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.