Cribyn and Fan y Big

On the Sunday we headed into the main part of the Brecon Beacons hills for our walk. From Merthyr Tydfil it was a short drive to reach the car park in the forests near the Neuadd reservoir. From the car we walked along the road for a spell heading towards the reservoir, before taking a track to our right, which gradually climbed up giving us excellent views of the peaks ahead.

 Having already climbed Corn Du and Pen y Fan on an earlier trip to the Brecon Beacons, our aim this time was to go up Cribyn first, and then decide after that. The track was easy walking, but was largely covered in snow and some frozen snow, which made it slower going. Having reached the head of the valley on this track, we then turned left to start the steepish climb up to Cribyn.

 There had been plenty of people there before us, and there was an obvious route to follow through the snow. However after the climb, there was a gradual slope back to the actual summit, and here the snow was frozen and slippy, and more care was needed. Views from the summit were excellent, with blue skies and good visibility. There were plenty of other people out, particularly on Pen y Fan.

 We retraced our steps back down to the head of the valley, then climbed steeply up again to reach the summit of Fan y Big. The route up through the snow to this summit was a lot steeper and less obvious, so rather than descending this way, we carried on along the ridge for a way before finding a much more gradual path back down to the head of the valley. From there we retraced our steps back down the track to the road. However by then, what had been frozen snow on the way up had melted a lot and turned into slush. An easy road walk then took us back to the car.    

              

Waterfall walk

On the Saturday we set off in the car for Tescos in Merthyr Tydfil to buy a sandwich for lunch. Unfortunately the car park there was packed out, so we went to Asda instead, only to find they had no sandwiches. We eventually found a petrol station that had a small food section attached and bought sandwiches for the next two days there.

 We then drove down the valley to Pontneddfechan to do a waterfall walk that had been recommended to us. We went in the visitors centre there first and bought a route description. This is a very popular walk, particularly with people doing short sections of the route, visiting one or two of the numerous waterfalls. 

 However we set off to do the full walk. This was largely following alongside a river, with diversions along the way to visit waterfalls. Trees along the way provided shelter from the wind and it was a lot warmer walk than the previous day’s.

The waterfalls were spectacular, and on the surrounding rocks there were plenty of icicles and frozen water. As recommended to us in the visitors centre, where the walk route left the river, we climbed up out of the valley on a small road, then dropped down the other side to pick up a path running alongside a second river to take us back to the car. Again there were some spectacular waterfalls along the river, culminating in a steep drop down and the Sgwd yr Eira falls, where the path passes over rocks behind the waterfall. From there we climbed steeply up out of this gorge and away from the river, then a good path contoured round the side of the valley, bringing us back to the car.          
   

Black Mountains walk

We stayed at the Weatherspoons in Tewksbury on the Thursday night – good location to split the drive up. On leaving we found a nice deli doing sandwiches called ad1471. For anyone into cheeses its worth calling in.

Our plan for the Friday was to do a walk en route to driving to Merthyr Tydfil, where we were going to be based. We found a walk in the Cicerone guidebook ’Walking on The Brecon Beacons’. We picked walk 40, the shorter version. We started in Crickhowell where we headed up to a farm and across fields to a wooded area. The path climbed up along the river through the woods. In the book it was noted that in spring the ground is covered in spring flowers but due to the cold weather everything is late. Where the river tumbled over the rocks the water had frozen into little waterfalls. Once out of the woods we climbed up to a rocky outcrop called Darren before climbing to the summit of Pen Cerrig-calch.

The going was tough as the snow had frozen and it looked like it had rained at one point and then frozen on top. So every time we stepped on the snow we crashed through the ice. However from the summit we had good views looking out over the Black Mountains, although an icy wind meant we didn’t stay for long. From there we retraced our steps, back through the snow and ice, before picking up the path back through the woods and down to the car.    

 

Hollingworth Lake Walk

Today I was out with the walking group and Helen was home with a bad cold.  The plan for the walk was to start from the Car Park on the A58 near the White Horse pub, but due to the snow the road was closed so the leader started the walk from the lake area. The was about 8 miles long and took in many lanes that were blocked with drifted snow.  many of the farms were cut off from the main road.  We encounter 36Mph plus winds and this stopped us going onto Blackstone edge. The wind did make some interesting snow patterns. Overall a good walk.

Derwent Walk

 A walk we led for the walking group.

After a poor weather forecast on Tuesday  for Sunday the forecast was 100% out.Ten of us had a dry day for the St Patrick Derwent Walk. Bit of a cold wind on top but it did not affect us.  What I forgot to say about the walk was the free Guinness cake which went down a storm at the first break.

The walk took us onto Derwent moor along the edge taking in Wheel Stones, Salt Cellar Rocks, Cake of Bread and onto the twig point of Back Tor for lunch.  Where we opened the cans of Guinness that we took up.  We then took the path which would lead us down to the road that runs around dewent where we had the long flat easy walk back to the cars.

Then some us stopped of at the Snake inn on the way back home.

Eyam Walk

Our walking group led a walk around Eyam Moor and with look we had a covering of snow. Walk was about and 7 miles not to long. Here are some of the photos.

A walk led for the walking group by Helen

Roaches Walk 3rd March 2013

 A walk led for the walking group by Helen

Sunday saw 22 of us out on a walk round The Roaches, on a day that was finally feeling more like spring, at least initially, with the first shorts of the year out.

 Parking at the base of The Roaches, the first part of our walk took us straight up onto The Roaches. After initially heading straight for a sheer rock face (which some of our members did attempt) we descended slightly to pick up the main path, and enjoyed good views in the sunshine as we made a full traverse of the ridge, enjoying elevenses in a sheltered spot next to the trig point. From there we dropped down to the road, where Linda fell over in her excitement at seeing an ice cream van. Thankfully after a brief rest she was soon back on her feet and ready to go again (Campbell having used the time to eat an ice cream).

We then headed downwards through a forest to reach the steep sided gully of Lud’s Church, where we spent some time looking round before continuing down to the river, and a pleasant easy walk along the river to Danebridge. There we ate our rather late lunch outside the Wincle Brewery, accompanied for some by an excellent pint of beer. However by now the sun had disappeared and it was feeling much cooler, so we pressed on, with a steep climb out of the valley soon warming us all up again.

A long gradual climb then took us back to the base of The Roaches, with an easy amble back along the road to the cars. Thanks to all those who came and made this an enjoyable day, hope to see you all again soon.