Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog – Craig Cerrig Gleisiad
Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog
Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog
Craig Cerrig Gleisiad
We parked near Forest Lodge cottages and set off along Sarn Helen, the 2000-year-old Roman road which runs from North Wales to Neath. The route would take us around Craig Cerrig Gleisiad Nature Reserve, Fan Frynych, climbing to the trig point and descending towards Twyn Dylluan-ddu before returning to Sarn Helen and the cars.
The first section along Sarn Helen is easy walking and we passed some interesting black and white sheep, cattle and lovely views. Taking a left turn we entered the nature reserve to walk along the valley and immediately spotted wind battered trees on the top of a hill. A noticeboard declared ‘It is a wild and craggy place and home to some arctic survivors. Glaciers carved out this special landscape. The steep rocky slopes, sharp escarpments and crags are home to rare arctic-alpine plants.’ The birdlife includes peregrines, kestrels, red grouse and rare ring ouzels. Archaeological remains found on the reserve show that the area has been inhabited for many thousands of years, including Iron Age huts.
As we progressed along Cwm du the state of the trees attracted our attention. On a visit 8 years ago, they were wind battered but now many seemed to have sparse leaves, one had a heavy crown of greenery. The path alongside the stream also seemed more overgrown but we had walked it on almost the same date last time.
The path gradually became more difficult with craggy, slippery rocks and narrow ledges. To continue past a waterfall, we needed to cross the stream. Large rocks were very slippery, so we went downstream, crossing to a bank of tall plants and made our way to a vertical wall with footholds cut into it. One of us is an experienced climber and she guided each of us until we were all safely at the top.
We were above the waterfall and followed the stream a little further before crossing it again to climb up to a grass covered area which proved much easier to navigate, following paths created by animals. We came across a herd of wild horses with foals which trotted off as we approached. The views were breathtaking, and we decided to stop for lunch looking back down the valley towards the Carmarthen Fans.
Arriving at a T-junction of paths we saw the first people we had seen all day and turned left towards Fan Frynych. At the trig point, we had awesome 360o views of the Brecon Beacons from the far west, north and around to Pen y Fan.
The path downhill led us back to Sarn Helen and the cars. The Mountain Centre provided a very welcome cup of tea and ice-cream. Looking at photos from 8 years ago, one person commented ‘we’re still wearing the same walking clothes’! Walk 7m, 1200ft. Map OL12