The Black Mountains Revisited
I've not been writing in this blog for quite a while and a lot has happened to me during this time. Some I may talk about, other things I may not mention, but today I'm just going to talk about the weekend I spent in the Black Mountains a couple of weeks ago. On Friday 18th last month I headed over to the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales to spend a couple of days walking in the area where I cut my walking teeth. I did my first walk in the Black Mountains in 1999 when I was still a walking virgin; the only walks I had done up to that date had been in the Peak District. By choosing to venture into the Black Mountains and ultimately the rest of the Brecon Beacons National Park I was engaging in my first walks on hills above 2000 feet. It was the start of my walking career. And here I was coming back to where it had all begun. I hadn't visited the Brecon Beacons last year and the year before that I'd been twice but neither time had I been to the Black Mountains on the eastern edge of the national park. You have to go back to 2002 for the last time I did any walking in the Black Mountains and it was in 2002 I first went to the Lake District. I had graduated from the Black Mountains school of walking and was ready to have a go at the best England has to offer.
So it was with a great deal of nostalgia that I drove to the Black Mountains on that Friday morning in February. Besides nostalgia, my goal for this weekend was to walk the small areas of the Black Mountains that I had never walked before, most of which I was able to do on the Friday. I parked at the car park beside Llanthony Priory in the Vale of Ewyas having always had a soft spot for this isolated valley and being back it seemed like it had never changed. Once ready I set off from the car park back onto road, which I crossed heading down a short lane and across a footbridge. Following the signs for Cwm Bwchel I turned right and headed up the side of the hill past Cwm Bwchel farm and beside the stream up to Bal-Bach. I have been up here before, back in 2000 when I was still a rookie on my second trip to the Black Mountains I had headed up the side of the valley on the southern side of the stream rather than the northern side as here. If memory serves I think I was directed that way (probably via Troed rhiw-mon) by a sign which indicated the other way was blocked. I think I must have made a mistake five years ago, but no such worries this year as I quickly reached the col. Five years ago I had headed back down the hill side across the moorland to the east of Bal-Mawr thereby bypassing a hill I had never been up until this day.
Heading uphill I achieved the summit of Bal-Mawr which is blessed with Trig Point but sadly is a couple of metres short of the all important 2000 feet. The weather on top of the hill was very cold with a strong westerly wind testing my winter clothing to its utmost. I couldn't help thinking about what I must have been wearing that day five years ago. I had worn jeans and the cheap pair of walking boots that I had bought when I'd first started walking. It was a world of difference from what I was now wearing especially in the footwear. This weekend I was wearing my third ever pair of walking boots, Karrimor KSB 300 GTX, which I had recently bought and was now subjecting to its first mountain walk with no problems at all to report. If I was wearing the clothes last month that I'd worn five years ago I think I would have had serious problems up on that hill, but those conditions were nothing compared with some that I have experienced over the last year or two.
Continuing along the ridge I was amazed by how narrow it was since most of the ridges in the Black Mountains are fairly wide but this one was so narrow you could see the valleys on either side; it just shows what I had been missing all these years. The highest point on the walk was passed at Chwarel y Fan Quarry before heading down to the cairn beside the stone marked on maps as the "Blacksmith's Anvil". In the total white-out and high wind I wasn't sure if the cairn was the one I wanted but a path crossing mine at that point convinced me it was so I headed down the north-easterly path back down into the Vale of Ewyas. As it happened that wasn't exactly the path I wanted but it soon joined the main path from the Blacksmith's Anvil. Even after all these years I still make mistakes, but don't we all!
Descending the hillside I was once again reminded of when I had been down this path before. It was five years ago during the same week though not on the same day that I had ascended up to Bal-Bach. I recall having enormous difficulty in the descent, slipping over and getting rather muddy, on more than one occasion. Remember I had been wearing those cheap boots (made by Johnscliffe, whoever they are!) that must have had rather poor treads on them. My new Karrimor boots were perfect in what must have been very similar conditions underfoot. Amazing what three times the price can do! As I descended the hillside it started raining and a rainbow appeared with the end of the rainbow in Capel-y-Ffin at the head of the Vale of Ewyas. Capel-y-Ffin has for years held a special place in my heart; the rainbow endorsed the feelings I have for the place and for this valley as a whole. For me it really is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. After eating my lunch sitting on the bridge over the Nant Bwch in Capel-y-Ffin I headed up the hill to the east of the hamlet (it's too small to be called a village, probably too small to be called a hamlet. It's one house and a church!).
This path is very special for me. I have walked either up or down it many times and have been struck by the amazing views it affords of the valley every time. The bowl shaped glacial valley is shown off at its best half way up the path; I always have to stop and just admire the view. I went up this path on my very first day in the Black Mountains on a very hot day at the beginning of September in 1999 and at a similar time of the day as now, ie only about an hour past midday. I remember sweating buckets and really struggling to get up the admittedly very steep path. This time however it was a much colder day and even though I have put on a bit of weight over the winter I am still lighter than I was five years ago and I'm sure considerably fitter. I had no real difficulty and relished experiencing this path again on which I have many fond memories. Despite the difficulties of five and a half years ago I remember feeling ecstatic sitting on a style enjoying the shade from the sun in the wood near The Vision Farm. The sheer joy of that experience has stayed with me and fueled all my walking ever since. That is why this path is held in such high regard and why I keep coming back to it even now two and a half years since I was last on this path (and as I recall that had been a walk for old times sake being a reverse of that first walk I had done in the Black Mountains five and a half years ago).
Eventually I reached the pile of stones that marked the crossing on the Offa's Dyke Path on top of the ridge. Turning right I headed south-east along the ridge mimicking the walk I had done five years ago when I'd walked to Bal-Bach before descending slowly down into the valley. That walk had been the second time I had ascended the hill beside Capel-y-Ffin; curiously it wasn't until I had descended it on my next trip to the Black Mountains that I discovered the correct way up the hill. Both those times up I gone the wrong way not once, but twice! Proceeding along the ridge I reflected on my relative speed. That walk five years ago had taken me all day to complete arriving back at Llanthony Priory well past 5 pm. My walk now was surely slightly longer and yet I reached the path to descend down to Llanthony at 2.30, which was far too early. I guess I walk a lot quicker these days (especially going up hill). I then remembered that I have never walked along the Offa's Dyke path between the two paths from Llanthony so I continued along the ridge south until I reached the col just before Hatterall Hill. On my second ever day in the Black Mountains I had walked from Llanthony priory onto the ridge at this point and gone south along the Offa's Dyke Path to the iron age fort and then round to the start of the valley at Cwmyoy. Now I returned to the Priory and my car by going over the path I had used on that day.
All and all it was a great walk down memory lane as well as a chance to walk a few bits of the Black Mountains I had still never walked. Driving up the valley I went to the youth hostel situated just over a mile north of Capel-y-Ffin, not only the highest hostel in either England or Wales but one of the nicest I've ever stayed in. It was a pleasure to make its acquaitance again after all these years.
So it was with a great deal of nostalgia that I drove to the Black Mountains on that Friday morning in February. Besides nostalgia, my goal for this weekend was to walk the small areas of the Black Mountains that I had never walked before, most of which I was able to do on the Friday. I parked at the car park beside Llanthony Priory in the Vale of Ewyas having always had a soft spot for this isolated valley and being back it seemed like it had never changed. Once ready I set off from the car park back onto road, which I crossed heading down a short lane and across a footbridge. Following the signs for Cwm Bwchel I turned right and headed up the side of the hill past Cwm Bwchel farm and beside the stream up to Bal-Bach. I have been up here before, back in 2000 when I was still a rookie on my second trip to the Black Mountains I had headed up the side of the valley on the southern side of the stream rather than the northern side as here. If memory serves I think I was directed that way (probably via Troed rhiw-mon) by a sign which indicated the other way was blocked. I think I must have made a mistake five years ago, but no such worries this year as I quickly reached the col. Five years ago I had headed back down the hill side across the moorland to the east of Bal-Mawr thereby bypassing a hill I had never been up until this day.
Heading uphill I achieved the summit of Bal-Mawr which is blessed with Trig Point but sadly is a couple of metres short of the all important 2000 feet. The weather on top of the hill was very cold with a strong westerly wind testing my winter clothing to its utmost. I couldn't help thinking about what I must have been wearing that day five years ago. I had worn jeans and the cheap pair of walking boots that I had bought when I'd first started walking. It was a world of difference from what I was now wearing especially in the footwear. This weekend I was wearing my third ever pair of walking boots, Karrimor KSB 300 GTX, which I had recently bought and was now subjecting to its first mountain walk with no problems at all to report. If I was wearing the clothes last month that I'd worn five years ago I think I would have had serious problems up on that hill, but those conditions were nothing compared with some that I have experienced over the last year or two.
Continuing along the ridge I was amazed by how narrow it was since most of the ridges in the Black Mountains are fairly wide but this one was so narrow you could see the valleys on either side; it just shows what I had been missing all these years. The highest point on the walk was passed at Chwarel y Fan Quarry before heading down to the cairn beside the stone marked on maps as the "Blacksmith's Anvil". In the total white-out and high wind I wasn't sure if the cairn was the one I wanted but a path crossing mine at that point convinced me it was so I headed down the north-easterly path back down into the Vale of Ewyas. As it happened that wasn't exactly the path I wanted but it soon joined the main path from the Blacksmith's Anvil. Even after all these years I still make mistakes, but don't we all!
Descending the hillside I was once again reminded of when I had been down this path before. It was five years ago during the same week though not on the same day that I had ascended up to Bal-Bach. I recall having enormous difficulty in the descent, slipping over and getting rather muddy, on more than one occasion. Remember I had been wearing those cheap boots (made by Johnscliffe, whoever they are!) that must have had rather poor treads on them. My new Karrimor boots were perfect in what must have been very similar conditions underfoot. Amazing what three times the price can do! As I descended the hillside it started raining and a rainbow appeared with the end of the rainbow in Capel-y-Ffin at the head of the Vale of Ewyas. Capel-y-Ffin has for years held a special place in my heart; the rainbow endorsed the feelings I have for the place and for this valley as a whole. For me it really is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. After eating my lunch sitting on the bridge over the Nant Bwch in Capel-y-Ffin I headed up the hill to the east of the hamlet (it's too small to be called a village, probably too small to be called a hamlet. It's one house and a church!).
This path is very special for me. I have walked either up or down it many times and have been struck by the amazing views it affords of the valley every time. The bowl shaped glacial valley is shown off at its best half way up the path; I always have to stop and just admire the view. I went up this path on my very first day in the Black Mountains on a very hot day at the beginning of September in 1999 and at a similar time of the day as now, ie only about an hour past midday. I remember sweating buckets and really struggling to get up the admittedly very steep path. This time however it was a much colder day and even though I have put on a bit of weight over the winter I am still lighter than I was five years ago and I'm sure considerably fitter. I had no real difficulty and relished experiencing this path again on which I have many fond memories. Despite the difficulties of five and a half years ago I remember feeling ecstatic sitting on a style enjoying the shade from the sun in the wood near The Vision Farm. The sheer joy of that experience has stayed with me and fueled all my walking ever since. That is why this path is held in such high regard and why I keep coming back to it even now two and a half years since I was last on this path (and as I recall that had been a walk for old times sake being a reverse of that first walk I had done in the Black Mountains five and a half years ago).
Eventually I reached the pile of stones that marked the crossing on the Offa's Dyke Path on top of the ridge. Turning right I headed south-east along the ridge mimicking the walk I had done five years ago when I'd walked to Bal-Bach before descending slowly down into the valley. That walk had been the second time I had ascended the hill beside Capel-y-Ffin; curiously it wasn't until I had descended it on my next trip to the Black Mountains that I discovered the correct way up the hill. Both those times up I gone the wrong way not once, but twice! Proceeding along the ridge I reflected on my relative speed. That walk five years ago had taken me all day to complete arriving back at Llanthony Priory well past 5 pm. My walk now was surely slightly longer and yet I reached the path to descend down to Llanthony at 2.30, which was far too early. I guess I walk a lot quicker these days (especially going up hill). I then remembered that I have never walked along the Offa's Dyke path between the two paths from Llanthony so I continued along the ridge south until I reached the col just before Hatterall Hill. On my second ever day in the Black Mountains I had walked from Llanthony priory onto the ridge at this point and gone south along the Offa's Dyke Path to the iron age fort and then round to the start of the valley at Cwmyoy. Now I returned to the Priory and my car by going over the path I had used on that day.
All and all it was a great walk down memory lane as well as a chance to walk a few bits of the Black Mountains I had still never walked. Driving up the valley I went to the youth hostel situated just over a mile north of Capel-y-Ffin, not only the highest hostel in either England or Wales but one of the nicest I've ever stayed in. It was a pleasure to make its acquaitance again after all these years.
posted by David Keates at 1:38 am
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