Blorenge to Lord Hereford's Knob on Cambrian Way: Day 3

Another day of three climbs and some long ridge walks across open country accompanied by the sound of skylarks.

Sheep on Blorenge in the morning

At 5:10 am I woke and left my tent for a call of nature in my bright pink underpants, not suspecting anyone would be around at this time. I was wrong, two individuals were already on the summit of Blorenge, hopefully I was too far away from them to see what I was up to. Hurrying back into my tent I dozed until a more civilised 6:00 am before decamping. As I headed down off the ridge I passed an area of grassy pits that might have made a better campsite, but then you never know what's around the corner when looking for somewhere to pitch your tent and you could walk for ever in search of the perfect spot. I chose a route down that took me through an area known as the punch-bowl, with trees and a lake. A tunnel took me under the Brecon canal, and also under an adjacent house. Bypassing Llanfoist I crossed the River Usk on its multi-arched, stone road bridge, then crossed the meadow to the town of Abergavenny.

The Sugar Loaf

I timed my entry into town just right at 9:00 am when a bakery selling bacon "sarnies" and coffee was open, the smell alone was delicious. Suitably replete, I left the pedestrianised streets of the town, with its many little shops and headed up the Sugar Loaf. The climb up this distinctively shaped mountain is one of the classic walks of the area, popular with walkers on a fine day. Coming from Abergavenny the ascent is split into two parts. The first is through an oak wood. Spots of sunlight shimmered on the track as a gentle breeze moved the leaves above me. Leaving the trees there was a flatter section across moorland before a final steep climb up to the top. From the summit I could see many miles down to the River Severn and across Monmouthshire. The mountain is said to be called the sugar loaf as its shape is similar to cones of sugar, the form in which it was supplied in days gone by. The off white sandstone near the summit (from the Devonian period), eroded into a sand, which on glittering in the sun, does look vaguely like sugar.

Descending, and crossing a valley, at one point I assisted a farmer in persuading a sheep to go through a gate into a field by standing in the middle of a road. My next climb up a sunken lane so characteristic of the South Wales countryside, continuing on a tree lined path, lined with flowers such as pink campion. At the top the Cambrian Way followed the ridge for several kilometres across open moorland, to my left and right there were ridges running parallel to my own. Offa's Dyke path follows the ridge to the east, I walked it some years ago when I recall views across England, making the walk more dramatic than the stretch I was walking today.

Path up to Garn Wen

Those who planned the Cambrian Way were somewhat cruel as they took the trail down into the valley at Capel-y-ffin, only for it to climb back up a steep path to the high ground immediately after. The reward for this steep descent and ascent was seeing some monastery ruins (from a distance) and visiting the tiny, white church, which is complete with a wooden gallery. Having sweated back up to the ridge top, I walked on to Lord Hereford's knob. Less exciting than it sounds, it is a modest summit but from it you can see the escarpment formed by the end of the Brecon Beacons trending east to west. As there were some grassy hollows by the "knob", I decided to camp here. I had seen no-one around since the area of the Sugar Loaf so I thought I would be undisturbed; then two cyclists wizzed past. After that it was just horses and their foals munching grass near me. Whether they were wild or owned by someone I did not know, their shaggy coats and long manes looked adapted to living out in the cold and wet all year. The sheep looked pretty shaggy too, I guess it is not worth the farmer's expense to shear them so they rub off their winter coats on suitable rocks. This year's lambs, now pretty well fully grown, looked a lot smarter in their tightly curled woolly coats.

Looking back down the valley after climbing up from Capel-y-ffin, the white buildings are the old monastery and small church. The Cambrian Way followed the ridge on the right before dropping into Capel-y-ffin, Offa's Dyke Path is on the ridge to the left.