Walk Summary
Plateau edge walking around Gwaun errig Llwydion with superb views into the surrounding valleys. Gradual ascent to the Carn Rica cairn. Visits the memorial to the Wellington Bomber crash site. Return to the beautiful Talybont Reservoir.
Date: 21/01/2022
Length: 9.8 miles
Height Gain: 724 m
Terrain: Steep paths, boggy paths, grass path, stone steps, stony track, lightly used roads, edge walking with steep drops (easily avoided)
Navagation: Potentially tricky. A lot of it is edge walking that provide good handrails. Trackless plateau traverse over Gwaun Cerrig Lwydion,
Start: Talybont Reservoir Car Park (near dam)
Route: Talybont Reservoir Car Park (near dam), Carn Rica, Edge around Gwaun Cerrig Llwydion, Wellington Memorial, Gwalciau'r Cwm, Allt Lwyd
Map: OL12 Brecon Beacons
Weather: Grey and cold
Walkers: Nun
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Talybont Reservoir
Captain's Log
Icy Start
The car thermometer registered -4 degrees as I drove acrossto Tallybont Reservoir. I parked up near the top of the reservoir and wandered to its bank side to admire the view. Pink clouds reflected off the reservoir's still surface. Nice. Not so nice, was the nearby tree that had been used as a toilet for the car park.
Crossing a field to get to open country I disturbed a bird of prey. I think it was either a marsh or hen harrier. Wales seems to have a great selection of bird life. A fingerpost pointed me in the direction of Carn Rica and I started plodding upwards.
Plateau Walking
Carn Rica
Carn Rica is a large cairn on the edge of the summit plateau. It could be seen ahead as a tantalising target. I trotted along and it didn't seem to get closer. Occasionaly I'd turn around and admire the view behind me. The Tallybont valley is really pretty. The Black Mountains loomed further to the east and the military boomed further north. I wondered whether this amount of artillery action was typical.
There was a steep final climb up to the Carn Rica cairn Somebody had constructed some stone steps to make the passage marginally easier. The cairn was quite large but part of it had fallen away. It looked well made and I was curious as to what had caused this. It took a seat on a fallen stone, sucked an icy peanut bar and admired the view. I could see water on the horizon with land behind it. I wondered if I was seeing England across the River Severn.
Carn Rica Cairn
Plateau Rim Path Renovations
Plateau And Rim Walking
I walked along a well made path across the plateau. I reminded me of walks back in the Peak District. After twenty minutes I reached the col at Bwlch y Ddwyallt and looked across the valley to Fan-y-Big, Cribyn and Pen-y-Fan. I had been at this spot on yesterday's walk. It was worth coming up here again just to get this view. I followed the edge until I got to the head of the valley. At a large cairn I took a southeast bearing to take me across the plateau to Blaen Caerfanell on the eastern edge. After about a 100 metres I came across a large exposed rock area on which a stone shelter had been built. I thought it was an odd place to build it since you couldn't actually see it from path on the plateau edge. I continued on the bearing and reached the other side of the plateau. Yesterday I'd seen an excavator making its way across the plateau. Today, I could see it working on improving the path on the eastern edge. In fact there were two excavators working. They seemed pretty close to the edge. I hope they never get it stuck in a forward gear.
Tor Glas Valley
Wellington Aircraft Memorial
Wellington Bomber
I worked my way northwards along the edge back to the col I had visited earlier and then took a path south-eastwards to what was labelled a memorial on the OS map. Even a few hindered metres away I could see it was the site of an aircraft crash since wreckage was clearly visible. The memorial was a cairn and plaque. Both cairn and wreckage were adorned with Canadian flags, crosses and poppies. The wreckage was of a Wellington bomber that crashed here in 1942. It was a Canadian crew and all of them died. The crash site was a short distance below the plateau and so I climbed back up to continue the plateau rim walk.
Wellington Aircraft Wreckage
Gwalciaur Cwm Cliffs
Plateau End
This part of the plateau ended with yet another large cairn at Gwalciaur Cwm. The plateau dropped away steeply at this point. It was only when I looked at this edge, when I'd started the descent from the plateau that I could see that this was a fearsomely steep edge. This is an amazing landscape. I chatted for a while for a couple who said they just met up for walks. He was from Cardiff and she was from Bristol, although they both spoke without an accent. They also said that the scenery is more impressive the further west you get. He cleared up my confusion of the Black Mountains and Black Mountain Range being two distinct sets of mountains.
On the way down from the plateau I met two blokes in shorts striding up the path. I told them they were brave wearing shorts in such icy weather. One had a tattoo of a dagger and shield on one calf. I guessed they were soldiers out for some extra training.
I reached the car and the world had defrosted from this morning. Even though it had been an overcast day the views had been stunning. I'm sad that my week in the Brecon Beacons had come to an end.