Cambrian Way rerun: Llyn y Fan Fawr to Llandovery

Thursday 22nd May 2025

The night before this walk was spent beside the lake Llyn y Fan Fawr below the north eastern escarpment of the Black Mountain in the Bannau Brycheiniog. I had taken a shortcut on the Cambrian Way, mentioned in the Cicerone guidebook, which misses out Glyntawe where last year, on my first attempt of the trail, I had found accommodation. The eighth stage of the Cambrian Way starts in Glyntawe, so after climbing up from Llyn y Fan Fawr to the pass Bwlch Giedd I was already three miles ahead of myself. The steep climbing continued up to Fan Brycheiniog, the highest point on the Black Mountain, where the Cambrian Way turns west downhill on a route that had been very wet when I did the Cambrian Way last year. It was not likely to be so wet this year after a dry spring, but for a change I decided to follow the edge of the escarpment to the promontory of Fan Foel before turning sharp right and descending to Bwlch Blaen-Twrch. Last year the low cloud that had covered the summit at Fan Brycheiniog suddenly cleared on the descent, whereas this year the cloud was slower to clear with patchy cloud remaining in many places. I was actually happy that the weather was not as good as last year because I wanted a difference to the walk or it would have been just dull and repetitive, so I embraced the poorer weather as I crossed the pass and climbed steeply up to the cairn on Picws Du.

The mist slowly began to clear revealing stunning views and blue sky as an enjoyable walk took me along the escarpment edge of Bannau Sir Gaer with tantalising views down the precipitous cliffs and passing over Llyn y Fan Fach stretching far into the distance while a cold northerly wind encouraged me to keep my cagoule on. When I finally reached the end of the ridge the cloud had lifted sufficiently to provide me with a great view back along the escarpment that was no less impressive despite having been seen many times before. This is one of the iconic images of the Bannau Brycheiniog and I had no hesitation in taking many pictures of the scene again. Eventually I turned north and headed down the long grassy slopes with extensive views ahead of me while I reflected that since Monday I had been heading west on the Cambrian Way despite technically following a northerly course across Wales, so I was glad to be finally heading in the right direction again. Conwy was before me, but I had two weeks of walking to go before I would reach there.

At the bottom of the hill I took the farmer’s road to Wildman Woods and at the gate I turned right onto a path that had been overgrown last year and impassable. Fortunately I was now able to get through the nettles, although the route was still hard to follow, and I was able to reach the bridge over the Afon Sawdde and up to the road beyond. Ultimately this path is a half-hearted attempt to avoid road walking and doesn’t really help. Just before reaching the village of Llanddeusant I turned sharp right onto a green lane that was beautifully decorated with buttercups and led me back onto the open grassland. After the excitement of the Black Mountain, I remembered from last year that the rest of this walk was a monotonous slog, so this year knowing that the walk ahead of me was not going to hold much interest I tempered my enthusiasm and took things as they came without expecting anything. The good weather helped as I followed the fence along the edge of the grassland and when I reached a ford over the Afon Llechach I stopped to have my lunch before continuing across a road and into an area with a confusing maze of paths that made keeping to the right one difficult. I couldn’t help thinking that I could have taken a better, easier route by keeping to the lower paths around the side of the hills rather than climbing to the top of Fedw Fawr and the western tops of Mynydd Myddfai. 

Eventually I came off the open grassland and descended a ridge where I said goodbye to the Black Mountain that had been lingering in the distance and down a wet, stony path that led me onto a road and finally into the village of Myddfai. In the Community Hall & Visitor Centre I stopped for a cup of tea and a rest, partly because I had plenty of time and could afford to stop. When I resumed my walking I continued along the road until I reached Myrtle Hill where I finally left the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park on a path that crossed a couple of fields before passing through a delightful wood where bluebells were sadly going to seed. After crossing a tree-covered stream I climbed to a farmer’s track where the Cambrian Way goes through a farm and onto a complex route with many turnings that I had difficulty following last year. However, running parallel to that is a simple track, passing through gorgeous woodland that led me onto a road and finally to the Erwlon Caravan & Camping Park just outside the town of Llandovery. It was amazing how things had changed for me on the Cambrian Way as two days earlier I had been feeling tired and weary of carrying a heavy rucksack, but the last two days had been much more enjoyable. Even the tedious walking from Llanddeusant to Llandovery was surprisingly relaxing, partly because I’d done it before and also because of the gorgeous weather.