After all that hot sunshine, water based fun and sightseeing, it was back to the UK.
Our return in September coincided with a fine and hot spell of weather, a late replacement for what had been a pretty miserable July and August.
For TBF’s birthday we had a breakfast at the local farm shop followed by a trip to our local swimming spot on the Wye at Bredwardine Bridge.
Unlike the height of summer when there are dozens of people on the beach it was pretty well deserted.
We enjoyed a swim in the now much cooler waters.
And a relax with a beer (for me anyway) to celebrate, before a meal out later that evening.
The following day we headed out to the Black Mountains for a stroll. We were late setting off so took one of the shorter walks to take in Crug Mawr.
The summit – again – was swarming with flying ants (why do they love mountain summits) and yet a few yards away there were none. We ate lunch with a cuppa in relative calm and comfort.
When we set off earlier the weather was sunny but cool. As we continued the walk the temperatures began to rise.
I always like this small pond on the way down towards Patrishow.
After dropping into the valley we had to climb back up onto the ridge.
By this time the temperatures had soared and it was a hot and sweaty climb. This was heralding the heatwave that would stick around for the following week.
Numerous times when we’ve come back from a hot and sunny summer trip the UK has welcomed us back to reality with cold slanting rain. Males a change to feel a continuation of summer.
Just realised I haven’t posted anything since early November. Been busy with other stuff, major purchases, trips abroad etc. Now I have my blog mojo back its time to catch up.
So back we go to mid November and the first decent sunny day of the winter. TBF was working so it was a solo outing to the Sugar Loaf and then see how long until the forecast grey clouds rolled in.
A stunning clear morning. Bracken is hateful stuff but it does lend a rather gorgeous deep brown glow at the start and finish of a winter day
Despite the sunshine there was hardly anyone about even though it wasn’t especially early.
A small bank of cloud rolled over the sun but soon drifted away to return me to more blue sky and sunshine.
Sugar Loaf showing its more pointy facade.
I spiralled in to the base of the the southern ridge, taking me through this marvellous spooky wood.
When I emerged the sun was back out and the Sugar Loaf looked great if a long way off. I was hungry and was planning breakfast on the top.
I like the way the green grassy path is picked out in this image.
Looking across to Hatterrall Hill.
And Ysgyryd Fawr.
I was expecting the summit to be crowded on such a fine day but it was largely deserted.
This lady gave me a nice mid-ground for my shadow summit photo.
Summit Trig Pillar looking across to the Beacons.
I had my pick of spots for breakfast (Mexican Beef Stew seeing as you asked) so I perched on the small rocky ridge at the northern end. Lesson Learned, my lightweight chair while comfy, gives you a cold bum so back to sit mats in winter.
I love this short rocky “arete”, especially on a winter day when it catches the low light so well.
Looking back across the rocks to the summit.
Time to move on as the Saturday crowds were beginning to arrive. Weather still looked well set so I decided to take in Crug Mawr as well. Looking back to the Sugar Loaf from my route down.
Bracken rolls catching the sun. Not sure if they are used for fuel or animal feed (or whatever).
Its quite a long way down as you have to descend and cross both the Grwyne Fawr and Grwyne Fechan rivers which separate both mountains.
Consolation was some gorgeous views of the mountains and late autumn colours in the trees.
Looking up to Table Mountain and Pen Cerrig Calch.
The fields down by the river were idyllic, still catching the sun and again, pretty well deserted.
I had to leave this all behind as its a long steady climb back up to Crug Mawr.
The forecast cloud starting to feed in as I climbed.
Still gloriously sunny on the Sugar Loaf.
By the time I’d reached the summit ridge the cloud had mostly obscured the sun where I was.
I stopped for a quick cuppa in the last of the sunshine before heading to the Trig Point on the top and headed back down to the car.
Long day this one with two summits and a big drop between but great to finally do a decent walk on a decent day after a few weeks of ordinary weather.
Short post to get me back into the swing of the blog. Back to the first weekend after the holidays and another day of sunshine and showers.
One of our classics to fill a not quite full day, a circuit taking in Crug Mawr from the Pont Cadwgan car park.
The initial walk up through the forest is becoming more open as the forestry is felled.
Once on the open fell it was sunny but extremely windy, not a day for hanging around.
It’s almost always windy up here. Crug Mawr is a great summit but I don’t think I’ve ever been able to stop for more than a few minutes due to cold, or wind, or both.
Onwards and downwards and this route has the perfect lunch stop. Benches and a covered Lych Gate at Patrishow Church (no photos this time).
You may be wondering what on earth this photo is in here for. For the uninitiated its Jelly (before its melted into its wobbly form). Back in the day it was the emergency food of choice for me, in preference to Kendal Mint Cake, Dextrosol, Malt Loaf or any other number of instant sugar-hit snacks. I’ve decided to bring it back for another try. Whilst I’m sure its more bland than before (probably having taken out most of the dangerous chemical additives it contained) I am enjoying the trip down hiker-food memory lane.
A nice days outing supplemented by low quality food.
It may not look wintry in the photos, but trust me, it was bitterly cold, ferociously windy and I was blasted by a couple of very nasty snow and hail showers.
After yet more rain the Grwyne Fawr river was higher than I’ve ever seen it at the Pont Cadwgan car park where I start my walk to take in Crug Mawr. It’s another of my favourite walks when I need a shorter outing, here grabbing another short window in the foul weather. Sunny intervals and very heavy showers was the flavour of the day. As I strode out through the forest I noticed how tall the trees are in here, having looked up to admire some rare blue sky.
Its a steep and dark climb through dense woods to summit ridge and I timed my arrival perfectly coinciding with a spell of clear skies and sunshine albeit very windy.
A tumult of clouds whisked past in the sunny skies and there were clearly very heavy showers and squalls pushing through.
It’s the big advantage of days like this when the breaks deliver a clarity to the air unmatched in other conditions.
Taking photos from the top was a challenging task. The wind was blowing me off my feet and several images had to be deleted as they looked somewhat off kilter and blurred – natures inebriation.
Not a day for lingering and I legged it off the summit lest one of those showers catch me in the most exposed spot of the walk.
One of said showers tracking over Ysgyryd Fawr as I descended.
This walk is perfect for a day like this. The beautiful old church at Patrishow sits at the halfway mark. It offers plenty of spots to shelter out of the wind which I did to have a cuppa and some lunch.
A muddy descent to the road and back up to the ridge on the other side of the valley before I was blasted with a vicious hail and snow shower for 10 minutes. You can just see the melting remnants in the next couple of photos.
This stretch of path that traverse across the flanks of the ridge used to be one of my favourites. I say used to be, sadly the trail bike plague has discovered it and churned large stretches into a muddy mess. I had walk up on the bank by the wall to avoid most parts. I’m not sure what the answer is here, it must be near impossible to enforce a ban. What I can say with certainty is that they they are tearing the Black Mountains apart with their selfish activity.
The sun was out again and all was glorious once more.
Well for a while anyway as more heavy showers raced across the sky.
I tried a slightly different route to avoid a soggy section near the car park. All it meant was I found a different one. I’m learning quickly just to take each route as it comes, trying to avoid the soggy mess this winter has left behind is near impossible. Trail shoes and socks dry out eventually. Not a bad day, another one to file under “glad I made the effort”
Last time we had a weekend day seemingly without rain. I was on my own for the day so set out early (by my standards) for a long walk in the Black Mountains. I parked up at Pont Cadwgan and headed up the forest tracks deciding to add in Crug Mawr as an extra option due to the bright morning and the fact its a fine hill.
Not quite as clear and sunny as the forecast had indicated but dry and that’s what matters especially with the appalling 2-3 weeks of rain that followed.
Crug Mawr doesn’t seem to attract many walkers and I rarely see more than a couple of people up here or on the long ridge that comes down from the high points of the Black Mountains.
I has my first sit down for the day, actually quite pleased for the breeze as it had been a bit hot and airless on the walk up.
Onwards towards those high points I mentioned. This ridge is normally a pretty wet and muddy affair but it was bone dry. Likely it’s returned to business as usual in the meantime.
A spell of brighter sunnier weather drew me onwards until I reached Pen y Gadair Fawr.
Time for another stop as its a few miles along from Crug Mawr.
Next stop Waun Fach, highest of the Black Mountains. They have worked wonders in restoring the grassland up here. The path is now much less boggy and there are huge swathes of grass where once was just black bog. The Trig Pillar on the top used to be lost in sea of peat but now stands proud next to a path through the greenery. Sadly the plague of trail bikes are still leaving their trail of damage elsewhere. The National Park really need to more to do educate and restrict them although I’m not sure how.
Onwards to the northern escarpment for a bite to eat before turning and taking the long route back down the other side of the Gwryne valley
This is looking along the ridge to Chwarel y Fan
It turned quite cloudy and cool for a while so my last stop on the top was a brief one.
I really like the ridge from here to Bal Mawr. Not narrow but airy enough to expose some grand views.
A close up shot of Llanthony and its priory.
Not sure what these trees are – flora and fauna are not my strong point – but they were all in flower all over the lower slopes and looked wonderful both from a distance and close up.
Just a matter of picking my way down to and through the forest and back to the car feeling weary and foot sore. Hardly surprising as my mapping software said 20 miles! As far as I’ve walked in a day for a very long time. I was quite pleased with myself.
Normal November service resumed – after a brief cold snap, mild, damp and grey weather has returned. Last weekend we had THO over for the weekend and managed a couple of walks. On the Saturday after a breakfast at Waitrose (I’m so middle class!) we took a walk up Crug Mawr at the south end of the Black Mountains.
And, we had a new friend with us. This is Mac, THO’s dog and what a lovely little fellow he is. Extremely friendly and sociable it was a pleasure to have him on the walk with us. I’d forgotten how good it is to be accompanied by a dog on a walk. Set us thinking and talking about how and why dogs have forged such a close bond with humans from their wilder origins
It more than made up for what was really a pretty dismal day. As you can see from the photos it was wet, dark and miserable in terms of weather, but company turned it into a fine outing.
We didn’t linger long on the summit of Crug Mawr as it was really windy and, well, damp.
At least most of the smaller tops were out of the cloud to give us something of a view.
We stopped for lunch at the little church in Patrishow. Despite having walked past many times. I’ve never been inside so we put that right.
It’s very old and whilst simple is lovely inside.
The carved wood on the balcony was intricate and would not have looked out-of-place in the Sagrada in Barcelona.
The odd skeleton picture at the back is apparently there to remind us of our mortality!
We had lunch in the Lych gate in front of the Church, Mac scurrying around and begging for whatever food he could scrounge with his puppy dog eyes.
We had plans for a longer walk but we felt satisfied with a walk along the ridge on the other side of the valley and down to the car
It’s a fine ridge that see’s few visitors but not at its best today
We headed back to fester at home and enjoy and afternoon and evening watching TV and Mac make himself thoroughly at home in our house.
Well, that’s enough of city breaks for 2017. Time to get back to main feature of the blog namely out and about in the mountains. The weekend after our Barcelona trip and a decent Sunday forecast had us out in the Black Mountains. I’m always looking for a different take or a new route having explored the area extensively since I’ve lived in Herefordshire. I’d done both of today’s summits many times before but never on the same walk.
A late start, possibly because I saw that the forecast was improving, more likely I just stayed in bed too long
It was a cold and windy day with showers scudding over some of the tops. As ever though, sunshine and showers delivers crystal clear clarity to the air and the views
The Sugar Loaf is a fine mountain I’ve been up many times but this is only the second time I’ve been up from the east side
The views from the way up and the top were superb
Not a day for dallying on the summit in an icy wind that I’m sure would have dropped as snow if we’d been caught in a shower
We pushed on down with several mountain bikers on their way up. Too steep for me and a bike I have to say. We had a few drops of rain but nothing much and the skies cleared magnificently afterwards
The last few leaves were still clinging to the trees as Autumn faded away
The steep roads onto the open hillside of Crug Mawr warmed us up sufficiently to take in a short stop for a cuppa and a bite to eat. A grand view along the Grwyne Fechan valley to enjoy
We didn’t linger long as it was pretty cold and we still had long way to walk and the sun was going down
As we approached the summit of Crug Mawr the sun was turning the mountains a deep golden brown
It’s the best time to be on the mountains, late in the day as the sun sets. No-one around but clear skies and gorgeous contrasts picked out by the low angled sun
We briefly enjoyed the summit panoramas before heading off into the approaching darkness
The price to pay for these views was a long walk back along the lanes to the car. TJS was not best pleased by this turn of events and castigated me for my poor planning in having to walk in the dark. I tried to inform him that hiking is not an exact science, that we were well off the hills before it got dark and our reward were some stunning views. He wasn’t placated by this and stomped off to the car. If he’s going to carry on hiking with his old man he better get used to this as I often linger on hills in winter to make the most of day and end up coming down in darkness
A long walk in the end of almost 12 miles but a good one for the future. Most of the road walking could be avoided on valley paths but not a great idea trying to find stiles and gates in the dark. Winter was back, sunny cities a thing of the past. I love my city trips but my heart will always belong to the mountains
A repeat of a walk I did with TJS at the same time last year. This time he was off on a school trip to France and TJF was in a actting workshop. Me a TBF had a few hours to complete a walk before we picked her up. It was something of a brisk walk to make sure we got back in time to pick her up but it’s a fine walk. This year we stopped in the churchyard for lunch. There is a full write up at the link here so I’ve just included a few choice photos and slideshow for this version
The Xmas and New Year holiday had one overriding theme – RAIN – loads of it. This was I think the only day while I was off work when it didn’t rain at some point. Me and TJS made the most of it with a walk in the SW corner of the Black Mountains. By way of contrast me and TBF did pretty much the same walk in late September a couple of years ago in a mini-heatwave withe temperatures in the high 20’s. Route map and descriptions are in that post for the factual amongst you.
This time we had to amend the walk as the small parking space was full so some road walking was needed. We headed up direct onto Table Mountain past a couple of rather nice holiday cottages where much Xmas celebration had been going on judging the piles of bottles by the cars waiting to be taken out. The sky was a deep blue and the autumnal views (we haven’t really had a winter this year) were sublime
Up on Table Mountain there were groups of people watching the beagles following a trail on the hills
The summit of Pen Cerrig Calch there were flecks of snow to remind us that despite the warm start it was winter
The walking up here is easy and we covered good ground looking for a spot out of the wind for lunch. We managed to find a ledge near the top of Pen Allt Mawr tucked into the heather
The Sugar Loaf with its prominent summit held my gaze and my lens all day especially as it caught the late afternoon sun
It wasn’t a day for stopping. Daylight is in short supply in December and this walk pushes ten miles. We managed to get back down to the road before it got dark. The long tramp back down the road to the car was pleasant in the encroaching darkness as we chatted over a fine expedition. Total darkness had enveloped us as we reached the car. An excellent and dry day, a rarity in the months that followed
I like to think of myself as a budding local expert on the Black Mountains having been exploring them since I moved to the area in 2002 and especially in the last couple of years. I’m always on the look out for new routes to get some new perspectives and experience a different flavour. After a comment exchange with James over at Backpackingbongos I came across his route on Crug Mawr and the Twyn y Gaer Hill Fort. The latter with its long low ridge towards the main Black Mountains summits has caught my eye several times without ever tempting me enough to scale it. Crug Mawr I never really noticed before so the route was confirmed. As always these days the budding mountaineer and walker that is my son, the Junior Sherpa accompanied me.
9 Miles, 2,300 Feet of Ascent
It was fairly cloudy when we set off from home and the start of the walk in Grwyne Fawr Valley was in dark woodland. As we set off through the forest there was a promising glimpse of blue above the canopy.
Sun through the canopy
I’m not a great fan of forestry plantation roads but this one was fine with shafts of bright sunlight to lead the way.
Pastures in the forest
We headed onwards through the trees to emerge at the buildings of Ffordd Las Fawr. James had mentioned that he stayed here with friends when he did the walk before and how fantastic a spot it was. It’s no longer occupied and boarded up but the charm of the place is still apparent. There was a sign at the bottom of the hill noting a planning application so hopefully someone will restore it to greater glory. For now I took some photos for James, dreamt of turning this into my home and moved on.
Ffordd Las Fawr
Ffordd Las Fawr
Ffordd Las Fawr
From here the route climbs steeply through the woods and boy are the trees dense here. It was quite extraordinarily dark. I was expecting fire-breathing dragons and ogres to lurch from the depths and take us for a snack. No such excitement but it was strangely eerie and unsettling nonetheless. I tried a few photos but it was just too dark. After passing through a couple of clearings we emerged on the ridge into bright blue skies and blazing sunshine, it felt almost springlike.
Black Mountains from the ridge to Crug Mawr
Across the Vale of Ewyas to Hatterrall Hill
All around was the desolation of cleared forest. I guess it will take generations, if ever, for the landscape to recover its former state. I’m really not a fan of the blankets of coniferous plantations that cloak large portions of our uplands but they seem to be clearing now slowly but surely. We turned and headed for Crug Mawr at the southern end of the long ridge that stretches from Waun Fach, the highest of the Black Mountains. As we approached the top the wind kicked in and it suddenly turned from spring back to winter. It was bitingly cold.
TJS on Crug Mawr summit
The views more than compensated. All a round was blue sky and dark brown heather and bracken clad mountains. The summit is only 550m but it feels higher such is the feast of views spread out beneath.
Waun Fach from Crug Mawr
Sugar Loaf from Crug Mawr
I could have lingered longer but the cold forced us to move off and down the faint path along the slopes towards Partrishow . After a rather brief and cold lunch spot (it was one of those days when the wind searches you out wherever you sit) we headed down to the valley bottom again past the beautiful stone church of Partrishow.
Partrishow Church
Sugar Loaf
Time to head back up again and we followed a succession of green lanes and paths, twisting and turning this way and that until we finally emerged onto the open slopes of the Twyn y Gaer Hill Fort.
The top was surprisingly crowded with several families playing army and rolling about on the slopes of the old grass ramparts. It had clouded over a bit but the wind had dropped and we found a quiet sheltered spot behind a gorse bush for a snack. The long ridge stretched out before us towards Bal Mawr and the sun returned as we rested. The views were as excellent as I hoped.
Black Mountains from Twyn y Gaer Hill Fort,
Hatterrall Hill from Twyn y Gaer Hill Fort
I was pleased to add another mental chapter to my book “Small Hills with Disproportionately Great Views” I checked the map and realised it was quite a stroll back to the car so we pressed on down the easy angled slopes and along the ridge. The first part was enclosed by forest and walls but soon opened out to a narrowing grassy ridge with superb views out to the NE over the Vale of Ewyas.
Twyn y Gaer Hill Fort
As the path climbs the ridge towards Bal Mawr, our route took us off on a quite splendid path traversing back above the Grwyne Fawr Valley. The skies had cleared again and we were treated to more spring-like sunshine and golden hillsides.
Black Mountains and the Grwyne Fawr Valley
TJS on the final leg
It really was a terrific walk this one and one I’d be glad to repeat in stages as a post work walk. All that remained was to follow the path down to the forests and back to the car. Quite a long day in the end at just over 9 miles, both me and TJS were a little weary by the end, both ready for our Sunday Roast when we got home.
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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