Hike report - 1999

Although the same 8 hikers were present again this year, they had company. Peter had decided to return after a long absence, although he had only agreed to hike on the Saturday.

We had also agreed, at the planning meeting, that we would for the first time ever, cross the border and hike in Wales. For this auspicious occasion the Black Mountains in South Wales was chosen, with Abergavenny being used as our base.

We were booked into the Park Guest House. Peter arrived first and not wanting to split up the usual pairings took the small single room. Following the arrival of everyone else, apart from Geoff, who was making his own way, we set off for the nearest pub.

However, it was not long before Geoff also turned up, having got the message we had left at the B&B.

Amazingly after one round of drinks we were told that the pub had run out of beer! As Geoff says: “ Either incompetence or just a polite way of saying don’t come back.”

Not to be deterred we moved on to bottled beer before returning to the B&B and retiring to our very small rooms.

Saturday

Our plan for the day was to climb to Hay Bluff, enjoy the views and then walk along some of Offa’s Dyke, one of twelve designated National Trails.

We had a hearty breakfast and drove out to our starting point – a car park on Gospel Pass to the south-west of our first target.

It was a miserable day and obvious that the weather was going to have a significant impact on day out. We put on our waterproof coats and prepared for the off. The climb started immediately as we followed the route up Ffynnon y Parc, and it was not long before Peter was lagging well behind, having discovered exactly how unfit he was.

It was a case of ‘every man for himself’ as each of us set our own pace.

Geoff was one of the first to reach the summit, followed closely by Graham, Howard and Brian who managed to gather at the trig point for a photo. The four other regular hikers were next, but it was some time before Peter made it.

As expected there was no view to be seen – indeed it was quite bleak.

After a suitable break we made our way south-east and joined the Offa’s Dyke Path.

The pathway was built by Offa, King of Mercia between 757 and 796 AD formed by the boundary between England and Wales, running 182 miles from Prestatyn in the north to Sedbury, near Chepstow in the south.

Men from the border county along the Mercian (English) side all had to contribute; they could send food or they could build 128cm of dyke.

We continued our uninspiring journey until we reached the footpath leading down to The Vision Farm. Here we turned right and slowly descended the hill. However, this was much more tricky than we expected and everyone except Geoff fell over at least once.

On one of the tumbles that Peter took he hurt himself rather badly, possibly pulling a muscle. The result was that he was in quite a bit of pain and found it difficult to walk.

Upon reaching the track at the farm we followed the path west to the road. Lunch was taken as we spent some time trying to recover from our ‘trip’ down the hillside.

After lunch we made our way up the road to Capel-y-ffin. Here Peter decided that he would not be able to cope with the remainder of the planned route so he continued to hobble up Gospel Pass back to the car.

As he waited for everyone else to complete the 17km (10.5 miles) trip there was very little to do, apart that is, from looking back down the pass to enjoy the view of the Vale of Ewyas.

The remaining 8 of us took the road leading north-west, steadily up the slope to Blaen-bwch. Here the road stopped and the path started. We continued to the top of the valley and turned north-east to the top of Lord Hereford’s Knob. It was quite windy on the peak so it was not long before we started our descent, back to Gospel Pass and the cars, where Peter was waiting patiently.

It was then back to the B&B, where we freshened up and changed before heading into town for something to eat.

We initially strolled (Peter hobbled) around Abergavenny sizing up the different eatery options but could not find anything suitable so we went to a pub for a drink. They didn’t do food but someone then suggested a steak restaurant. As Malcolm R says: “Clearly we didn’t make the best choice.”

The reason – there was a lot of trouble getting the steaks cooked the way we had asked. In fact several were sent back with Malcolm D giving up on his third attempt.

After our ‘meal’ we found a fairly reasonable looking pub on the main road, where we spent the rest of the evening. When we came out the town was full of yobs and police, so we discreetly made our way back to the B&B.

Geoff adds: “Saturday evening – I’m sure that everyone has many memories – none good!”

Sunday

Following breakfast we packed and loaded our gear into the cars. Peter and his ‘gammy leg’ set off for home whilst the rest of us headed north to the car park at the base of the Sugar Loaf.

This is a very popular walking destination for both serious walkers and visitor, so with it being a much nicer day than Saturday there were quite a few other people around, especially when we got to the top.

The Sugar Loaf has a distinctive conical top and is said to have been named after the locally produced sugar loaves that are of a similar shape. It is currently owned and managed by the National Trust, having been given to them by Viscountess Rhondda in 1936.

The climb was quite straightforward – we followed the track and subsequent path as it headed north-west to the summit.

Our arrival at the top – 1,955 ft (596m) satisfied a long held wish of both Graham and Geoff, who had for some time had this on their ‘to do’ list.

The summit is on a narrow ridge and affords splendid views. On a really clear day you can see the Bristol Channel to the south-east and the Malvern Hills to the north-east.

Having fully soaked up the atmosphere we circled the summit and followed the footpath back down to the car park. It had been a very satisfying morning walk, despite only covering about 6.5km (4 miles).

The Sunday lunch pub was just outside Abergavenny, where they did a reasonable roast.

Another enjoyable weekend was now over – it was just a shame that we had probably experienced the worst pubs, restaurants and B&B all at the same time. Some of us vowed never to return to Abergavenny.