Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 are provided to help you choose a walk suitable for the weather, the time you have available, your fitness level and your interests. Once you have chosen a suitable walk from the table, you will find it summarised in the introductory box at the beginning of each route. Some of the valleys, especially the northern ones, offer a multiplicity of routes and walks have been chosen using the ridges in a particular direction so as to present the best unfolding panorama. Valleys have been included to give shorter, less strenuous walks or as an alternative in bad weather when all but the most adventurous might eschew the high places.
How long will a route take?
A general rule of thumb for calculating the minimum time that a particular route might take to walk is to allow 1 hour for every 5km (3 miles) forward and an additional half hour for every 300 metres (1000ft) of ascent. This formula, known as Naismith’s Rule, is based on a fit hiker walking on typical terrain under normal conditions. Once you have walked a few of the routes in this guide, you should have a clearer idea of how you need to tweak the rule to work for your own level of fitness.
Don’t forget to add in time for rests, breaks for lunch and reading this book to arrive at a rough indication as to how long you’ll be out on the hill.
Ling
Bilberry
Speckled wood butterfly
Cowslip
Bluebells
1 NORTH-EASTERN VALLEYS AND RIDGES
Pen y Fan and Corn Du
WALK 1
Cwm Llwch and Cefn Cwm Llwch
| Start | Llwynbedw, Cwm Llwch (SO 006 246) |
| Distance | 9.5km (6 miles) |
| Total Ascent | 620m (2035ft) |
| Map | OL12 Western Area |
This is a fine route into the most westerly of the northern Beacons valleys and it progresses in a southerly direction into the valley head below the north face of Corn Du – the second highest peak in the range. The walk goes up the stream in the valley floor to a corrie lake. There are good waterfall views overshadowed by the looming bulk of Corn Du. It then works its way up the right (W) ridge and so up to the summit of Corn Du. From here it continues over to the summit of Pen y Fan (the highest peak in the Beacons) and returns to the start via the ridge, Cefn Cwm Llwch. An alternative shorter route returns to the start from the obelisk below Corn Du, dropping down Pen Milan ridge on the west of the valley. The final climb to the summits is steep, as is the upper part of the descent from Pen y Fan. Route finding is straightforward in good weather, but in mist or winter conditions ability to use compass and map is important. The walk requires a reasonable degree of fitness. Points of interest include glacial geomorphology, plants and birdlife, waterfalls and lake, good panoramic views and archaeological features.
Start at the end of the car park where there is a ‘NO MOTORS’ sign. The ford and the hillside on the left of the car park is your descent. Follow the track leading into the valley, lined with beech, hawthorn, mountain ash and hazel.
The woodland on the right contains the poorly preserved earthworks of an Iron Age hill fort which is marked on the map as a dotted oval and labelled ‘Settlement’. This is a small enclosure with widely spaced ramparts. Its value as a hill fort is dubious as, although the land slopes away east to Nant Cwm Llwch, the land to the west and south rises gradually to the foot of Pen Milan.
The track soon comes to another ford across the same stream, Nant Cwm Llwch, with a wooden bridge on the left, through a second gate and then between wooded banks with fields on either side. From here there are good views into Cwm Llwch with waterfalls in the foreground and a backdrop dominated by Corn Du straight ahead and Pen y Fan on the left.
The track continues southwards between old stone walls and then detours around Cwm-llwch Cottage. Notice the abundant ferns and mosses on the sloping roof of an outhouse on the northward facing end of the cottage.
Leave the cottage on your left and skirt around the right of the farmyard by crossing over two stiles. After about 100m there are good views into Cwm Llwch, with waterfalls in the foreground and a backdrop dominated by Corn Du straight ahead and Pen y Fan on the left.
The wide open track ahead takes a direct line up a spur of land with stream courses on either side. However, this line is of little interest and avoids the superb waterfalls glimpsed earlier. Descend instead to the left and walk along the fence, which soon reaches the stream. Here a small track crosses to the left bank, although either can be followed to the waterfalls.
This is a most interesting habitat as, after the birch woodland is left behind, the banks of the stream are lined with closely grazed grassy areas where there are many different species of wild flowers, such as lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica), bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), red bartsia (Bartsia odontites) and eyebright (Euphrasia sp).
Notice that the valley slopes have a high density of hawthorn trees – a notable feature of Beacons valleys. For this reason, the number of bird species is more typically associated with woodland than an open valley. Keep a sharp lookout for tree pipit, green finch, redstart, wren, whinchat, yellowhammer and chaffinch. Even the great-spotted woodpecker has been recorded. Do not be surprised to see green woodpeckers often far from trees where they feed on ants. The falls and stream bed are good places to spot grey wagtail, heron and dipper. The valley is unusual in that there are two stream beds which have eroded the floor, leaving a raised spur of land in the centre (see ‘Geology and geomorphology of Cwm Llwch,’ Walk 3).
The hill fence crosses the stream ahead but there is a low-level stride over it just before the stream divides. The left branch of the stream is the more interesting and just ahead is an impressive waterfall. This can be climbed on the right arriving first at a small pool above the lower fall.
The falls are shaded by a mixture of hawthorn, blackthorn, ash, rowan, willow and silver birch. Most of the trees are young or have grown from previously fallen trunks. Luxuriant bryophytes and ferns thrive on damp and wet rock faces surrounding the fall. Ferns include the rare Wilson’s filmy fern (Hymenophyllum wilsonii) and Cystopteris fragilis. Bryophytes include Ulota crispa, Mnium undulatum, Hylocomium splendens, Atrichum undulatum, Neckera pumila, Fissidens taxifolius, Philanotis fontana, Hyocomium armorica, Frullania tamarisci and several others. Several ungrazed tall herb ledges can be seen to the left and right of the fall. Interesting vascular plant species include valerian (Valeriana officinalis), wild angelica (Angelica sylvestris), meadow sweet (Filipendula ulmaria), Alchemilla vulgaris, wood avens (Geum rivale) and Welsh
