Cambrian Way: into the Black Mountains

Saturday 10th August 2024

A month after walking the first three days of the Cambrian Way I came back to Abergavenny to complete the rest of the trail all the way to Conwy on the north coast of Wales. The weather was better than it had been when I’d left the town, it wasn’t raining, though it did seem to have just stopped and it was forecast to improve, however it was very warm and humid which didn’t help with climbing hills. After passing through the town of Abergavenny I found the spot that I had reached on the Cambrian Way less than four weeks earlier, beside the war memorial in the centre of town. From there I set off past several churches slowly climbing the hill out of the town and immediately regretted packing so much food as my rucksack felt very heavy. I had enough food to last many days and it really wasn’t necessary but that couldn’t be helped now and at least the weight would go down as I ate and I must learn from my mistake in the future. The road eventually gave way to a footpath through fields and then into woodland where the gradient eased slightly, only briefly, but it was enough to encourage me to stop and lighten my load by having something to eat. The gradient soon resumed as I climbed out of the woodland into an area of bracken where I should have had extensive views around me, but low cloud meant I couldn’t see the hill of Blorenge across the valley or anywhere else except for Abergavenny in the valley behind me. This sharp climb felt cruel for the start of my first day on the trail, but this was meant to be my fourth day on the Cambrian Way by which time I ought to have been able to have taken it in my stride.

I was climbing Sugar Loaf, a hill that I had previously climbed in the year 2000, which is such a long time ago I have little memory of it. A large part of the reason I have never been back is that Sugar Loaf is an isolated hill, separated from all others, so it has been difficult for me to justify tagging it onto another walk, even though that was what I was now doing. I was looking forward to returning to the top after all these years. A welcome, cooling breeze followed me up the increasingly steep hill as I approached the conical peak until mercifully the gradient eased and I arrived at the trig point that marks the highest point. Unfortunately there was no view of the surrounding area due to low cloud so I didn’t stay long and soon headed down the northern slopes. If I’d had a view I would have seen the town of Crickhowel below and Table Mountain, which overlooks it, with both of them traversed by the Cambrian Way, but I would not pass that way until the end of the next day as the trail first takes a wide detour north through the Black Mountains, which is an area I have a lot of affection for so I didn’t mind the diversion. My descent took me through heather in flower, which I always love to see at this time of the year, with the distinctive peak of Skirrid to my right, while in the far distance ahead of me shrouded in clouds were the grassy ridges of the Black Mountains.

Eventually head high bracken replaced the heather as I made my way down to the bottom of the valley and slowly up the other side as the sky began to clear. By the time I reached the top of the ridge the sun was out and I had fabulous views across the Black Mountains, even though it was very windy. A long, gradual climb along the ridge brought me to the top of Garn Wen, which I had previously traversed in 2022 coming the other way, with bracken now giving way to heather as the climb continued to the trig point on Bâl Mawr, the highest point on the trail so far, and just beyond as the ridge narrowed it ascended again to cross the two thousand feet mark for the first time on the Cambrian Way. The highest point on the ridge is at Chwarel y Fan, which I had previously crossed in 2020, but by this time on the walk I was feeling very tired and thirsty having had little opportunity to replenish my water bottles since leaving Abergavenny.

At the pass marked by the Blacksmith’s Anvil stone I turned right off the ridge and mercifully out of the wind descending into the beautiful Vale of Ewyas on a wonderfully rocky path that zigzags down the steepest slopes to reach the Grange Trekking Centre where there is camping available. I could or maybe should have stayed there, but since it was only 4.30 in the afternoon I decided to keep going. I had been able to fill my water bottle from a stream above the Grange so I ignored the opportunity to stop and continued down to the bottom of the valley in Capel-y-ffin. The fourth stage of the Cambrian Way ends at this point but I kept going and soon I was climbing steeply up the hillside in the warm sunny weather and regretted my decision to keep going. The climb up the hill above Capel-y-ffin was excruciating and I had to stop frequently to rest as I slowly dragged myself up the hill while the views down the Vale of Ewyas rewarded my hard won efforts. I really should have turned back and enquired at the Grange, but instead I fought through the agony and eventually reached the cairn that marks the end of the Darren Lwyd ridge and the best of the views down the valley.

From then on the walking was much easier as the gradient eased and I slowly made my way along the ridge and towards Twmpa. I am very fond of the Black Mountains because my first ever mountain walk twenty-five years ago was in this area and included this very ridge between Twmpa and Capel-y-finn. It was great to be back but I was too weary to really appreciate it or the stunning views across the Wye Valley when I finally reached the summit of Twmpa. I couldn’t stop there as I had no water left, so I turned south and descended towards the valley of Nant Bwch until the infant stream was able to supply me with enough water. This was a terribly exhausting end to a gruelling day where I should have been better prepared and perhaps planned to stop at the Grange. The compensation was the amazing views of the Black Mountains and the Vale of Ewyas afforded to me by the good weather.

Cambrian Way: Blorenge

Monday 15th July 2024

When you are doing a long distance trail in Britain there will inevitably be days of rain and on the Cambrian Way my first wet day was on the third day out. The first two days had been really good with sunny weather most of the time, but on the third day the British weather returned to normal with heavy rain forecast. With this in mind I decided to set off early so I was back in Pontypool by eight o’clock and at the gates of Pontypool Park where I began stage three of the Cambrian Way. Soon after entering the park I began to climb a stony path that led me through mature woodland and under a dry ski slope with the ascent continuing until I reached the Shell Grotto, which unfortunately was closed. Instead of looking inside I enjoyed the views over Pontypool, though the grey, overcast conditions did not help. A short descent brought me onto the main path that gradually ascended the ridge until I reached the Folly Tower where the grey views continued to an industrial estate east and the built up Cwm Afon valley to the west, while the sprawling mass of Mynydd Maen filled the view south. Despite the poor views I was enjoying the walk along gentle gradients though it wasn’t long before I felt the first drop of rain, which was light and brief, and I knew that more and prolonged rain would come eventually.

The trail narrowed briefly, and enjoyably, below Coed Ithel before climbing onto broad, open moorland to reach the trig point at the top of Mynydd Garn-wen where I conceded that the views were not too bad despite hazy skies. I was enjoying the walking as I strode along the ridge, passing over the top of the hill and entered the national park formally known as the Brecon Beacons. I had in fact been skirting the edge of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park since reaching the Shell Grotto, but when I passed the trig point at the top of Mynydd Garn-wen I actually entered the park, which is now officially known by its Welsh name. It was always a misnomer to name the whole national park after a small part of it, but no more than naming the Cairngorms after one hill that is not even the highest. Personally, I have never used the label Brecon Beacons in this blog except for on walks actually over the Brecon Beacons, but now I can add Bannau Brycheioniog as a label to all of my walks in the national park, including this one. I have a long history of walking in the Bannau Brycheioniog National Park having first come to the area almost twenty-five years ago and many years ago I planned to do a full traverse of the park using the Beacons Way, but I never did despite planning it on many occasions. Now, thanks to the Cambrian Way, I was finally going to traverse the whole length of the Bannau Brycheioniog National Park.

During the descent from Mynydd Garn-wen I had views of the peculiarly shaped hill of the Skirrid, which reminded me of the Offa’s Dyke Path and my walk along that in 2022. However, although the Cambrian Way comes close to the Offa’s Dyke Path, they are separated by the Vale of Ewyas and never meet. With hardly any wind, it was a pleasure to walk along the faint, grassy path that took me over the broad, featureless plain of Mynnydd Garnlochdy and across a saddle to reach a road. Beyond, with heavy rain now falling, a narrow path weaved through terrain covered in heather and rocks that was not easy to walk along until eventually it widened and passed over Mynydd y Garn-fawr heading towards two radio transmitters. Beside is the Foxhunter car park and during a pause in the rain I took the opportunity to stop and have an early lunch before setting off along a good, gravelly path that led me up to the summit of Blorenge. This is a hill that I had never climbed before although I had always meant to do so. Perhaps it had been left out because it is less than two thousand feet high, however it was now my highest point, so far, on the Cambrian Way. There are reputed to be to be extensive views from the top, but not on this occasion, and I made my way past the summit and across the broad top to the escarpment edge on the northern slopes where I now had views across the valley to the town of Abergavenny.

The official route of the Cambrian Way descended very steeply through heavily overgrown bracken but my Cicerone guidebook recommended descending further south along a clearer path that provided me with a gentler descent for my aging knees while it began to rain again. At a road I turned left onto a bridleway that took me past a stunning sheet of water in the middle of a cove that is called Punchbowl. Even in the rain this was an amazing place with trees covering the slopes around the bowl, but I was disappointed to find some litter beside the lake so I picked it up and carried it down the hill. After battling through overgrown bracken I reached the top of a path that brought me steeply down through the delightful woodland of Cwm Craf. At the bottom I reached the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal where a tunnel led me underneath and the descent continued until eventually I reached the River Usk. With the rain now falling heavily I crossed a very busy road and over Usk Bridge, through Castle Meadows and into the centre of Abergavenny to finish the third stage of the Cambrian Way. Despite the poor weather I really enjoyed this walk, perhaps because it wasn’t windy and the terrain was gentle enabling me to walk effortlessly along the grassy paths. Once I was in Abergavenny I was soaked so I was keen to get out of the rain and made my way to the railway station catching the first train out. I was disappointed to be not continuing the Cambrian Way the next day as I was enjoying the walking and being up high on the ridge that brought me to Blorenge with the Black Mountains ahead, but I also knew that I would be back in less than four weeks.