What sort of walks do we have on our programme?

 

Lets consider a few walks to give you some idea about what we get up to!

 

Ogmore. I recently joined a short walk at Portobello. Do you know where that is? Head for Ogmore and park about half a mile past Ogmore castle on the right overlooking the river.

 

Led by Val Lock about 30 of us left the road heading south-east gently climbing the small Pant y Cwteri valley towards Pant Mari Flanders. Then by a cross country route to St. Brides Major and past what was a home for blind babies. It regularly amazes me what we come across on our walks.

 

The public path down Pant y Slade took us to the coast at Dunraven Bay from where, whilst we drank our coffee, we could look up at the site of the hall in Dunraven Park (long gone) overlooking the sea.

 

A walk along the shore now past The Dancing Stones and above the Black Rocks to the main car park in Ogmore to look across Merthyr-Mawr Warren towards Porthcawl and then to follow the river back to the cars.

 

This was a very pleasant walk of about 5 miles.

 

Black Mountain. Now to the Black Mountain (Y Mynydd Du), which is further up the road and left a bit from the Dan-yr-Ogof caves.

 

We park on the road that crosses the moors, pass the ancient stone megalith and then walk west to the source of the River Tawe, climbing gently to the first of our two lakes, Llyn y Fan Fawr.

 

One legend says that the Lady of the Lake came from the water and married a local lad on the understanding that he must never touch her with steel. Having accidentally touched her with his stirrup one day she departed to disappear back into the lake taking their children with her.

 

 

It is said that, if you look carefully, the tracks of her cart can still be seen on the lakeshore.

 

We are wrapped up well now because the weather is cold and windy. There is thick ice both on the surface of lake and on the mountain where water has flowed down. But we have little time to linger and so, after a quick, warming coffee at the lake, we carry on.

 

We are following a rough path around the bottom of some magnificent cliffs beneath Fan Bryncheiniog and we meet lots of young soldiers on exercise running against us with loaded rucsacs, probably a little bit bigger than ours! We tread carefully in places where the thick ice disturbs our path.

 

Leaving the path we cross open moorland now to a leat (an open, man made, watercourse) that is collecting water off the hills and channelling it into another lake, Llyn y Fan Fach. The leat and the lakes’ dam were built by conscientious objectors  during the first world war to provide water.

 

Alongside the lake is a smoky smelling refuge hut in which we sit out of the cold wind to eat our lunch.

 

This is a lovely, bleak place in the winter.

 

30 minutes later and we start the long, steep climb up to the top of the cliffs that overlook the whole area. No thoughts now of the cold – the climb has warmed us up!

 

As we pass Picws Du we head back towards Fan Bryncheiniog but this time we are on its top and the views are amazing. We pause to admire them, stopping to make sure we don’t loose our footing. To our south we can see the spot where the wreckage of a WW2 Wellington bomber may still be visited.

 

At a high cairn a final coffee whilst hunched down out of the wind, then off to find the Devils Staircase and drop back down to Llyn y Fan Fawr and eventually to the road and our cars.

This is a great walk of about 10 miles, led by Del Rees from our neighbouring Vale of Glamorgan Ramblers group.

 

Snowdon. We are off to Snowdon now on a YHA weekend.

 

A drive from Betws-y-Coed to Bedgellert then north up the A4085 to the narrow gauge railway station at Rhyd-Ddu where we park and get our boots on. Bryn Terfel the opera singer is there with a party of youngsters, he is keen to speak to us but we decline and leave him to get on with his walk. We start to head up the path!

 

A steady, westerly, 3.5 kilometre walk uphill rising some 320 metres to Bwlch Cwm Llan now where we have a break overlooking the Watkin Path that rises to Snowdon from Hafod-y-Llan, the farmhouse bought by the National Trust a few years ago with money raised by the public.

 

Onwards and upwards next up the very steep sides of Allt Maenderyn to gain the narrow ridge of Bwlch Main where we scramble ever upwards towards our goal.

 

We can see the new cafe now, and all the people, but it takes an age to reach it. But reach it we do - and so have about 2000 other people!

 

Some are doing charity climbs and walks, other have walked under their own steam, lots have rucsacs on and are serious, and some have come up on the train! Yes, the train!

 

We make our way into the new café – it’s ok, nice toilets. £9,000,000 I believe! That’ll take some covering!

 

Afterwards we go on up to the peak that is marked by an obelisk showing the distant mountains. I can’t see the obelisk for people!

 

We hurry back down to where we lose half of our party in the crush.

 

And we decide to eat – if we can find a space! We find a space, eat and reflect on the masses up there. Young and old alike, sitting, talking, looking, thinking. On top of the world.

 

It’s nice that people will make the effort and mountains don’t belong to any select few, everyone must be able to do it and appreciate the experience.

 

And what an experience it was. As we sat there we were looking down at the tops of the clouds. Cotton wool rolls as far as the eye could see, stationary almost in the hardly moving air.

 

Time to go, will this be the last visit to Snowdon for some of us? Who knows?

 

Down the Snowdon Ranger Path, very steep in places. Hour after hour it seemed. If the knees are poor then you will suffer. I suffered! And cramps too until I poured all my water down my throat.

 

Zigzagging down the last few hundred metres we eventually reached the car park again where Bryn was waiting for us! Good Lad, forgot the beer though! He seems very nice, standing there with the kids for photos.

 

And so into the cars once more and off to the youth hostel for a shave, shampoo and shower before making a lovely cup of tea and, later, eating a great pub meal in good company.

 

What a wonderful day.