Monday 19th May 2025
After two days on the Cambrian Way covering much longer distances than recommended I was feeling very tired, however, things would now get even tougher. On those two days I had enjoyed the luxury of walking with a light rucksack while returning to my accommodation in Newport every night, but now I left Newport behind and with all my camping gear on my back I caught a bus to Blaenavon and set off up the hill to the Foxhunter car park to rejoin the Cambrian Way. From there, I made my way along a good path across gentle gradients and soon I was at the rocky cap, adorned with a trig point that sits at the top of Blorenge. The day had started overcast but the clouds were now beginning to clear and reveal the same fabulous weather that I had enjoyed on the previous two days. When I was on Blorenge last year, on my first attempt at the Cambrian Way, the weather had been much worse with low cloud, soon turning to rain and little or no view, but now I had great views in all directions, most strikingly up the Usk Valley, while the distinctive top of Sugar Loaf lurked on the other side. On the edge of the escarpment the town of Abergavenny was revealed with the peculiarly shaped hill of the Skirrid, Ysgyryd Fawr, beyond, while the Black Mountains in the distance hid in the haze. The official route of the Cambrian Way descends the escarpment steeply down the bracken-covered north-eastern slopes, but my old knees and heavy rucksack encouraged me to take an easier descent south until I reached a track that led me through gorgeous woodland to the Punchbowl, a fabulous tree-lined cirque on the side of the hill where I stopped for lunch sitting beside the lake.
After eating I continued along the path climbing out of the bowl to meet the Cambrian Way and then turned right down Cwm Craf past a bank of small bluebells that gazed across the valley at the Sugar Loaf. The descent continued through a wooded dell to the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal where the path continues to descend through a tunnel underneath the canal and some buildings. The Cambrian Way now crosses the River Usk and enters Abergavenny to end the third stage before setting off into the Black Mountains on the fourth stage and then emerges back out again on the fifth stage just a few miles up the Usk Valley. I did those two stages of the Cambrian Way last year so, although I have great affection for the Black Mountains having been walking over them for over twenty-five years, I had no problem with missing out those stages this time. If you look at the route of the Cambrian Way across Wales the loop through the Black Mountains seems unnecessary and those two days I had just saved will be better spent later in the trail to have a rest. After walking through the tunnel I turned left onto the canal to walk along the towpath for a pleasant walk in the dappled sunshine under the trees that lined the canal.
Far sooner than expected I came away from the canal onto a quiet road slowly climbing the hillside under a hot sun until mercifully I finally reached the top of the road where I turned right to follow the contour around the side of the hill with great views across the valley over the town of Crickhowell to the Black Mountains beyond. I was reminded of the route I should have taken on the Cambrian Way into the Black Mountains over Sugar Loaf and out again over Table Mountain, although I was glad that I had missed out the ridiculously steep climb that the Cambrian Way takes up to this terraced path. The road I did take up may have been tiring, but it was nothing like as bad as the path I should have taken. After being rejoined by the Cambrian Way my path deteriorated as I skirted around the side of the hill with mesmerising views ahead of me of the limestones cliffs of Craig y Cilau that loomed to my left while the hawthorn bushes covering the slopes to my right were filled with white flowers. Where the path turned right around the hillside were many small openings into the hills where a maze of subterranean passages can be explored by those properly equipped and with the necessary experience. Last year I had a look into the mouth of some of these, but I was unable to find the main entrance into Eglwys Faen, so this year I had done some research and now I was able to find it and venture into its dark interior, but I didn’t go far into the main chamber, preferring to just gaze in wonder at the unexplored depths.
Returning outside where it was much warmer I resumed my walk along the path that now began to descend but at a junction I turned left when I should have turned right. I had consulted my Cicerone guidebook and read “bearing left”, so either there is a misprint or I misread it. I had followed the correct route last year, but this route was much rougher, narrow and rocky with several fallen trees. Eventually I rejoined the correct path and soon I reached Waun Ddu, the black marsh, which was so dry this year I was able to walk across the middle of it, while last year it was too wet. On the other side I climbed up to a farmer’s track and then down to a busy road with cars thundering past at speed. My Cicerone guidebook recommends taking a path through the bracken above the road, which I tried to follow last year, but it just led me into difficulties, so this time I just walked beside the road for almost two miles until at a T-junction I headed straight onto the open, featureless moorland. With the skies clearing I had a tiring walk following a faint path across the moor, passing a trig point until finally I reached Ogof Fawr, a small cave that had been used by the Chartist movement two hundred years ago to store weapons. I used it to sleep, which was a novel experience for me that I just couldn’t resist, even though I hadn’t planned to sleep inside the cave. This was my first proper day on the Cambrian Way, with a heavy rucksack and was how it would be for almost the next three weeks. I had a great evening at the Chartist Cave in fabulous weather with extensive views north towards the Black Mountains and towards the setting sun was my next day’s destination: the Brecon Beacons.
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