Mitchel Troy - another glorious day in Monmouthshire

Sunday 23 July

Eight walkers set off from the community car park in Mitchell Troy to enjoy the surrounding countryside on a 9 mile hike. From the village the group followed a bridleway over the A40 and on into our first field of the day. High on the farthest hill to the east we could see the Kymin and between Monmouth and us were three painted trees - white, red & blue. Why I have no idea - its art one of the group said.

Walking through our first field, which had recently been cut for hay, with the huge rolled bails awaiting the farmer to load onto his trailer, they make interesting foregrounds for landscape photography. We were even more fortunate that the next field had been cut as it had been growing oil seed rape. It was bad enough with the stumps of the crop left to brush against your ankles never mind how hard it was when the walk leader checked out the walk and the crop hadn't been harvested.

The next few fields were uneventful until we came to the field with maize growing in it. The official footpath runs directly through the middle of the maize field and there was no sign of it. The only thing to do was to walk the around the edge of the field which was still not easy as the maize was standing at over 8ft tall and between that and the hedge were thistles, nettles and bindweed(?). Well we all made it with a few scratches and stings from the nettles.

The target now was to reach Kings Wood to join the Offa's Dyke long distance footpath. To do this we had our first serious climb of the day - well are only serious climb of the day. We stopped just below the entrance to Kings Wood for a drink and to admire the views to the west - Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains.

After walking though the wood we left the Offa's Dyke path and made our way down to the valley floor to cross the River Trothy. Where we would walk near it on our way to Dingestow and lunch. We had lunch in the churchyard and read about the privileged families (Bosanquets) of the old village.

Leaving Dingestow via the road underneath the A40 we crossed into a well looked after farm, which for some reason are planting a reed bed right across the footpath, they had laid down 2 metal girders for you to walk on which were a bit wobbly. As the early afternoon heat intensified we walked up hill towards Gwaylodyade looking over our shoulders to the gaze at the views.

We now did a bit of road walking to take us back over the A40 and onto our next footpath. In the field over from the footpath leading to Wonastow someone has built a fabulous tree house complete with drawbridge and slides. The fields below Wonastow were full of wheat with no footpath in site so we walked up the tractors tread with the ears of the wheat scratching our legs. The field led us into the farm and from here it is only a short walk to rejoin our path that we started out on.

It is a good walk, with good views.

Bethlehem - not that one, the village in Wales

Today we drove the Western edge of the Brecon Beacons national park for a 9 mile walk. The walk was to take in the 2 hill forts - Y Gaer Fach & Y Gaer Fawr - overlooking the village Bethlehem.

It was a hot and humid day when the group of 15 walkers started out from the car park on the edge of Pen Arthur woods. From the car park we followed a footpath rising through the woods to one of the main forestry tracks. There was already quite a distance between the front of the group and the end of the group and we had only been walking for 5 minutes!

The morning break was taken earlier than usual after the walk, within 45 minutes, this was due to the long drive that we had made. It was in a clearing overlooking the valley below. We could make out the disused creamery outside Llangadog, about 4km from us. Unfortunately there was a heat haze so the views to the far hills were obscured. This in when I noticed that one of the group had brought their i-pod. Why? When you have the peace and quite of this remote and calming place. I could understand listening to music while walking in a town or even if you were on your own but in a group walk. Struck me as a bit anti-social.

After a leisurely break we continued on our upward climb to the edge of the wood where we saw the remnants of where a car had been burnt out. After leaving the wood, we walked a fairly flat footpath keeping 20-30 meters below the top of Pen y-Bicws.

As we entered our next parcel of forestry our leader was worried about the footpath being overgrown with bracken and bramble. They were right to be as they beat they way through the bracken and bramble we followed getting scratched by gorse, brambles and stung by nettles. The path was so overgrown that we missed the correct path and ended up having to join a forestry track higher than we wanted to be. It was surprising that the path was overgrown as its now part of the new Brecon Beacons way. We rejoined our footpath and walked to a road junction where we could see Carreg Cennen Castle in the misty distance. From here we walked the road to the car park below Y Gaer Fach.

By this stage the group was starting to moan about wanting their lunch break. The leader said it would be at the second fort but thought better of his decision when we reached the first. Both forts have good views and the heat haze was starting to lift.

After lunch we made our way to the second fort and then onto the road to the east of the forts. The road led us to a footpath in woodland where there is a nature reserve that has 25 types of fungus growing in it. This footpath then led into an old sunken lane that also gave us some shelter from the sun. The sun was now getting stronger as we trekked onto a lane that would reach the road back to the end of the road. The party was once again split into 3 groups. Two groups rejoined as one and made there way along the road to the car park.

I'm not sure that the walk was nine miles we had been walking for 5 hours and seemed to stop for long breaks and also my legs we not feeling any tiredness in them.

It's a nice walk. It's a long way for us to travel with a third of that distance on minor roads to navigate through.

A Very Warm Day in Trellech

Sunday 16 July

On a bright sunny day 8 walkers left the tiny car park next to the Community hall in the village of Trellech to explore the rolling hills to the west of the village. The first historic site of interest on the walk was only 200 yards into the walk, its called the Tump Terret it was a wooden hill fort built by the Normans to keep the Welsh out. It was destroyed by fire and only the earthen mound is left. We then carried on walking to the fine Church in the village to have a look at the Pagan altar amongst the Christian gravestones.

After seeing 2 of the antiquities that Trellech is known for, we got down to the serious business of walking in the fields and lanes of this beautiful area. As we approached our first farm of the day, which the footpath went directly through. In a field with lambs one of the lambs came running towards us and proceeded to lick the hands or legs of each of us while its mother bleated out to it.

Shortly after we were at our highest point of the day (274m) in a recently cleared patch of woodland. We could see our next port of call the church of Cwmcarfan, unfortunately we couldn't see the Black mountains in the far distance as the sun had to yet burn of the of the haze. As we made our way down a steep hill toward the very minor road that would lead us to the church we were stopping occasionally to admire the rolling hills around us.

At the church we stopped for a short break where a dog called Rosie came to investigate strangers in the churchyard. The dog was sitting at my feet imploring me to give it something to eat.

We continued on our way downwards to the valley floor through a field of cattle - a mixture of Holsteins and Herefords. After crossing the stream we started to climb again in a field in which the farmer was turning the hay. The temperature of the day was now beginning to be felt by all of us.

Ahead of us lay 1.5km of road walking - not ideal but sometimes the only way to link up footpaths to make a circular walk. To the south of us lay Gaer Wood on top of a steep hill. That will be a walk for another time.

Around Pentre farm we came to our worst stiles of the day. One with a rotten footstep that wobbled precariously as you tried to step off it carefully. The other was an overgrown stile and footbridge combination, which had nettles and brambles all over it. Only six weeks earlier it was clear of any obstruction. Thankfully one of our party had brought secateurs with them and I cut back the brambles and hacked at the nettles with my walking stick. We were now making tracks to the motte and bailey at Trecastle farm. Disappointing as its camouflaged well by a barn and silage area. We guess it was behind these in a copse, as there is no footpath there we could not go and investigate.

Proceeding to our most westerly point of the walk we were admiring the fields of golden wheat dotted amongst the grass/hay fields. At the turning point we stopped for a welcome drink of water whilst picking out the mountains in the distance. We could see the Blorange, Sugar Loaf, and the eastern most ridge of the Black Mountains all the way up to Hay Bluff.

Lunch was taken in the welcome shade of a copse near Court St Lawrence. When we were refreshed we walked to the church at Llangovan, this church is home in the spring/summer months to a bat colony and its interior is closed to visitors.

The hardest climb of the day was now approaching - unfortunately it was through bracken in which thistles were hiding to catch you out. I can still feel the pinpricks of the thistles 24 hours later. To make matters worse it was also the hottest part of the day. Here I changed from my original planned walk and cut out a section that went through Llyna Wood and on to the remains of a medieval furnace. This meant that once we had reached the top of the hill the rest of the walk was fairly flat and straight. We were in the home straight of our 11 mile walk.

One major antiquity was left to see, Harold's Stones, five minutes from where we left the cars. It comprises 3 standing stones lined-up in a straight line. They were put up about 2500BC. Trellech has been continuously inhabited from this time to the present day making the village the oldest continually inhabited place in Wales if not the UK.

It was a very good walk, with lots of variety in it. Not for the inexperienced walker on a very hot day.

Welcome

Thought I should try to write up the walks that I go on in the Welsh countryside. We have some very fine walking country within 2hrs drving time of where I live. That includes the Brecon Beacons national park, Gower penisula, Wye Valley and the Vale of Glamorgan. As well as the walks I will also include some of the photos that I take everytime I go out walking.

Cotwolds - Winchcombe - Cleeve Hill

Yesterday we walked travelled outside of our usual territory, heading for Winchcombe (east of Cheltenham) for an 11 mile hike.

The party of 11 ramblers after a early start arrived at a small car park near the golf club near to the top of Cleeve Hill - would be more precise where we were but I don't have a detailed map of the area and I wasn't leading the walk that day. Just there to enjoy the walk, take a few photos, chat to friends and not have to worrying about the route. We were disappointed to find that the weather was not what had been forecast, it was cloudy with dark clouds scudding across the sky. We had been led to believe that we would have sunny periods weather all day.

As we set off on the walk we watched the approaching clouds coming towards wondering when the rain would fall on us. We could see the rain falling to the west of Cheltenham and also falling in places between us on Cleeve Hill and the Malvern Hills to the north of us.

There were a few golfers out on the course, as were made our carefully though course following the wooden stakes signifying the footpath heading for the trig point - our highest point for the day. On reaching the trig point I realised that the top of Cleeve Hill is in fact a very large common.

There were 2 men setting up the their wind boarding gear - I think that's what the equipment they had is called. Being dragged along on a large skateboard by an equally large kite.

After walking a large part of the common, in which some of us, naming no names donned their raincoats at the first hint of a raindrop causing the rest of us to briefly come to a standstill. Our luck was still holding out - no steady rain yet - as we headed to join the Cotswold way that lead us into a in a chalk valley.

Here we stopped for a break by an old sheep pool, which had been restored by volunteers. A nearby small pond feeds the sheep pool. While having a snack we watched Swallows either swooping to drink from the pond or picking flies off the surface of the water.

After our break the clouds broke and the sun was on our backs as we made our way to Winchcombe. At the impressive church in Winchcombe the party split into those who went for a pint and something to eat in a local pub while the abstentious amongst us walked to the playing fields behind the church to have our lunch in a largely cloudless sky. This is more like what the weather forecasters were predicting for today.

After a leisurely lunch we slowly made our way up hill to Bela Napa - a 2500BC Long Barrow burial chamber. When it was excavated they found 38 bodies. The chamber has a false entrance on its northern side with 2 real entrances on the east and 1 on the west and another at its southern entrance.

Leaving the long barrow we still had approx 4 miles to walk before we would be back at the car park. We were now walking through meadows with cornflowers growing at the side of the fields.

We headed back to Cleeve common and once we had reached there we had to find the bridal path that would take us to the end of the walk. We re-entered the golf course, which by now was much busier. More care needed as we walked - flying golf balls.

At this point I just wanted to finish the walk, as I was tired, not enough sleep the night before. It was decided that we would make our way back to Penarth via the A48 thus avoiding the toll on the Seven Bridge - longer in time but shorter in distance. Did the usual thing, falling asleep in the back of the car and wakeup with a stiff neck

It was a good walk.