The Black Mountains continued
Wednesday 6th September 2000
I remember before this walk telling the warden at the hostel that I was going for a walk in the area (i.e. the Black Mountains), and because of the wet start to the day she described me as a dedicated walker. I replied that I was more like a crazy walker, but as it turned out the weather for this walk was much better than on the previous day. After the wet start it was clear, warm and sunny, though still very windy on the hills. I did the walk that I had planned to do the day before, but this time starting from Capel y Ffin rather than the Gospel Pass. Once again I climbed that path out of the Vale of Ewyas onto the Offa’s Dyke Path that has enchanted me so many times. After coming down this path the day before I now knew the correct route to take and so for the first time was able to climb up to the pile of stones on the Offa’s Dyke Path that marks the top of the path. However, unlike on previous occasions I now proceeded over the other side of the broad ridge and down into the valley opposite.
After descending into the Olchon Valley I crossed the farmland and climbed the narrow ridge up to the top of Black Hill. This is a fabulous ridge as I was reminded a couple of years ago when I revisited it. I passed the Offa’s Dyke Path again and climbed up to Hay Bluff before crossing the Gospel Pass to Twmpa. From the wide sweeping views of the Wye Valley at the summit of Twmpa I descended into the side valley of Nant Bwch that took me all the way back into the Vale of Ewyas and Capel y Ffin. I have long memories of this fabulous walk, describing it as ‘very enjoyable’ in my diary. It was a great walk in surprisingly good weather.
The Waterfalls Walk
I remember before this walk telling the warden at the hostel that I was going for a walk in the area (i.e. the Black Mountains), and because of the wet start to the day she described me as a dedicated walker. I replied that I was more like a crazy walker, but as it turned out the weather for this walk was much better than on the previous day. After the wet start it was clear, warm and sunny, though still very windy on the hills. I did the walk that I had planned to do the day before, but this time starting from Capel y Ffin rather than the Gospel Pass. Once again I climbed that path out of the Vale of Ewyas onto the Offa’s Dyke Path that has enchanted me so many times. After coming down this path the day before I now knew the correct route to take and so for the first time was able to climb up to the pile of stones on the Offa’s Dyke Path that marks the top of the path. However, unlike on previous occasions I now proceeded over the other side of the broad ridge and down into the valley opposite.
After descending into the Olchon Valley I crossed the farmland and climbed the narrow ridge up to the top of Black Hill. This is a fabulous ridge as I was reminded a couple of years ago when I revisited it. I passed the Offa’s Dyke Path again and climbed up to Hay Bluff before crossing the Gospel Pass to Twmpa. From the wide sweeping views of the Wye Valley at the summit of Twmpa I descended into the side valley of Nant Bwch that took me all the way back into the Vale of Ewyas and Capel y Ffin. I have long memories of this fabulous walk, describing it as ‘very enjoyable’ in my diary. It was a great walk in surprisingly good weather.
The Waterfalls Walk
Thursday 7th September 2000
The following day I drove across the Brecon Beacon moors (long favoured by Top Gear car reviews) and parked in the village of Pontneddfechan where I set off walking alongside the Nedd Fechan and visited the spectacular Waterfall of Our Lady (Sgwd Gwladus). This area of the Brecon Beacons National Park is packed with waterfalls with this great waterfall being merely a foretaste of the delights to come. Continuing along the Nedd Fechan I passed the Horseshoe Falls (Scŵd Ddwli) and eventually reached the Pont Melin-fach picnic site. Rather than continue along the river I immediately climbed out of the valley at this point and passed over the top of a low hill to descend into another valley, this time that of the Afon Mellte.
This valley also has waterfalls in abundance, but some are difficult to get to. The first one has no such problem: Sgŵd Clun-gwyn is another stunning waterfall that one can easily stand right in front of and I remember for some reason standing right in the line of spray that came from the waterfall. Due to the rather wet weather conditions that had been plaguing me most of the day I was wearing waterproofs, but I must have still got rather wet. After crossing the river I followed a path that frustratingly climbed the hillside away from the river and robbed me of views from the other waterfalls further downstream. I now know how difficult it is to be able to see these waterfalls, but I didn’t know that at the time. However, there was still one waterfall left and this is the greatest of them all. At the end of the path was Sgwd yr Elra, a waterfall that one can walk behind (I have heard that at times this path has been closed due to safety concerns – I don’t know what the current state of the path is). From Sgwd yr Elra a delightful woodland and moorland walk took me all the way back to Pontneddfechan and my car. Heavy rain during this final part of the walk failed to dampen my enthusiasm for this fabulous walk and in fact I quite enjoyed walking through the rain! When it rains a waterfall walk is the best walk that you can do.
The following day I drove across the Brecon Beacon moors (long favoured by Top Gear car reviews) and parked in the village of Pontneddfechan where I set off walking alongside the Nedd Fechan and visited the spectacular Waterfall of Our Lady (Sgwd Gwladus). This area of the Brecon Beacons National Park is packed with waterfalls with this great waterfall being merely a foretaste of the delights to come. Continuing along the Nedd Fechan I passed the Horseshoe Falls (Scŵd Ddwli) and eventually reached the Pont Melin-fach picnic site. Rather than continue along the river I immediately climbed out of the valley at this point and passed over the top of a low hill to descend into another valley, this time that of the Afon Mellte. This valley also has waterfalls in abundance, but some are difficult to get to. The first one has no such problem: Sgŵd Clun-gwyn is another stunning waterfall that one can easily stand right in front of and I remember for some reason standing right in the line of spray that came from the waterfall. Due to the rather wet weather conditions that had been plaguing me most of the day I was wearing waterproofs, but I must have still got rather wet. After crossing the river I followed a path that frustratingly climbed the hillside away from the river and robbed me of views from the other waterfalls further downstream. I now know how difficult it is to be able to see these waterfalls, but I didn’t know that at the time. However, there was still one waterfall left and this is the greatest of them all. At the end of the path was Sgwd yr Elra, a waterfall that one can walk behind (I have heard that at times this path has been closed due to safety concerns – I don’t know what the current state of the path is). From Sgwd yr Elra a delightful woodland and moorland walk took me all the way back to Pontneddfechan and my car. Heavy rain during this final part of the walk failed to dampen my enthusiasm for this fabulous walk and in fact I quite enjoyed walking through the rain! When it rains a waterfall walk is the best walk that you can do.
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