Gentian Brecon Beacons Trip (4th-6th November 2022)

This weekend was the Annual Dinner meet of the Gentian Mountaineering and Hill Walking Club, the first such occasion since I joined the club, held this year in the Brecon Beacons. Our accommodation was the well-equipped and comfortable Star Bunkhouse in Bwlch. I got a prompt finish from work, paused briefly at home to pack the car, and had a surprisingly good journey down the M42 and M5, with no more than half an hour of delays despite travelling in the height of the Friday rush hour. After stopping for dinner at Strensham services, it was only another hour or so to go, and I arrived at around 7:30pm. A few had gone to the pub across the road but most of us spent the evening chatting over drinks in the bunkhouse. It was good to meet a few more of the regular members whose paths I hadn’t crossed on other trips this year.

Saturday began with the standard group breakfast of porridge, toast and cereal. The forecast was for quite a wet and windy day. I offered to lead a walk starting a few miles down the road in Crickhowell, up onto the hills to the north, and six of the group elected to join me. We ascended via the Beacons Way up the unexpectedly pretty Cwm Cumbeth, with lovely autumn colours and an attractive stream cascading down. Once above the intake wall at around 400m, we traversed around to the hill fort at Table Mountain, known in Welsh as Crug Hywel – presumably the town below was named after the fort. The defensive earthworks are still clearly visible, and the hill gave good views both ways along the Usk valley as well as towards the Sugar Loaf and Crug Mawr.

We continued north up the ridge to Pen Cerrig-calch, which I had previously climbed from the east, and entered the cloud at around 500m. The paths were clear though, so navigation was straightforward up to the trig point, and onward along the ridge to Pen Allt-mawr, where the trig point is lying on its side. Some showers blew through, but the rain was never very intense and the wind was not severe either. We had lunch in the shelter of the cairn before heading back south along the ridge, but this time keeping to the paths on the west side. After a few hundred metres, we passed Mick’s group going the other way. Soon we were on the rocky outcrops of Pen Gloch-y-pibwr, from where we had fleeting views down into the valley as the clouds parted.

We descended by the southwest ridge, mostly pathless, and initially over very slippery limestone, but later on short grass and heather. On the crags at Bryniog, we dropped back out of the mist and had views into the valley again. The rest of the descent to the Beacons Way was rougher, but we found a relatively painless route through the bracken. The path then traversed across Cwm-gu and over the next spur to drop back into Crickhowell. It had been a surprisingly pleasant day, considering the poor forecast, and a good scenic walk.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2080105

We were back at the bunkhouse soon after 3pm, leaving plenty of time to shower, rehydrate with a few cups of tea, and then get changed into smarter clothes for dinner. We gathered in the hut dining room for prosecco from 5pm, and were then picked up by our coach at 6pm to head back into Crickhowell, where our dinner venue was the Bear Hotel, an attractive 18th century coaching inn. The hotel served a tasty meal, which we enjoyed over good conversation. Afterwards, our special guest Alan Bowring, a geologist at the Brecon Beacons National Park and Geopark, gave us a very interesting and engaging presentation on the geological history of the region – a complex mixture of different sedimentary rocks laid down as what is now the Beacons drifted from 60 degrees south of the equator to where it now lies, 52 degrees north! The coach came to return us to Bwlch at 11pm and, like most others, I didn’t hang around long before getting to bed.

Sunday started dry, and the forecast showed heavy showers. Feeling optimistic, I planned a longer walk from Talybont Reservoir up onto Allt Lwyd then around the horseshoe via Pant y Creigiau. Simon and Sheena opted to join me again. The first rain arrived just as were finishing putting our boots on, but we set off undaunted. A reasonable, grassy path led us up to the southwest onto the ridge of Allt Lwyd – a route I had not taken before – with good views initially back down to the lake and Tor y Foel. I was surprised to find that, higher up, the path was in the process of being surfaced with shale and sandstone. As the rain intensified, we soon entered the mist, but the many bags of helicopter-dropped materials marked the way!

Beyond the summit, we continued along the well-defined ridge northwest, wishing that the views either side were visible to us. By the time we’d reached the large cairn at the eastern end of Waun Rydd, we were pretty damp and, 90 minutes in, the rain was showing no sign of abating, so we made the decision to take the shorter, direct route down via Twyn Du. Typically, half an hour later it was brightening up a lot, and the cloud had cleared the tops, and we wished we had pushed on a little longer into the rain! Anyway, we got some good views over the Usk valley towards the Black Mountains, and again across the reservoir to Tor y Foel, and the autumn colours were beautiful.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2080784

We had our lunch in the dry on a picnic table near the reservoir shore, then changed out of our damp waterproofs and headed home. My drive went smoothly, taking 2h40 without needing a break. Overall, despite the persistently damp and grey weather, a very enjoyable weekend, sharing good company both on the hill and at the dinner. A fitting end to my first year in the Gentian club. There was talk of perhaps making the 50th Anniversary Dinner (in 2024) a black tie event, which would be more akin to the CUHWC Annual Dinners of student days! Let’s see what the future brings.

My full photo album is available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hQwgcnPi5uH9A7eS7