Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th May 2025
When I attempted to do the Cambrian Way last year the weather was not kind to me and half way through the trail, after passing over Plynlimon and before descending into the village of Dylife, I abandoned the route of the Cambrian Way to take a lower level route on the rest of the holiday that avoided the mountain tops due to poor weather. Therefore, I was keen to do the Cambrian Way again this year, not only to cover those parts that I’d missed last year, but to do the whole trail again, and so I started again from Cardiff and at this point in the trail I had reached a hill called Domen Milwyn in the Cambrian Mountains. When I got up that morning it was overcast and already attempting to rain, even though up to this point on the Cambrian Way, my ninth day, I had hardly seen any rain and certainly not for a significant duration. I was up early to beat the rain and was soon descending into the valley and village of Cwmystwyth, and on climbing back out of the valley I crossed a field that last year had been terribly waterlogged, but was now bone dry with a clear path, for which I was thankful. Beyond, I entered a conifer plantation with Gelmast Farm in the middle providing me with a respite from the constant view of trees.
My route took me through a two hundred year old arch, built to commemorate George III’s jubilee, and onto a wide track where I had easy, level walking with views across the Mynach valley and towards the Vale of Rheidol. A strong, cold wind prompted me to put on my cagoule but breaks in the clouds temporarily let the sun show itself and when sheltered from the wind I soon felt too warm, so my cagoule came on and off several times. It wasn’t long before I reached Devil’s Bridge where last year I had caught the steam train to Aberystwyth, but now I kept to the Cambrian Way which took me over the railway line and steeply down through gorgeous woodland to the bottom of the valley. After crossing the Afon Rheidol the Cambrian Way turns right onto a minor road, to head up the valley for a bit, before climbing steeply to eventually reach the main road at Ponterwyd where I had planned to catch a bus to Aberystwyth. However, a couple of weeks before starting the Cambrian Way, I had realised that this day was a bank holiday and the bus was not going to run, so I thought I would just take the steam train again, as I had done last year.
But, since it was a bank holiday the trains were busy and because of the lack of rain they were not able to run use steam so diesel-hauled trains were running instead with a reduced service, consequently the trains were all full. When I was informed of this at the station in Devil’s Bridge, I decided that my only option was to walk to Aberystwyth. Since it was still quite early, mid-morning, and even though Google smugly told me the walk was going to take four hours, I eagerly set off and when I reached the bottom of the Vale of Rheidol I turned left, instead of right, to follow the road along the bottom of the valley all the way to Aberystwyth. Soon after I joined the road, to add to the drama, it started to rain and it kept raining, sometimes heavily, all the way to Aberystwyth. I had enjoyed some great weather prior to this day, so it was a shame for it to end and not far from where it had deteriorated for me last year. The forecast for the next day was even worse with strong wind and rain, which you really don’t want on top of a mountain. My plan had been to catch the bus back to Ponterwyd and continue along the Cambrian Way over Plynlimon, the highest point in the Cambrian Mountains, into the village of Dylife. Technically, I would have failed to have walked along the section between Devil’s Bridge and Ponterwyd, but since I had done that bit last year I wasn’t bothered about it. The weather in the morning was just as bad as forecast so I decided I would also skip the stage between Ponterwyd and Dylife and get there by the easiest route.
I caught a bus to Machynlleth and then walked along the road, initially through the peaceful, leafy valley of the Afon Dulas, but eventually the road climbed over a mountain pass where I was exposed to the winds and rain that I had been trying to avoid. With hindsight, I could have caught another bus to Llanbrynmair and then walked along the B5418 road through the valley of the Afon Twymyn, though this might not have been much better. Dylife is an old mining village and sits high amongst the hills of the Cambrian Mountains, so it is not easily walked to from any direction. Coming from the west was an interesting experience, but eventually I reached Y Star Inn, where I was booked to spend the night and who were very welcoming despite my arriving very early and soaking wet. When doing a long distance trail in Britain over several weeks you will inevitably have days when it is very wet and windy, which is a problem for the Cambrian Way that takes a high level route. In strong winds it is not advisable to be at the top of a mountain, especially if it is raining, so I had no choice but to avoid Plynlimon on my second attempt at the Cambrian Way. It must be wondered if it is ever possible to keep to the whole trail without braving bad weather at the top of a mountain.
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