{"id":3354,"date":"2017-05-27T13:34:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-27T12:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3354"},"modified":"2017-05-27T13:34:35","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T12:34:35","slug":"wentwood-forest-tretower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3354","title":{"rendered":"Wentwood Forest & Tretower"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tParc Seymour and Wentwood Forest <\/strong><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tToday our walk took us from Parc Seymour to Wentwood northeast of Newport.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was a cold wind and it felt like winter again. But there’s only one word to describe this walk ‘Bluebells‘! We headed southeast and on the road passed a neat woodland, a donkey and a group of beautiful horses. Then a little later we spotted a couple of shire horses ploughing in a field of bluebells. Now we followed the lane northeast and a field of bluebells appeared on <\/span>\"\"our right stretching into the distance. We couldn’t help but stop and take photos and Misty (a dog) frolicked. We walked amongst them for ages, they were so thick that even the lane was covered in them and we were unable to walk without treading on them. We emerged into woodland which had been cut back hard and replanted.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHeading west we passed Hill farm and then went northwest towards Cross Green. Now picking a zigzag trail travelling generally westwards through Wentwood forest.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWe soon found a tree known as the ‘Curly Oak’ an old tree which has split down the middle so that you can walk through its trunk.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe woodland was filled with English bluebells so that we were surrounded. Trees of beech and oak were in new leaf and the lime green and <\/span>\"\"yellowy tones provided a perfect counterfoil to the purple blue of the bluebells. We just drank the colour in, wonderful. Unfortunately because it was cold there was little scent from the bluebells, just a waft now and again.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWe came down alongside Bertholau Graig in a southerly direction and as we came out of the wood could see the Bristol Channel in the distance. The colours of the trees here were reminiscent of autumn there was so much yellow. Our route now travelled west until we met a road where we turned south.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWe passed an old farmhouse with a dilapidated VW van and as we continued saw at least 20 abandoned old cars and farm vehicles on the property. We entered a large field where a herd of bullocks took some interest in Misty but eventually ran off uphill. Back at Parc Seymour we saw 2 carved wooden chairs on the green one dedicated to the AD and the other AD2000.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWe had walked 8½miles and 1100ft. Map 152\/OL14<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTretower <\/strong><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWe started at the Cadw site in Tretower on a lovely Spring morning.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTretower is the site of a medieval fortified manor house and castle. The Picards and Vaughans were influential Welsh families who created sumptuous accommodation reflecting their high status as Welsh gentry. The Vaughans left in the 18thC and Tretower Court became a working farm. It is an interesting site and Cadw have created a suite of rooms as they may have been in 1470.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTretower is on the Agincourt Wales trail which tells the story of the people and places across the region that played a role in Henry V’s famous victory. It starts at Trecastle and visits Brecon,<\/span>\"\" Tretower, Abergavenny, Raglan, Monmouth and St Briavels before ending at Caldicot.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHaving seen Table mountain and Sugarloaf in the distance we set off walking south east towards Cwm-gu and then northeast to Cwm. We were soon high over Tretower and had an <\/span>excellent view of the castle.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the moor land we followed the Beacons Way and soon realised why it’s so called as we spotted Pen y Fan and its neighbours to the west. After reaching Cwm we headed generally northeast towards Llewenau Draw and Llewenau.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWe were delighted to hear a cuckoo at 3 separate times and then spotted it flying across the valley, confirmed as the sound of its call came from behind us now. Unusually the hawthorn trees in this area had mistletoe growing on them.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tA flock of sheep (mostly ewes with their lambs) were grazing ahead of us on the path and as we arrived they kept moving ahead of us despite the fact that there was a large open hillside above. Eventually most of them moved to the side but still some continued until we stopped for lunch when they ‘gratefully‘ stopped for a good munch of the grass.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \n<\/p>\n

\n\t \n<\/p>\n

\n\tAt lunch we sat on the hillside and gazed at the vast range of mountains around us. Then we noticed a large bird swoop into the field below; it had a distinctive red glow and black markings on its wings; the forked tail confirmed that it was a red kite. We watched as it swooped to ground level and back up again, all the time working its way down the valley. Wow!<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tContinuing towards Llewenau we could see the Dragonsback mountain ahead of us and as we got closer spotted the iron hill fort which forms the dragon’s head. We turned southwest <\/span>\"\"towards Cil-helyg.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis walk had been designed with the aim of visiting an ancient oak tree which had been found last year. According to the ancient register of trees it is possibly the oldest in South Wales. Now as we walked along a country lane most of us walked straight past it while distracted by a horse in the opposite field. The tree is huge (its trunk must have a diameter of about 12ft) and <\/span>awe inspiring.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAt Cil-helyg we turned north for a while before heading towards Cwmdu and picking up a path leading in a generally southerly direction towards Tretower.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat a wonderful walk full of the awe which nature inspires.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe walk was 7.5miles and 1400ft. Map OL13<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parc Seymour and Wentwood Forest Today our walk took us from Parc Seymour to Wentwood northeast of Newport. There was a cold wind and it felt like winter again. But there’s only one word to describe this walk ‘Bluebells‘! We headed southeast and on the road passed a neat woodland, a donkey and a group of beautiful horses. Then a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-S6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11888,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11888","url_meta":{"origin":3354,"position":0},"title":"Bluebells at Wentwood and Brecon Beacons","author":"Alan Williams","date":"8th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Bluebells The appearance of the first spring flowers always has Wenvoe walkers thinking about the arrival of bluebells. 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