South Wales Cycling and Walking Holiday

06-13 August 2017

It might sound weird but the closer it was getting to the end of summer 2017 the more pressure I felt that I need to go on holiday. Not that I didn't want to go but I don't really like organizing anything and Magda had still not fully recovered from her illness. Also for the last few years, it was quite simple: we went somewhere where there were mountains and hiked but now, what do I do if my knees are falling apart? Cycling has always been a second choice outdoor activity for me but now I have decided to cycle more to strengthen my leg muscles without putting so much pressure on the joints. I had roof bars installed on our old Skoda, bought myself roof mounted bike carriers and this opened the door to new possibilities. Suddenly we were able to cycle in any location we wanted. So where do we go? South Wales! There is no sarcasm there at all. Well, maybe a little because I can see that not many people from England would rank this destination highly. They would rather go somewhere more exotic I guess. For me, Great Britain is still exciting enough and most of the places locals would consider boring for me are worth consideration.

We have been to Snowdonia many times before but never anywhere in the south of Wales so it was high time we rectified this. I decided to split the week between two locations: Talybont Reservoir in the Brecon Beacons and Manorbier in Pembrokeshire. I was initially hoping to try cycle touring and maybe even throw in some wild camping but I wasn't ready for it yet and didn't feel it would be ok to put Magda through this. In result we camped near two hostels as they offered bike storage. We drove to YHA Brecon Beacons Danywenallt on Sunday. The day was overcast and by the time we got to Talybont Reservoir, it started to drizzle. We weren't put off, found a good camping spot under a tree and had a barbecue.

Following day (Monday) the weather looked more promising and we cycled to Brecon along Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. Red-brown colour of the water looked odd to me and until now I am not sure where it is coming from. Is it from mudstone or from old red sandstone, or from both?

On the way back we stayed on country roads and I was happy to confirm that this location was a good choice for cycling. Not much traffic, lots of narrow, undulated, tarmacked roads suitable for different types of bicycles.

One of the minor roads on the way from Brecon to Talybont-on-Usk

30km trip wasn't enough for us and after dinner, we cycled clockwise around Talybont Reservoir which added only 16km but included a decent climb.

Talybont Reservoir during a late summer evening

On Tuesday morning as we were waiting for the clouds to clear we weren't in a hurry and postponed climbing Pen y Fan until afternoon. The problem was when it came to starting the car it wouldn't start. This was a bit of a surprise because our old trusty Skoda until this point was, well...trusty. I ended up calling RAC and having to pay for a new battery. We still caught some sun that day standing on the dam waiting for RAC van to arrive. Car back in order allowed us to drive to the nearby waterfalls in the evening.

We topped the day with a short walk beside the reservoir and picked some wild mushrooms. I know this is not something very popular in the UK but I can recognize a few edible varieties and it was hard to resist. Mushrooms were to be consumed for breakfast the following day.

Indeed on Wednesday morning, we had scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms. Since I'm still alive writing this more than a year after the event I must have recognized them correctly.

After breakfast, we drove to the small car park near Torpantau station where we actually saw a group of passengers getting off the train. For them, this was the end of the trip but for us only the beginning. The aim was to walk to the top of Pen y Fan more or less following the Pen y Fan Horseshoe walk description from www.gps-routes.co.uk but ideally to include Fan y Big as well and do it anticlockwise.

Taf Fechan Forest

I would class the walk as relatively easy but long. This is obviously in good weather. Everything would change completely if it was windy and raining. Since it wasn't we enjoyed the day.

First glimpse of Corn Du, Pen y Fan and Cribyn

The walk must not have been as easy actually because I can remember now that we certainly didn't go to Fan y Big and bypassed the summit of Cribyn. I was simply predicting it would be too tiring to include these two summits and I was thinking about my knees. The summit of Pen y Fan was fairly busy but this was kind of expected. I noticed that most of the people used an easier, shorter route so there was some satisfaction coming from the fact that we made it a little bit more challenging for ourselves.

Summit of Corn Du with Pen Y Fan in the background

As much as I enjoy going up I dislike going down. The inevitability of descent is the reason I'm starting to think about bikepacking as all the weight would be on my bike and not my back. Of course, I would not be able to cycle everywhere but I reckon there should be enough interesting locations available.

After Pen Y Fan and Corn Du summits, we continued walking south-east on the Craig Fan Ddu ridge and spotted a gliding red kite. At some point, we started climbing down towards the Neuadd Reservoir. Path sides were covered with some kind of white mesh which from the distance looked like snow. I'm guessing its purpose is to slow down erosion.

View towards Neuadd Reservoir

The path leading down towards the reservoir is fairly steep to start with and we took a couple of short breaks to sit down and enjoy the surroundings. From the reservoir, there was still about 3km to the car park but it's on the flat.
We topped off the day with a tasty meal and a pint in Gurkha Corner restaurant in Brecon.

On Thursday we were relocating to Manorbier. Since driving from Talybont-on-Usk to Manorbier, in theory, takes only about 2.5 hours and the weather was excellent we went for a ride first. We set off from the car park near Brecon Interchange and rode west pretty much along the River Tarell. The day was humid and hot which I think weakened Magda. This resulted in only 17km covered but we enjoyed the views of the Brecon Beacons range from the north side. Again we used narrow country roads and there was very little traffic.

I ignored part of the route calculated by my sat nav and instead of going for the quickest A40 option we stayed in the Brecon Beacons National Park for a bit longer in order to drive through the Black Mountain area. The Black Mountain should not be confused with the Black Mountains range we left behind in the east but of course, it is confusing to me. Originally I was considering staying in the YHA Brecon Beacons which would be a good base for exploring the western part of the park. I also wanted to cycle in the Usk Reservoir area but this will have to wait until we go there next time. On this occasion, we only stopped near the main dam for lunch and listened to the heavy machinery as there was some construction work in progress.

YHA Manorbier felt more modern than the previous hostel. Our bikes got placed in the storage room in the main building rather than the shed. The kitchen was bigger and despite the summer school holiday, we didn't have a problem finding enough space for us. After pitching our tent and unpacking we walked to the Church Dove Cove which is located only a few hundred yards away from the hostel. We immediately liked the place with its small beach and dramatic rock formations resembling doorways of a church.

Skrinkle Haven beach and Church Door Cove

On Friday we walked from the hostel to Tenby and back along the coast. One of a few highlights of the walk was crossing a firing range located near the Penally village. Luckily enough on this day, it was not in use and we were allowed to cross it (one would assume safely). We could see the Caldey Island which is only 1km off the coast and I was wondering if Trappist monks living there are actually brewing Trappist beer which I remembered well from visiting Belgium. Wikipedia doesn't mention it unfortunately which caused great disappointment.

Pembrokeshire Coast Path near Manorbier

We also came across lots of kitesurfers near Tenby South Beach. I've never seen any from that close and we spent a good deal of time watching them flying past. After walking around Tenby for a while we turned back. The wind was picking up and drizzle started as we were getting closer to the hostel. The distance was about 10km each way so it was a decent walk. The day was overcast but we remained dry for most the time.

Sunny Saturday became cycling Saturday. The 40km loop included Manorbier, Freshwater East, Stackpole and Pembroke.

Magda looking towards Manorbier Bay

An abundance of blackberries on the sides of the roads slowed down the progress but yet again we were not in rush. The very simple lesson I learned was that riding along the coastline inevitably means having to work harder because of constant ups and downs. This was to be confirmed following year in Scotland on my short touring trip. After reaching Pembroke we headed towards the castle, stopped for a pint of ale in a nearby pub and busked in the sunshine. We didn't go inside the castle for two reasons. I didn't know what to do with the bikes and I remember that after visiting even the most famous ones like the Sterling Castle I was always a bit disappointed.
I remembered that day as hot and sunny and it ended on the Church Dove beach.

Steps leading to Church Dove beach

August 12th was the Perseid meteor shower night. In my ignorance I didn't know that and went to sleep relatively early, thinking about driving back home on Sunday. I was greatly surprised to see bright objects whizzing across the night sky when I woke up for a pee in the middle of a night!

We had a safe journey back home on Sunday and I will remember South Wales as a great place for cycling and walking holiday.