Group News

Eleven of us went in 3 cars and Dave Anne and I went the cross country route from Droitwich via Leominster which is to be much recommended as an alternative to the M5/50 route. There was little traffic and the countryside was beautiful. We stopped in a US style diner on the edge of Leominster, expecting James Dean to come leaping out of the skirting but he didn’t appear (The staff’s Herefordshire accent rather spoiled the illusion.)

Everyone eventually arrived at the hostel, though Kathy checked out Llwyn y celyn hostel on the way. One passenger in a car did phone me in a panic to say they had just passed a sign for Llandudno but in fact it was Llandovery so no one got lost.

The hostel will go down as one YHA hasn’t been able to spoil, with bathroom plumbing running along the kitchen ceiling and unducted electric cables with a tree filled garden outside – just great! There were lovely views and a field of sheep next to us, with whom the staff seemed to have a close relationship.(Possibly linked to the excellent shepherd’s pie?) Also a nice quiet lane (Dave could remember what is was like before they built the by pass when that was the main road.) to a smoke free pub at the bottom. This hostel is very much recommended for a quiet rural weekend.

The Saturday was brilliantly hot and sunny so we decided to do the horseshoe. This involved driving through more winding lanes with high hedgerows full of flowers to a disused army camp at the foot of the ridge. There was a map there which showed amongst other things an area for mortar practice so we decided to avoid that. At first we thought the hill in front was Pen y Fan the highest point in the Beacons(886m/roughly 2900 ft,not quite a Munro) but of course it wasn’t.

The Beacons are red sandstone with high ridges going West to East and deep valleys cutting north and south into the sandstone from either side leaving finger-like hills sticking out between. We started climbing up one of the fingers which was Bryn Teg. At this stage Dorothy asked whether the route was going to be steep, but in true Tony Thompson talk I assured her it was “undulating”. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was blazing hot so we sweated up to the top of the hill, where of course there was another hill.

On the way we saw a large adult Kite. It’s great how these are so common now in South Wales as they used to be on the edge of extinction. In Swansea Museum I have also seen the stuffed remains of the last Golden eagle in Wales shot in the beacons by a “collector” in the eighteenth century. There’s peregrines around here living on the cliff faces though we didn’t see any.. However to beat all wildlife spottings must be the grey squirrel we saw in the Beacons on the Llandeusant weekend in 2005 wandering over the moor grass at 2000 ft miles from the nearest tree. No sign of one this time.

Having got to the top of the first hill there was of course another and when we walked up that in the heat we were then confronted with what looked like a sheer sided hill with people clambering up a path like a line of hard working ants. This was the first beacon, Cribyn(795 meters) and the undulating theory did rather go out of the window.

Having finally clambered up to the top though and onto the main ridge the view was brilliant. Behind us was the Usk valley and Brecon with the Black mountains and Hay Bluff to the East while off to the west was the Black Mountain at the west end of the beacons. Facing ahead we looked down to the Taff valley that goes all the way down past Merthyr through the coalfield to Cardiff. In the last century Merthyr would have been covered in flames and smoke from the iron works and pits but that all disappeared long ago.

While having a break at the top a party of soldiers then appeared, much to the excitement of certain members of the group. Knowing that the SAS train here I had expected them to be jogging past with 60lb packs at great speed. In actual fact they all looked exhausted and crawled past up the next ridge. It turned out that they were Dutch soldiers who I assume were off to Afghanistan so had been sent here for some mountain training because of the total lack of any hills back home (It must be very hard being a Dutch Munro bagger.) We didn’t have the heart to tell them the mountains in Afghanistan are a lot higher then here.

So then along the ridge to the real Pen y Fan,the highest point in the Beacons where we stopped for lunch and admired the view.

We then moved on to the third beacon, Corn Du where you had a great view of the horseshoe valley and started our descent. From the top you could see a Tarn, Llyn Cwm Llwch, which looked very inviting in the heat. After I got home I read it up and, not surprisingly, the lake has a legend of being inhabited by fairies who appeared there every year and partied till a human interfered and they were never seen again. There may of course be a link with this and what followed.

Whether it was fairy enchantment or because it was very hot Kathy decided to have a dip in the lake, followed by Alistair. She was then followed by Liz, encouraged by Bo with his walking pole, who gave an excellent demonstration of backstroke. Meanwhile Dorothy and Stephanie decided to do a Copenhagen mermaid tableau which did rather shock a local welsh newt sloping around by their stone.

Everyone else dipped their feet in the water and a much cooled group continued the walk. We were unaware of what trauma may have been caused in fairyland but no one was turned into a frog or woke up later to find it was 2107.

After a quiet amble down the Llwch valley we followed quiet lanes with flower filled hedgerows back to the car park and back to the hostel. This was definitely the best day of the weekend. with non stop sun and blue sky.

Next day the weather had changed with clouds and the promise of some showers. We proceeded to the Storey Arms on the Merthyr Cardiff road which had once been a drovers inn but is now the base for the mountain rescue team. Dave entertained us with a short display of continental style driving and we then went along an old drove road with the intention of going onto the Fan Frynych nature reserve.

We proceeded around the back of Llwyn y celyn hostel and then, in true Welsh tradition the path disappeared (or that’s my story). However a quick fence climb got us back on course and into the nature reserve. We were then joined by 3 sheep who led the walk for some way. Though Dave is always keen to recruit new members he decided against it as he wasn’t sure how they would pay their subs and they wandered off looking lost which led someone to say they reminded them of YHA National Management.

After getting to the top we had a good view of the Senni valley across to Fforest Fawr (Big forest in English) that is the next bit of the beacons going as far as the Swansea valley with the Black mountain again in the background. Though there were showers it was still a nice walk and we then skirted more sandstone cliffs and over the moorland to Storey Arms. On the way back we stopped for a further walk around Morrison’s car park in Brecon though the vegetation there was a bit sparse.

That evening Bo, Liz and Dave tried the hostel meals which proved to be gargantuan while others of us sampled the Brecon brewery ales. We then adjourned to what seemed to be a games room with our bottles and glasses and spent the evening either watching snooker on TV or, for those non TV addicts playing games. It was only at the end that Kathy noticed a notice on the door saying that the room was for children only. I don’t know what the cleaner made of any bottles left in the morning – they could have told the Sun which could have led to a headline – “Children in drunken orgy in YHA hostel!” but as I don’t read the Sun I wouldn’t know.

Next morning the three cars each went their own ways. Dave Anne and I dropped into Brecon which still has it’s old medieval street pattern and looked at the cathedral which was quite pleasant followed by a short river walk. The others also got back one way or another and all in all it was a good weekend, especially the Saturday. Thanks to all drivers and all the party for good company and entertainment.

Next year there is the possibility of the Black Mountains at the west end but I’ll probably do Pembrokeshire around St David’s head as there’s more hostel options.