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.

Cambrian Way, the South Wales Valleys

Sunday 14th July 2024

On the day before this walk I started the Cambrian Way on an epic three hundred mile trek across Wales from Cardiff to Conwy, however, rather than starting from the gates of Cardiff Castle, as the official route describes, I started from Penarth beside the mouth of the River Severn and weaved a course around Cardiff Bay before heading into the city centre to reach the castle. Consequently, by the end of the day I had completed less than half the distance of the first stage of the Cambrian Way, so to re-start the trail I caught a train back to Taff’s Well and climbed the hill back onto the Cambrian Way to rejoin at the point where I had left it the previous day. Due to the way that trains run on a Sunday morning it was almost eleven o’clock by the time I rejoined the Cambrian Way, which didn’t help with the long distance I had to travel this day, which was more than half of stage one and all of stage two, so I set off at a brisk pace on a wide, level path that took me through the woodland of Fforest-fawr. Sunny weather had brought out many people for a walk this Sunday morning so I was not alone, though there was nothing to see except willowherb and trees until I reached the popular attraction of Three Bears Caves, which was fenced off so I couldn’t look inside. Beyond, after reaching a car park, the crowds disappeared and the path narrowed across the northern tip of Fforestganol. Although the path kept to the top of the ridge, I had no views besides trees, so the walk at this point was simply a navigation exercise through various turns on the path.

My first views appeared on the edge of a small, disused quarry where the town of Caerphilly filled the valley to the north while the Severn Estuary could be seen south, but that was yesterday and on the Cambrian Way my eyes were turned ever northward. I had never done any walking in this area before and was struck by the contrast between the heavily industrialised valleys of South Wales and the high ridges that separate them. Beyond the small quarry the path climbed up to the first named hill on the Cambrian Way, Cefn Onn, where the views into the Rhymney Valley continued and from there the steady descent enabled me to maintain a rapid pace, through the woodland of Coed Cefn-pwll-du and down to the Rhymney River at the bottom of the valley. When I entered the large village of Machen I had finished stage one of the Cambrian Way and since it was lunchtime I stopped on a bench beside St John’s Church for something to eat. After the rest I resumed the trail with a steep climb out of the valley through overgrown bracken lined by heather, while as I climbed the views developed around me. The Severn Estuary dominated the view, reminding me of where I had walked the day before, though high humidity made this an exhausting climb until I had mercifully climbed high enough for a little wind to dry the sweat that covered my body.

As the views behind me towards the Severn Estuary continued to improve I completed the climb all the way up to the top of Mynydd Machen where a trig point confirmed that this is the first proper hill on the Cambrian Way. My route down took me past an old slag heap and into woodland where I had difficulty navigating a complicated series of very short paths that could have been avoided by staying on the road, and eventually brought me to the Ebbw River. After crossing the valley I climbed up to the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal where I enjoyed walking along the towpath, but this was all too brief and soon I turned left away from the canal and up the side of the hill on an unrelenting climb. The sun came out at this point to ensure that I was soon worn out and drenched in sweat. Slowly, I toiled away up the hillside until eventually I reached the pass of Pegwn-y-bwlch where I had hoped I would find a breeze to cool me down, but no wind was blowing and the ascent continued all the way up to the top of Twmbarlwm. This excruciating climb did not end until I passed through the outer fortification of the Celtic hillfort but when I reached the trig point in the middle I was rewarded for all my efforts with stunning views south across the Severn Estuary from the bridges all the way to the mouth of the Severn just beyond Penarth where I had started my walk the day before.

The view took in the city of Newport, where I was staying, and past Cardiff all the way out to the Bristol Channel while to the north clouds shrouded the hills I was heading towards that I would walk over when I resumed the Cambrian Way the following month. I was mesmerised by the view, taking in the scenery before eventually descending steeply off the hillfort and onto a level, broad ridge where I was finally able to cool down and get my strength back. The relaxing stroll provided me with extensive views across the valley to my right and the town of Cwmbran which continued later when I came off the clear track to keep to the eastern slopes of Mynydd Maen. Eventually I began to descend steeply swinging, briefly, slightly to the south before a sharp turn brought me heading again in the right direction for the Cambrian Way, north. A seemingly unnecessary diversion took me through the Blaen Bran Community Woodland, which I could not have been done if my rucksack had been much larger as the kissing gates into and out of the woodland were very narrow. Soon after emerging from the wood I reached a mountain road where I had views across the valley towards Llandegfedd Reservoir and on leaving the road I slowly descended a narrow, stony track that finally brought me into Pontypool where the second stage of the Cambrian Way ends.

The weather on this walk was always good and especially after leaving the canal in the Ebbw Valley which left me with some fabulous walking for the final stretch of the walk over Twmbarlwm and into Pontypool. Another highlight was the view from beside a small quarry which was my first of the day where the wildflowers underfoot were almost as spellbinding at the views. I didn’t reach the end of the stage until half six in the evening, which reflects the long day I had set for myself with about twenty miles walked and showed me that it would be best if for the rest of the Cambrian Way I would keep to the recommended schedule, which was my plan.

Cardiff Bay and the Cambrian Way

Saturday 13th July 2024

A couple of years ago I started to plan a long distance walk across Wales, but at the time I thought this was too ambitious for me to accomplish, so instead I did the Offa’s Dyke Path which takes a much easier route across Wales beside the border with England. Now, after doing the Southern Upland Way last year, I feel more confident in my ability to do a long, challenging trail and rather than coming up with my own route I decided to do a long distance trail that already exists across Wales called the Cambrian Way. This runs across the backbone of Wales over the highest mountains and is almost three hundred miles long taking three weeks. Undeterred, I booked three weeks off work and made preparations to begin, but then I had to take two days holiday away for other purposes, so to accomplish the Cambrian Way without those two days I split three days off from the rest of the trail. Therefore, in the middle of July, I set off for South Wales, but instead of starting in Cardiff, where the Cambrian Way begins, I caught another train to Penarth, on the coast. I wanted to take this opportunity to explore the area around Cardiff Bay before starting the Cambrian Way and since I had plenty of time I lingered in Penarth first, where the Penarth Summer Festival was coincidentally just beginning.

I took a stroll along the promenade past various gazebos before slowly returning to the pier while enjoying the sunshine, which was a welcome change this year. Eventually I left Penarth and joined the route of the Wales Coast Path which climbs the hill above Penarth Head before descending to the Barrage on the edge of Cardiff Bay where I turned inland to walk away from the sunshine I had been enjoyed at the coast and towards the dark clouds that hung over the city. The Wales Coast Path took me around Cardiff Bay, past an exhibition to Scott of the Antarctic and later brought me to a memorial at the spot where Scott’s expedition ship, the SS Terra Nova, sailed from Cardiff. Later I passed the Senedd, home to the Welsh Parliament, and the iconic Millennium Centre where I lingered by looping around Roald Dahl Plass before finally continuing inland into the centre of Cardiff, which I didn’t like as it was very crowded with tall, intimidating buildings. At Cardiff Castle a noisy demonstration was passing outside the walls so I didn’t linger and with no sign to mark this momentous location, or moment for me, I started the Cambrian Way. The noise and crowds continued after I entered Bute Park so I was relieved when I left the main path and finally I was able to get away from the crowds and noise while walking beside the River Taff.

Delightful woodland walking took me past Blackweir and as far as the Gabalfa bridge where I crossed the River Taff to continue my walk on the other bank, except for an unnecessary diversion that took me within sight of Llandaff Cathedral. I could have stayed on the original bank of the river by following the route of the Taff Trail but I was not short of time and obstinately stuck to the exact route of the Cambrian Way despite there being little to interest me at this point with dull scenery across the river while walking largely on roads. Eventually I crossed the river beside a railway bridge and finally left the River Taff climbing up to reach the Glamorganshire Canal Nature Reserve, which is a delightful place, gloriously overgrown and full of wildlife, with waterlilies covering the surface of the water. This was a lovely place to walk where I took many photographs, but I was disappointed when it came to a sudden end with the intrusion of the M4 motorway. Finding my way past the motorway and its junction with the A470 road was potentially complicated, but fortunately the Cicerone guidebook for the Cambrian Way has a detailed map which guided me through a series of footbridges and underpasses until I reached the far side of the motorway junction where a road soon brought me into the village of Tongwynlais. There, a right turn took me onto a road that was my first sustained climb of the Cambrian Way and it really wore me out, especially as the sun chose that moment to finally come out for the first time since leaving the coast.

At the top of the road I reached Castell Coch where a path continued the climb steeply up a wooded hillside, but with the afternoon soon passing I was thinking this might be a good moment to end the walk for the day and find my booked accommodation. With hindsight, I could have stayed low passing through Tongwynlais on the Taff Trail, but instead when I reached the first junction in the wood I turned left off the Cambrian Way onto a track that slowly descended back down to the bottom of the Valley where I caught a train from Taff’s Well railway station. This was a very tiring walk because I was very tired when I started, so I had hoped this weekend would help refresh me. I had been looking forward to walking through Cardiff for several months but the reality was disappointing. This year, I have followed several city walks through London and Bristol and enjoyed all of them, though they were carefully guided walks, whereas this wasn’t, but I doubt that would have made much difference. My main problem with Cardiff was the noise, mainly from the demonstration by the castle and a pop concert in Bute Park, but once I was away from the noise the walk became the relaxing stroll that I wanted especially while passing through wild, disorganised, natural scenery.

Glengaber Hill from Spango Bridge

Friday 7th June 2024

After almost two weeks in Scotland I was slowly making my way back home at the end of a holiday where the weather had been cold, wet and consistently very windy, but before I left Scotland I wanted to return to the Southern Uplands. I first walked through this area last year on the Southern Upland Way and I found a series of hills that although grassier and more rounded than those found in the Highlands, still has good scenery especially when it is sunny, which I had on this walk. At the start of the day I set off from Pitlochry, where I had spent the night, and drove south down the A9 eventually arriving at Spango Bridge, not far from the town of Sanquhar. There is a section of the Southern Upland Way that is an alternative to the main route and is used during the shooting season, which is later in the year so was not necessary when I was on the trail last year or on my return this year, but I had enjoyed the scenery in that area last year so I was keen to return and parked near Spango Bridge at the end of a particularly rutted farmer’s track. Also parked there were some minibuses waiting to collect teenagers undergoing the rigors of the Duke of Edinburgh Award and soon after I set off along the track I was passed by two groups of youths.

The rain that had accompanied me throughout my journey from Pitlochry seemed to have passed, so while plenty of clouds still lingered overhead I was hopeful that it would improve. Willowherb and thistle lined the track, though these are normally considered summer flowers, which indicated that spring was now passing and summer would soon begin. Eventually I reached a junction on the forestry track where the familiar thistle icon now appeared on top of wooden posts to mark the route of the Southern Upland Way on the Duntercleuch alternative. There was no change in the scenery, though blue sky now appeared overhead, until I emerged from the conifer plantation and began to descend into the valley of Wanlock Water. In the past this valley was a centre of lead mining and at the head of the valley is the village of Wanlockhead, the highest village in Scotland. Overlooking the village is Lowther Hill where a radar station dominates the scene and from four miles away I could see its huge golf ball like structure that prompted memories of my walk last year to come flooding back as the sun came out to illuminate the valley. After all the bad weather that I had suffered while in Scotland it felt wonderful to be walking in warm sunshine through a valley that had been a highlight of my walk last year on the Southern Upland Way.

A glorious walk through the valley of Wanlock Water brought me to the signpost that marks the main route of the Southern Upland Way as it comes down into the valley, so in amongst the remains of lead mining that used to be undertaken in this valley, I turned right to cross the river and retrace my steps up the side of the hill on a well-engineered path that slowly climbs Glengaber Hill. The grassy path took me over the hill and down into the valley of Cogs Burn passed the ruins of Cogshead, but of more interest to me was the word that appeared on the next signpost, ultreia, which indicates that ahead is the location of a kist, though not precisely where. There are many of these sculptured kists on the Southern Upland Way and inside is a hoard of hidden treasure, specially minted coins that you can collect if you can find the kist. When I passed through Cogshead last year I was unable to find the kist at Cogshead despite much searching so I was keen have another attempt now and walked up and down the track several times carefully hunting for it until eventually the location was given away by a plastic tub on the ground. The coins are often stored inside the kists in containers such as these and looking up I immediately saw the kist hidden away. Inside were some coins and the lid for the tub, however I didn’t take one as I already had a coin for Cogshead having found it at the next kist on the Eastern Lowthers. I returned the coins to the plastic tub and put that back into the kist before heading off along the Southern Upland Way happy to have found the kist.

I now resumed my walk by taking the alternative route of the Southern Upland Way, which branches off the main route at Cogshead, with lingering looks behind me of the isolated valley head as I followed the track slowly climbing out of the valley. In sunny, but windy, weather I had a relaxing walk along forestry tracks whose only obstacles were two locked gates that I had to climb over and eventually brought me back to my car. This was a lovely walk but a little too short, though that just meant I was able to spend time in Sanquhar looking around the Tolbooth Museum. The weather was good once the rain had cleared and I enjoyed the opportunity to revisit places that I had visited while on the Southern Upland Way last year, and especially finding the kist that I had failed to find before. The day after I started to do a walk up the Eastern Lowthers starting from the top of the Dalveen Pass, initially to look for the kist there as, although I found it last year, the coin I took away with me was actually the one for Cogshead. It was sunny when I started but dark clouds soon came over and by the time I reached the kist it was raining heavily. When I found kist was empty, no coins, my enthusiasm for a walk was ruined. The ever-present, strong winds were making walking very tiring despite hoping that I would be sheltered from the westerlies on the eastern slopes of the Lowther Hills, so I abandoned the walk just as I had done with many hill walks on this holiday and drove home.