I’ve driven past Ludlow, maybe a couple of hundred times over the years either on my way to my Grandparents caravan in Wales when I was a kid or more recently on my way north from Herefordshire.
Despite this I’d never actually stopped in the town or visited the castle. Time to put that right.
We had a short wander around the town and a bite to eat before we headed to the castle.
I’m not entirely sure why, but I always had it in my head that Ludlow castle wasn’t all that good, hence I’d never been.
I was completely misinformed (or my accurately just plain wrong).
Its an excellent castle, loads of interesting stuff and very well presented.
It has its share of towers, spiral staircases (essential!) and battlements.
This is taken from the keep which you can climb to to the top of, looking out over the inner courtyard.
Its placed on a bluff above the River Teme and has some fine views out over the Shropshire countryside.
The battlement at the top of the keep.
The Jones family are always happy exploring a good castle.
The main courtyard is surrounded by several interesting buildings and rooms.
This odd little round tower is part of a church that was located in the middle of the open area.
Most castles have a chapel located within, but I’ve never seen one quite like this before.
Looking back to the keep.
The Chapel round tower.
It took us a good couple of hours to check everything out which is a good thing.
Although as is often the case, we were messing about and behaving like big kids
“Big Chair or Small Person – Discuss”
Satisfied and very happy we headed out for a look at the town.
The River Teme. The setting would have been even finer had the promise of a sunny afternoon from the weather forecast materialised.
On our way back to the car we took a look at a couple of the towns more famous medieval buildings. This one is Ye Olde Bull Ring.
This one is The Feathers Hotel with some very ornate wooden windows and panels.
And what better way to finish off a great family weekend than a slap up meal at our favourite burger restaurant, The Beefy Boys, in Hereford.
The Saturday looked like the best day of the weekend so we headed out early for an alfresco breakfast by the van and then a long walk.
As he doesn’t get to walk much in south Wales we gave the Prof the choice and he picked Fforest Fawr.
Its become a firm favourite, what it lacks in dramatic edges it more than makes up for with wild lonely valleys and summits that see very few visitors.
Me and TBF did a long and satisfying walk around these hills last summer and felt a repeat was well worth our time.
The Prof on the first summit of Fan Llia
Small quarries on the summit of Fan Dringarth – these would make a fine spot for a wild camp with views across to Pen y Fan and Corn Du
Heading across the very soggy valley en route to the road and the climb to Fan Nedd.
The views down the Senni Valley from up here are joyous.
The climb up to Fan Nedd is the only really steep climb of the day. We had lunch near the top before moving on.
Looking back to Fan Nedd
The highest point in the range is Fan Gyhirych (tricky one to pronounce).
There are some wide bulldozed tracks that most people seem to follow but those in the know follow the faint grassy path that follows the perfect curve of the east face.
I love this part of the walk.
The path continues all the ay along the east edge and a short hop across the end of the plateau like summit brings you over to a similar and equally fine path along the west edge.
Grand views across to the Black Mountain.
The rest of the day became a little overcast so I seem not to have taken any more photos other than this one of the Maen Madoc standing stone near the end. Its a fine walk back through Limestone country (we stopped off for a second lunch by a cave entrance) but you’ll have to check out my previous post of this route for some photos of that part. Still a fine if long day at around 14 miles.
I have a lot of blog catching up to do – well over a month behind now.
The Prof came home for Easter weekend so we had a few plans for some local-ish days out.
Kicking off on Good Friday with a breakfast at a very fine cafe in Hereford, The Bookshop. Bacon and Chorizo Eggs Benedict!
Then over to Herefordshire Raceway for a bit of Go-Karting.
Great fun as always at this excellent and well run facility. Just a bit sad that TJF had a bad headache and could only manage one very slow set of laps.
Speeding fix satisfied it was time to take the excitement down a notch and we headed over to Llangorse Lake for a BBQ.
It was just about warm enough but it was sunny and clear and al-fresco eating is always a good thing in my book.
A feast with a few beers was laid on and a good time was had by all.
The photos don’t really convey just how wet and soggy the grass was. We watched as several cars managed to get stuck and had great difficulty extracting themselves. You could argue we should have had sympathy but it was pretty obvious just how wet things were and there were plenty of spaces on the gravel parts.
View to Mynydd Troed.
And a last shot across the wet meadows towards the Beacons. Or Bannau Brycheiniog to give the National Park its new Welsh name. Its caused a great deal of debate and controversy down here although I have no idea why anyone should have an issue with it (other than its now much harder to pronounce!). I’m. sure most people will still refer to the area as “The Beacons” regardless
Slowly getting further and further behind with blog (probably just as well its been a pretty dismal winter and spring so far or I’d be miles behind!)
Back to March for our second little adventure in the van. We were heading to Llyn Brianne having never been before and there looked like some decent spots for an off grid overnight.
We stopped off en-route at the Irfon Pool, a spot I’ve wanted to visit for a while as its in my wild swimming guide book.
And a fabulous little spot it is. A narrow gorge with deep pools and a much broader pool just at the gorge exit.
Even for a short stop, the van really comes into its own, allowing us to make a cuppa with lunch and retreat inside in comfort when the odd shower came over.
We spent a happy hour here exploring the river bank and enjoying some spells of bright sunshine.
Being out in the middle of nowhere and still in the closing days of winter we had the place to ourself.
Chilly weather, ice cold water and a river in spate meant swimming was not yet on the cards.
We had a drive around the narrow roads and valleys that surround Llyn Brianne, spying out numerous possible overnight spots before eventually pitching up at the car park near the dam. The weather had been a bit grim while driving but as we parked it looked a little brighter so we took a short walk.
Unlike the Elan Valley reservoirs, the dam here is earth with a broad and rather dramatic overflow channel. We walked over the bridge at the base, mesmerised by watching the “waves” flow down.
We scrambled up the edge of the dam and walked back across to the bridge at the top for a different perspective.
Looking back to the reservoir.
I’ve found videos of people kayaking down this although the water is very shallow. They were old videos so I’m guessing they discourage you from attempting it. One of those occasions when the signs warning how dangerous it is are correct. I’ve even seen videos of people cycling down it when its dry. Madness!
There was a small hill below the dam so we managed to find a way through the woods and bracken to the top. Great views back to the dam and reservoir.
And further south to the hill of Dinas which we’d visit later in the weekend.
On the way through we’d spotted what looked like a perfect overnight spot ona spur above the reservoir. I was worried someone might have bagged it but we managed to secure it for ourselves, likely as the weather was so grey and dreary.
There was another spot down by the shore that was also in my swimming book so we took a wander down the lane for a look.
It was a lovely little spot for a picnic and water based fun in summer. However on a wet and drizzly day we decided we’d park that idea and headed back to the van for the evening.
Another cosy and peaceful night, snug and warm, a nice chicken stew and a beer or two. The van is really delivering for us in terms of impromptu little breaks to break up the long winter.
Next morning was still damp and grey but we were happy in our quiet isolated spot
After breakfast we took a stroll around the forest tracks and down to lake shore.
The weather improved a little and we had some grand views along this little known yet pretty large and imposing body of water.
We found another little beach that would make a great spot for a swim.
We also tried to follow what looked like a path to the top of the crags overlooking our camp spot. It quickly disappeared into a tangle of trees and brambles so we gave up that idea.
A much better use of our time to have lunch.
With a cracking view from our “pitch” overlooking the lake.
After lunch we drove to the Nature Reserve that surrounds Dinas Hill.
There looked like a nice path that followed the river and so it proved
The river Tywi is a pretty dramatic sight, flowing through a steep sided valley and tumbling over boulders creating frothing pools and small falls.
An awkward walk in places with handrails and a great place to explore and possibly take a swim on a warmer summers day.
It was a fine walk to fill the after-lunch period and one that’s well worth the effort to seek out.
We took the little side excursion up steep steps to visit Ogof Twm Sion Cati. Its a cave used as a hideaway for some kind of local Robin Hood figure. This wasn’t really worth the effort though, just a damp and muddy hole without a roof. I’d hoped to maybe force a way to the top of the hill from here but the summit seemed to be surrounded by cliffs all the way round and I never saw anything resembling a path to the top.
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
I'll also add in some gear and tech reviews and when something irks me I may even use this forum to have a rant - I do that pretty well I'm told.There are a few pages at the top that give a bit of background to what I like to get up to and what you can expect to see in my posts. I'm not exactly a creative writer but I hope some people will find my stuff useful or inpsiring or at least enjoy some of my photos.
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