CARN INGLI (NEAR NEWPORT PEMBS)

Today's decision was to walk some coast and hills and the best spot was to park in Newport, walk along the coast and then cut inland to take in Carn Ingli and then return to the car.

The first bit of good news at Newport was that the Pay and Display machine had been covered up, thereby saving £1.00 for all day parking!

The weather was generally dull with only a ten minute necessity of wet weather gear. However the tops of Carn Ingli were clear all day and I think we may have been wearing too much winter kit.

We left the car park and walked down to the estuary where the Afon Nyfer (Nevern) enters the estuary and met the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and headed west.

 A coffee break was had at the bay of Cwm Rhigian where a convenient seat was made use of. The coastline has some interesting folds in the rocks.

 At the next bay we turned inland towards Fforest passing some stepping stones and  a lovely waterfall and onto the main road A487(T).

 Turning left we chanced our arms on this main road for a short while before turning further inland along a bridleway leading to Trewreiddig Fach and Trewreiddig Fawr.

We entered the open access land between Waun Fawr and Carn Clust y Ci and followed various sheep tracks to join the the main path to Carn Ingli which follows the fence line just north of Carn Edward.  We met some ponies who appeared friendly but soon wandered off when they realised there was no food to be had.

An easy scramble/rough path takes you to the top of Carn Ingli and on a windless night a good bivvy site.

Despite the gloom there were good 360 degree views of the area. Preseli Mountains to the south east with Newport Bay and Dinas Island to the north west.

The way down was a careful descent down some steep rocks and towards an obvious incline directly east of the top. Instead of walking to the roads we took the paths leading generally back to Newport.

We came across a fancy stile en route.

Chris directed us back towards Carmarthen on a "short cut", which led us straight into a huge traffic jam between St Clears and Carmarthen. He then had another idea to avoid this and off we went down some other cross country route to join a queue of like minded impatient people! Still overall another enjoyable day.

Carmarthen Fans (Bannau Sir Gaer)

Another trip into the Western end of the Beacons - Black Mountain, and a walk along the Fans.

The weather was forecast to be cold, dry and sunny - and it was! Chris picked me up and then halfway there I realised my Buffalo was still in the airing cupboard after a clean and reproof. Thankfully I had a warm enough jacket with me which would pass muster and some other warm clothes if needed.

We drove to Llanddeusant and took the lane signposted to Lly y Fan and parked on the grass on the road to the hatchery. Surprisingly we were the only ones there.

The walk up the path which is a rough road soon delivered views of the escarpment we had as the target.

 We left the track and cut uphill and soon had views of Llyn Y Fan Fach and the opportunity was taken for a coffee break. There is a legend attached to the lake and and a quick "Google" search will fill in the details.

Suitably refreshed we started up the towards the ridge of Bannau Sir Gaer with views continuing to open up.  Looking west we could see where our previous walk took us over to Foel Fraith area.

We reached Picws Du and took the essential photo.  Chris is wearing a fetching pink (or as he says Cerise) beanie hat.

The route dropped down towards Bwlch Blaen Twrch - our path back.  Instead of following the edge to Fan Foel we made a bee line for Fan Brycheiniog as there were rumbles from our stomachs.  On the way up there was thick ice in places and some icicles hanging from a sheep scraping.

There is a welcome stone shelter on the Fan where we were glad to break open the sandwiches.  Just as we were finishing a couple arrived and to my surprise I knew the chap - Rob John from Pembroke who I usually see when canoeing and who arranges the annual Rowley Perkins Memorial canoe race.  I had not seen Rob for some two years.

We parted company and started on our return journey this time heading to Fan Foel.  We passed an odd large circle which had clearly been laid with a sheet to stop growth.  Odd.  Anyway on we went down to the bwlch and then continued down the steep zig zags which take you under Picws Du and towards a leat.

We had seen this on our way up and could not work out which way the water would flow.  However we found it flowing into the lake. We did some exploring to find the source of the water and found pipework which clearly goes underground.  It was just by here in a crevice I saw what looked like yellow fungi,  However some joker had cleverly placed some yellow foam which had been used in the pipework!

From the leat we walked back to the car for a last cup of coffee. There were now several cars waiting their drivers.

A cracking day with weather to match.  Loads of walking in this area if you just want to wander.

NEVERN LOOP

Today's walk is described as the Nevern Loop as I had to call it something. A good half was nowhere near the Nevern!

We started at the lay bye just up the road from Felindre Farchog and through the pub car park onto the path which follows the Afon Nyfer (Nevern).  This is an excellent start to the walk on a lovely path.

We came across a bench with a good view of Carn Ingli, about the only time the top was clear of mist.  We had coffee break here with the promise of proper elevenses later!

The path led to the church of St Brynach.  There is a magnificent yew tree inside the grounds  which almost hides the view from the road.  Adjacent to the church is a Celtic cross, which stands 13 feet and said to be around ten centuries old.  Outside the church is a mounting block and only one  of two left in Pembrokeshire.

Just up hill from the Church we took the path which kept us close to the river passing a cross inlaid into the rocks, which is an ancient monument (not the chap in the photo)

We had our main morning break on Pont Newydd. We then carried on up the path, passing some huge fungi of the funnel type.

At the main road we turned right and took the footpath at the start of the lay bye and generally headed up the valley containingg the Afon Clydach. My previous walk also had an Afon Clydach and there is now a plan afoot to find other rivers of the same name.

Somewhere in this valley we had lunch and then continued uphill  not far from Brithdir Mawr where I spotted a tree swing and just had to have a go.

We eventually joined a road where the following sign indicated the type of  path we had just come from.

We turned left at the road and then  passed a house known as Constantinople on the OS map although it appears to have changed the name to something less impressive. We now walked into Ty Canol Nature Reserve where afternoon tea was taken. 

 It was here that some debate took place about islands being spotted in the distance.  Two out of three were of the opinion they were in fact cloud formations.

A bridleway was followed through to Pentre Ifan Farm which is a centre for Welsh youth (Urdd Gobaith Cymru).  From here it was a short distance down the road to the car.

Despite the walk taking place on 9th January it was very warm all day.

Black Mountain near Foel Fraith

It is usual with blogs to include pictures, but only if one takes a camera!  So apologies for the omission.

Today's walk was in the company of Chris and the destination was the Black Mountain starting from the quarries just off the Llangadog to Brynamman Road (middle car park).  Although the forecast was hopeful in that rain was not due to fall, the wind strength was very high.  In fact my wife had said she had come close to been blown over in our village!  Still we could always find somewhere else if too bad.

Below is the map of the area walked.

Pushing the car door open was not easy and a foretaste of what was to come.  We kitted up apart for gloves for Chris, but he looked very fetching in his top to toe OMM gear including the rucksack.

Our first target was Foel Fawr and then south eastish to the unnamed cairn (616 metres) where we had a quick coffee break.  If this had been frothy coffee the froth would have been short lived! Suitably refreshed we pushed on into the strong wind and headed for Foel Fraith.  There were clear views over to the crags on the other side of Cwm Sawdde Fechan and on to the Carmarthen Fans.  Looks a good backpacking trip, but not today.

We now turned north westish and leant into the wind heading for Cefn y Cylchau passing many shake holes.  Despite some recent heavy downpours the going was reasonably dry.  Next up was the small cairn on Cefn y Truman where we had a first lunch stop, hiding behind a mini windbreak.

From here we walked down towards the Afon Clydach hoping this was not a raging torrent.  Just before the river was a jumble of rocks which we used to have a wind free second lunch.  The river was fine and I found a place to just about make a jump across and Chris rock hopped a little further downstream.  From the other bank we walked close to the river to view the steep waterfalls and down into the valley.  This looks like an interesting way up - next time.

We now turned uphill for the obvious quarry roads on the north side of Foel Fawr.  Lots of industrial history here and we ventured into one of the huge lime kilns where there were some old wooden tools now encased in calcium(?).

Although we were not far from the car we decided to cross the road and visited Carn Pen Rhiw Ddu and then wandered back.

A good but a very windy day.

Tumble to Cynheidre and Back

It had been decided that because one member of our party was still suffering from the lurgy we would keep the walk as flat as possible.  The decision was made to walk part of  the bike and walking trail which runs from near Cross Hands to Llanelli.

We joined the trail at Tumble and walked to Cynheidre where a Heritage Centre is slowly taking shape.

The weather was a good mixture of cloud, sunshine, lightening and thunder (making us jump) and a hailstorm which left a good  covering of white stuff.

Our day walks follow a strict pattern of mid morning coffee break, lunch and mid afternoon coffee.  The leader is left in no doubt about the timings!

I suppose as this was a Bank Holiday we should not have been surprised to see so many people out and about including a local bike club clearly on a mission, children on new Christmas presents and a quite a few dog walkers.

The following are some pictures taken en route.

We had lunch next to the Heritage Centre where there used to be access to the picnic site and small lake, but now seems blocked to visitors.

A good start to 2012 and when everyone is back to full fitness no doubt we will have to endure some elevation and the usual West Wales mud.

Blwydden Newydd Dda