sheltered from the wind.

Cambrian Way rerun: Llandovery to Ty’n Cornel

Friday 23rd May 2025

I hate camping, so it is frustrating that the best way to do certain trails is with a tent. I don’t like the weight of camping gear on my back as walking would be so much easier if I had a lighter rucksack. I struggle to sleep at the best of times and I really struggle when in a tent, so on this trail I was always getting a much better night’s sleep when on a bed, but never in a tent. After that rant, I can say I had a lovely, warm and sunny evening in Llandovery before this walk, until failing to sleep overnight. The ninth stage of the Cambrian Way starts from Market Square in Llandovery, however, since I was coming from the Erwlon Campsite into the town and I thought it would be easier for me to take a shortcut beside the Afon Brân that soon led me onto the A483 New Road. This was not the first time I had attempted to do the Cambrian Way as I had set off along the trail in August last year until bad weather intervened and this stage was particularly affected with rain most of the day and heavily in the afternoon. One reason I wanted to do the Cambrian Way again was so I could see what I had missed the first time, especially on this stage which passes through the spectacular scenery of the Doethie Valley which I hadn’t seen last year despite walking through it. The weather this time was almost overcompensating as it was hot and sunny, so I was already sweating as I climbed up the road past Llanfair Church while carrying a particularly heavy rucksack. Soon I was walking up a quiet country lane that sees little traffic, cruelly uphill, while high hedges deprived me of a view, which had not been a problem last year, but now I felt like I was missing out.

After the gradient mercifully eased the view east was revealed, across the Brân valley, with the Black Mountain and rest of the Bannau Brycheiniog further south, but I had left that national park the day before and now I was heading into the Elenydd, the Cambrian Mountains, which is a little regarded upland range lying between the Bannau Brycheiniog and Eryri/Snowdonia. The scenery was spectacular and not deserving of its long neglect as my route finally took me off the road to follow a track, back onto a road, then a byway and then finally a road again where a stunning view was soon revealed to me across Dyffryn Tywi, the Towy Valley. This view had left an impression on me last year even though I could hardly see anything, so it was great to now see the full panorama looking gorgeous in the warm sunshine. A delightful wood followed whose banks were decorated with bluebells, but this was woefully short and led me to a gate with a clear path beyond and was the way I had gone last year, however, the Cambrian Way takes a surreptitious sharp right turn at this point to pass through a dull field to the buildings of Gwernpool. This is a very confusing route and a poor substitute to the way I discovered last year which soon reaches the river and follows that on a beautiful, enjoyable path, lined with wild flowers, while the Cambrian Way, after successfully negotiating the many twists and turns around the buildings finally joins this riverside path to reach a campsite just outside the village of Rhandirmwyn.

After lunch, I crossed the river and followed a very different riverside path that was greatly marred by fallen trees so it was a mercy when I finally climbed up onto the road to continue my dull trudge along that, past the Towy Bridge Inn. The valley now closed in as the scenery became increasingly exciting, though dense undergrowth prevented me from getting a good vantage point. The road walking continued interspersed with a narrow path until I reached a waterfall in fabulous, craggy surroundings that was also difficult to see, despite a view high above the valley, or from beside the river, with neither giving me a satisfying viewpoint without being suicidal. Back on the road, I continued along the bottom of the valley, over the river and steeply up to Troed-rhiw-ruddwen farm, which was the last farm on the trail. Soon after, I took a path that led me into the Doethie Valley, which I had been looking forward to seeing ever since I had hardly seen anything last year due to the rain. Now, I had sunshine, though with a strong headwind, as I excitedly headed up the path through an awesome vee-shaped valley with steep slopes either side down to the Afon Doethie. The walking was at first relatively easy and I stopped frequently to take pictures of the spell-binding scenery, but later after entering a wood I had difficulty following the path as the clear path on the ground disagreed with my Ordnance Survey map, which was eventually revealed to be wrong or out of date. The complexities of the trail continued which had caused me many problems last year so I was trying to be careful and not go wrong again, but this was not easy and proved to be very challenging.

After several hours of walking through tremendous, though difficult terrain, it eventually eased again and I was left with a relaxing walk through the narrow valley that led me to a heavily eroded track and finally I reached Ty’n Cornel, the Elenydd Wilderness Hostel where I was going to spend the next two nights. One of the lessons I had learnt after my first attempt of the Cambrian Way was to take full days off the trail to rest and my first of those was spent here enjoying the quiet and solitude of the stunning scenery around Ty’n Cornel. This may have appeared to be an easy stage of the Cambrian Way, but the Doethie Valley is not easy, even in the best of weather, as it has some very challenging sections, so I was glad to have done it in good weather and been able to see the awesome scenery that is in this tragically neglected part of Wales.

Cambrian Way rerun: Llyn y Fan Fawr to Llandovery

Thursday 22nd May 2025

The night before this walk was spent beside the lake Llyn y Fan Fawr below the north eastern escarpment of the Black Mountain in the Bannau Brycheiniog. I had taken a shortcut on the Cambrian Way, mentioned in the Cicerone guidebook, which misses out Glyntawe where last year, on my first attempt of the trail, I had found accommodation. The eighth stage of the Cambrian Way starts in Glyntawe, so after climbing up from Llyn y Fan Fawr to the pass Bwlch Giedd I was already three miles ahead of myself. The steep climbing continued up to Fan Brycheiniog, the highest point on the Black Mountain, where the Cambrian Way turns west downhill on a route that had been very wet when I did the Cambrian Way last year. It was not likely to be so wet this year after a dry spring, but for a change I decided to follow the edge of the escarpment to the promontory of Fan Foel before turning sharp right and descending to Bwlch Blaen-Twrch. Last year the low cloud that had covered the summit at Fan Brycheiniog suddenly cleared on the descent, whereas this year the cloud was slower to clear with patchy cloud remaining in many places. I was actually happy that the weather was not as good as last year because I wanted a difference to the walk or it would have been just dull and repetitive, so I embraced the poorer weather as I crossed the pass and climbed steeply up to the cairn on Picws Du.

The mist slowly began to clear revealing stunning views and blue sky as an enjoyable walk took me along the escarpment edge of Bannau Sir Gaer with tantalising views down the precipitous cliffs and passing over Llyn y Fan Fach stretching far into the distance while a cold northerly wind encouraged me to keep my cagoule on. When I finally reached the end of the ridge the cloud had lifted sufficiently to provide me with a great view back along the escarpment that was no less impressive despite having been seen many times before. This is one of the iconic images of the Bannau Brycheiniog and I had no hesitation in taking many pictures of the scene again. Eventually I turned north and headed down the long grassy slopes with extensive views ahead of me while I reflected that since Monday I had been heading west on the Cambrian Way despite technically following a northerly course across Wales, so I was glad to be finally heading in the right direction again. Conwy was before me, but I had two weeks of walking to go before I would reach there.

At the bottom of the hill I took the farmer’s road to Wildman Woods and at the gate I turned right onto a path that had been overgrown last year and impassable. Fortunately I was now able to get through the nettles, although the route was still hard to follow, and I was able to reach the bridge over the Afon Sawdde and up to the road beyond. Ultimately this path is a half-hearted attempt to avoid road walking and doesn’t really help. Just before reaching the village of Llanddeusant I turned sharp right onto a green lane that was beautifully decorated with buttercups and led me back onto the open grassland. After the excitement of the Black Mountain, I remembered from last year that the rest of this walk was a monotonous slog, so this year knowing that the walk ahead of me was not going to hold much interest I tempered my enthusiasm and took things as they came without expecting anything. The good weather helped as I followed the fence along the edge of the grassland and when I reached a ford over the Afon Llechach I stopped to have my lunch before continuing across a road and into an area with a confusing maze of paths that made keeping to the right one difficult. I couldn’t help thinking that I could have taken a better, easier route by keeping to the lower paths around the side of the hills rather than climbing to the top of Fedw Fawr and the western tops of Mynydd Myddfai. 

Eventually I came off the open grassland and descended a ridge where I said goodbye to the Black Mountain that had been lingering in the distance and down a wet, stony path that led me onto a road and finally into the village of Myddfai. In the Community Hall & Visitor Centre I stopped for a cup of tea and a rest, partly because I had plenty of time and could afford to stop. When I resumed my walking I continued along the road until I reached Myrtle Hill where I finally left the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park on a path that crossed a couple of fields before passing through a delightful wood where bluebells were sadly going to seed. After crossing a tree-covered stream I climbed to a farmer’s track where the Cambrian Way goes through a farm and onto a complex route with many turnings that I had difficulty following last year. However, running parallel to that is a simple track, passing through gorgeous woodland that led me onto a road and finally to the Erwlon Caravan & Camping Park just outside the town of Llandovery. It was amazing how things had changed for me on the Cambrian Way as two days earlier I had been feeling tired and weary of carrying a heavy rucksack, but the last two days had been much more enjoyable. Even the tedious walking from Llanddeusant to Llandovery was surprisingly relaxing, partly because I’d done it before and also because of the gorgeous weather.