Bec and I took a week’s holiday, planning a few days in Brecon followed by a few days at Ruth’s house in Cumbria (while she was away supervising DofE). To start the trip with something different, we had booked to spend half a day canoeing down the River Wye! We found ourselves running early on the drive down, so paused for an hour or so for a stroll around the Cotswold village of Bredon’s Norton, where my grandparents lived and my dad grew up. Not much had changed since my last visit around 12 years ago.
From there it was only an hour or so to ‘Canoe the Wye’ in Symonds Yat, where we were hiring the boat and equipment. After a short dry-land training session and safety briefing, we took a short minibus ride to Kerne Bridge, 13km upstream but only 5km by road thanks to the meandering course of the river! We launched the canoes and spent the next four hours or so paddling gently downstream – mostly very placid water but with a few more rapid sections to add interest without adding much difficulty. We paused for lunch at the riverside about half way, and enjoyed watching peregrine falcons overhead, just as advertised on the map we’d been issued! I kept my phone and camera in the dry barrel, so no photos from the water.
Afterwards, we strolled a little further downstream to try to get a view of the whitewater rapids, but disappointingly found that you couldn’t really see much from the west bank of the river. Some fungi on a log were the most notable feature. Then it was around another hour’s drive to our AirBnB townhouse in Brecon – a very attractive location right by the River Usk with views towards the Beacons.
Saturday looked like it could offer the best weather of the next three days, so we opted to head to the highest hills: a circuit of Pen y Fan and its neighbours from the north. It was only a short drive up the very narrow lanes to the small car park at the bottom of Cwm Gwdi. The initial part of the walk up gave good views over the Usk valley, but once we got onto the ridge of Cefn Cwm Llwch we soon reached the cloudbase, then remained in the mist all the way over Pen y Fan, Cribyn and Fan y Big.
We had lunch at the summit of Fan y Big, and watched the leading runners of a fell race around the horseshoe of Cwm Cynwyn pass by. We passed the rest of the field as we descended the ridge of Cefn Cyff, and soon dropped back out of the mist. Once down at Rhiwiau, we followed the lanes and bridleways around the foot of the hills back to the car, with the cloud breaking at times to give fleeting views up to Cribyn and Pen y Fan. Overall, the visibility was a little disappointing relative to the forecast, but still a good day in the hills.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1611661
On Sunday, we had a more leisurely start, spending the morning exploring Brecon itself, particularly the promenade beside the River Usk, the Cathedral Close, and the woodland trails by the River Honddu.
Later, we took a short drive to Talybont for an afternoon walk up a new Marilyn for me, Tor y Foel. The route initially traversed through woodland on the Taff Trail above Talybont Reservoir, then doubled back up the ridge of the hill to the summit, a good viewpoint towards the high Brecon Beacons (in the clear) and the Black Mountains (mostly in the mist). We descended the east ridge then followed the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal towpath back to Talybont, making a nice contrast to the outward route.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1611670
In the evening, we went out for a lovely meal at an Indian restaurant in town, then set about re-planning the next part of our holiday! Unfortunately Ruth had let us know that she had had a positive PCR test result and consequently that we would not be able to use her house in Natland as our next destination as had been the plan. We decided that there was still plenty to explore around Brecon so we would see what accommodation we could find nearby for the next few nights. Surprisingly, another AirBnB turned out to be available just a few doors down the same street from our first, and we were pleased that they were able to accept our last minute booking!
Monday’s weather forecast had improved from earlier predictions, so we headed to more high hills on the Black Mountain, towards the west end of the National Park. We started our walk by the chapel in Glyntawe, and were soon out onto the open hillside, ascending steeply onto the ridge of Fan Hir. The visibility was excellent today, and we enjoyed views both directions along the escarpment as we continued up to the summit.
A short shower passed over as we had our lunch near Bwlch Giedd before reascending to the highest point of the day, Fan Brycheiniog. The next section of ridge, over Bannau Sir Gaer to Waun Lefrith, gave the most dramatic views of the day, with the red sandstone cliffs and the lake of Llyn y Fan Fach below. From Waun Lefrith, where we passed a few other walkers, we headed south across the moorland on sheep trods, soon reaching the main bridleway. This led us all the way back to Glyntawe, past lots of interesting limestone outcrops and shake holes. A great day in the hills in mostly good weather.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1611674
After heavy rain on Monday night, we decided Tuesday would be the best day to visit the waterfalls at Ystradfellte, something I had not actually done before despite numerous visits to the Brecon Beacons including staying at the bunkhouse nearby. This proved to be a very popular spot, even on a weekday, and we were unable to park at the main car park in Cwm Porth, instead being directed to the alternative at Gwaun Hepste. We followed the well-marked trail down through the forest to the first falls, Sgwd Clun-gywn, then branched off the tourist route to follow the ‘dangerous’ riverside path (actually just the public footpath with a few small rocky steps!) down to the much more impressive Sgwd Isaf Clun-gwyn.
There we rejoined the main path past Sgwd y Pannwr, then up and over the ridge to the much-celebrated Sgwd yr Eira. The footpath passes behind the waterfall on the undercut ledge! We had our lunch on the far side, watching a few people swimming in the plunge pool, then returned to the car by our outward route.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1619210
Wednesday was a more leisurely day, taking a trip west to the National Botanic Garden of Wales, near Carmarthen. This has been open since the year 2000, and has a mixture of well-established gardens and newer projects that feel like a work in progress. Particularly memorable were the double-walled garden, which also houses the tropical glasshouse, and the Great Glasshouse, the largest single-spanned glasshouse in the world, containing plants from the Mediterranean, California, Australia and South Africa.
We ended the day with a visit to the adjoining Bird of Prey Centre, where we tried a short falconry session, flying a black kite for a few minutes. Impressive to see it so close up, but unfortunately, after a dry and bright day, a heavy shower coincided exactly with the time we were out with the bird!
Thursday was the final day of our trip, so we packed our stuff into the car and checked out of the cottage before heading east for our day’s walking on the Black Mountains, starting at the car park below Hay Bluff. The walk started with a steep ascent up to the summit and Welsh-dragon-adorned trig point. From there, the going was much easier as we proceeded southwest along the escarpment, initially downhill to Gospel Pass where we found a manned checkpoint for a military training exercise, and heavily laden soldiers jogging down from the other side of the pass to reach it. A group of fell ponies added interest to the easy reascent to Twmpa, as did the soldiers running in both directions.
We continued over Rhos Dirion, with a pause for lunch on the edge, then took the descent path from Y Das down to Rhos Fach, which was the end point for another group of soldiers on endurance training. A mixture of lanes and bridleways led us easily back along, below the escarpment, to the car.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1619213
All-in-all a great week away together exploring some familiar and unfamiliar places, with great scenery, mostly decent weather, and lovely company.
My full photo album is available on Google Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2Yqg3P5A6f4nDDBw9
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