St David’s Day in the Brecon Beacons 2012

St David’s Day is always a special time in Wales, when local communities come together to celebrate the culture and qualities of Wales.  Expect to see people wearing daffodils and leaks, Welsh rugby shirts and traditional Welsh national costumes.  If you live or are visiting the Brecon Beacons today expect to see hear lots of wonderful Welsh choirs and taste lots of delicious locally made foods.

Here’s our guide to some of the St David’s Day events going on in the Brecon Beacons.

Places serving special Welsh foods.

Talybont-on-Usk Post office and café has recently been taken over by two passionate Welsh  owners.  Stop by to sample their great Welsh menu which includes homemade Welsh Cawl with cheese and bread, Bara Brith and welsh cakes in the Café.

The Star Inn Talybont will be serving a very Welsh menu tomorrow that includes local sourced food such as river Usk Proper Pickle, Gower Mussels and a delicious Penclawdd cockle, laver bread and smoked bacon pie.

The popular Felin Fach Griffin Inn will be putting on a special Welsh menu.

Events Taking Place on 1st March 2012. 

Crickhowell Walking Festival – http://www.crickhowellfestival.com/ – Enjoy a great day out participating in the Crickhowell Walking Festival.  Walks taking place include the interesting “Birds of the Usk Valley”, “High Above the Honddu” and an evening event celebrating St David’s Day.

South Pole Explorer Talks at The Swan in Hay at 7:30 - Felicity Aston  will give a talk and presentation about her record breaking journey in Antarctica.  Tickets £6.50 available from 01544327598.  Click here for more information.

Brecon Cathedral have a special Sung Eucharist with a large choir on the day at 5.45 pm, the preacher is Canon Keith Evans Vicar of Oystermouth

St David’s, in Llanddew – A beautiful medieval village church which is open all day every day, is having a special service at 12 noon followed by lunch.

Accommodation Offers

To celebrate St David’s Day (the national day of Wales) Brecon Beacons Holiday Cottages are offering 10% off bookings for all 350 of their properties for March bookings when customers book on Thursday 1st March.  This is a one-off-deal, which will last for one day only. Quote “St David’s Day promotion” to get your discount for savings of up to £300. Visit www.breconcottages.com or call 01874 676446.

The Swan at Hay, a charming family-run hotel in the Brecon Beacons, is a wonderful place to enjoy a short break and make the most of Hay-on-Wye’s world-famous bookshops. A two-night break starts from only £65.00 pppn for bed, breakfast and a delicious three-course meal in The Garden Room Restaurant. This offers a saving of at least £60.00 per couple.

Local Welsh Foods Made in the Brecon Beacons

Buy some great local Welsh foods from the Welsh Venison Centre.  Their shop in the Bwlch (Between Brecon & Crickhowell) has been going since 1985.

Black Mountains Smokery have put together a special Celebrate St David’s Day and everything and everyone Welsh with a combo of award winning Welsh Smoked Salmon, gorgeous Gower Laverbread and Cockles.

A Very Welsh Walk for St David’s Day… The Dragon’s Back

THE DRAGON’S BACK

In today’s Walk Wednesday the most knowledgable Kevin Walker talks us through a very Welsh walk.

St David’s Day and Wales are, of course, inextricably linked… and whenever I think of Wales, I think of Dragons!  So here’s a stunning St David’s Day walk involving the exploration of a sleeping dragon in the Black Mountains.

DISTANCE – 14kms (9 miles)
HEIGHT GAIN – 750 metres (2500 feet).
START POINT – End of No Through Road to Castell Dinas.
GRID REFERENCE – SO/175303.
MAPS – OS Explorer OL13, OS Landranger 161.

DESCRIPTION:
This is one of the classic hillwalks of the Black Mountains, with a stepped ascent up a fine and surprisingly narrow spur with superb views, ending up on Waun Fach, the highest point in the Black Mountains.  There is an optional visit to Castell Dinas (a Medieval castle built on an earlier Iron Age Hill fort) at the start  walk, and an optional visit to The Castle Inn to rehydrate at the end!

Image by Kevin Walker © www.mountainacts.co.uk

PARKING:
Cars can be parked at the end of the narrow No Through Road leading to Dinas Farm, at Pengenffordd, on the A479 between Crickhowell and Talgarth.  Please park carefully so as not to cause any obstruction.

ROUTE:

Image by Kevin Walker © www.mountainacts.co.uk

From the parking area, take the rough track that leads around to the right of the farm buildings, and follow this gently uphill to reach a gate leading to the open hillside.  Go through the gate and turn right.  The start of the Dragon’s Back is obvious above, the path climbing steeply up the front of the first step, but before starting up the spur itself, it is worth taking a small detour to visit the remains of Castell Dinas.  This is reached by following the field boundary to the right to reach a gate and stile, then climbing steeply to the summit.  Reputed to be the highest Norman castle in Wales and England, little now remains of this 11^th century fortress apart from the ruins of the gatehouse, and it is difficult to tell whether the ditches and ramparts are part of the earlier Iron Age hill fort or earthworks done by the Normans.  In truth, they are most likely a mix of the two, with a large dollop of later work thrown in for good measure!  Although undoubtedly impressively situated, and with great views of the Dragon’s Back, it is a strange place, sad and forlorn, with huge piles of grass-covered rubble and at atmosphere of neglect.

Exploration over, retrace your steps to the stile, then steel yourself for the steep climb ahead.  It is not too bad if taken steadily, and you will be amazed at how quickly the views open out.  The spur soon levels out, then descends into a saddle before rearing up again – oscillating up and down, just like a Dragon’s Back!  The route is always obvious, and whilst there are often small side paths that take a slightly easier route, the best way is always to keep to the crest.  This may be fractionally harder, but the extra views more than compensate for the additional effort!  Eventually you reach a small but tall cairn with a small memorial plaque on the ground nearby.

The spur now levels and you soon reach a fork.  Ignore the path that hugs the side of the valley to the left, and follow instead the slightly wider, grassy path to the right, giving easy walking along the crest of the now broad ridge, often with the wonderfully evocative sound of skylarks all around you.  It is along this section, too, that you may have gliders for company, soaring backwards and forwards along the ridge looking for up draughts.  On a good day, the views from here are nothing less than awesome – way out past Mynydd Troed to the central Brecon Beacons, then on to Fan Gihirych and Fan Hir, with the stunning Carmarthen Fan in the far distance.

Image by Kevin Walker © www.mountainacts.co.uk

Keep trending right on the main path and you will soon reach a low rocky cairn.  Two hundred metres beyond this, take the right fork, and climb a series of short, sometimes steep steps to reach the top of the main ridge at Pen y Manllwyn, where there is another low rocky cairn.  The eastern horizon, hitherto hidden by the mountainside, now makes its presence felt as the views open out even more.  Turn right, and follow the wide, peaty path along the top of the broad ridge, climbing onto the increasingly boggy dome of Waun Fach, the highest point of the Black Mountains.  Highest point it may be, but it is too broad to be a good viewpoint, and few people will want to visit the large concrete “boulder” (the remains of an old trig point) that marks the summit, as in all but the driest weather, it lies in the middle of a small pool in the centre of a bog! Waun Fach means “little moor” – a better name would be Mignen Fawr – “big bog”! (You can, in fact, by-pass the summit, which is not a bad idea during or after wet weather! To do this, look for the faint quad-bike trail that veers of to the right on the approach to the summit, and follow this around the hillside to reach the broad part of the Pen Trumau spur.)

On reaching the summit (or as near as you dare!), turn hard right, walk across the boggy plateau and make your way onto a reasonable path which descends a broad ridge before dropping more steeply to an obvious saddle.  It is easy to get disorientated here, particularly in misty conditions, so make sure you are heading just south of west.  Follow the path as it curves to the left along Pen Trumau, then drop steeply into the saddle between Pen Trumau and Mynydd Llysiau, with great views down the Grwyne Fechan with Macnamara’s Road obvious along its right side.  At the cairn in the saddle, turn hard right, and follow the well-defined track down the hillside, soon bearing left along Rhiw Trumau and descending relatively easily to a sunken lane which leads to tarmac.  Turn right down the lane.

The direct route back to the car follows the lane straight ahead to a farm, then swings left and up a muddy track to reach the saddle below Castell Dinas, from where it is a simple matter to retrace your steps to your car.  However, if you take the first turning to the left, go past the Cwmfforest Riding Centre, then follow the bridleway to the right, you will reach The Castle Inn, a great place to relax over a well-earned pint.  On leaving the inn, head to the right alongside the road to reach the lane to Castell Dinas.

This is another walk followed on Kevin’s astonishing walking breaks.  For details of these, and to check out what else he has to offer, visit www.mountainacts.co.uk

BRECON FIRST EVER WOMEN’S FESTIVAL!

BRECON FIRST EVER WOMEN’S FESTIVAL  TAKES PLACE THIS WEEK!
1 – 11 MARCH 2012

Brecon Women's Festival team in front of Boadicea statue in Brecon

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. To mark this special day and also to highlight the achievements and issues of local women, a group of Brecon women have come together to organise Brecon Women’s Festival, which will take place 1 – 11 March.

An exciting programme of events which includes talks, art, music, poetry, film, children’s workshops and a tree planting ceremony has been organised.
The festival begins with the opening of a major exhibition of art at Theatr Brycheiniog. Twenty women artists, some of whom are internationally acclaimed while others are at the beginning of their career in art. The exhibition will be opened by Theatr Brycheiniog director Paula Redway at 6.30pm on March 1st and will run until March 10th.

Many local organisations are involved in Brecon Women’s Festival. Brecon Film Society are showing a screening of ‘Meek’s Cutoff’ at the Coliseum Cinema and Brecknock Women’s Aid will be giving a talk. Brecon Cathedral are organising a Special Service for International Women’s Day a supper and a talk. Also at the Cathedral, Pilgrims tea Rooms are holding a talk by TV Gardener and Presenter Lynne Allbutt and Janet Williams from Pilgrims is giving a baking demonstration. Children’s art workshops will be held at Ardent Gallery and the Sarah Siddons pub will host a production of ‘Extracts from Sarah Siddons’ Diary’ performed by local actors.

The Festival will be opened at The Hours Cafe & Bookshop on Wednesday 7th March by Brecon GP Diane Davies where the Brecon WI Choir will provide entertainment. The Hours is also holding events throughout the festival with poetry readings, an art exhibition by Tessa Waite, the launch of author Adele Nozedar’s latest book and a reading surgery with Oxford University press for parents and their children.

A Women’s Fair at Brecon Guildhall on Saturday 10th March will showcase the skills and enterprise of local artists, craftspeople, charities and business and will be followed in the evening by Songs in the Studio at Theatr Brycheiniog, featuring female singer/songwriters. The festival will close on Sunday 11th March with a tree planting ceremony to mark Brecon’s first Women’s Festival. The festival organisers stress that Brecon Women’s Festival is not just for women. It’s for anyone who’d like to come along and attend events. Brecknock Women’s Aid is the chosen charity for the festival and collection boxes will be available at all events.

For details of these and other events please visit www.breconwomensfestival.co.uk or contact The Hours Cafe & Bookshop on 01874 622800.

Walk Wednesday: The Pen Allt Mawr Plateau

THE PEN ALLT-MAWR PLATEAU

It’s that day of the week again, when you’re starting to consider what your weekend plans will be, and start to crave a bit of open air freedom.  So here’s another ace Walking Wednesday from Kevin Walker the king of  killing boredom in the Brecon Beacons.  Here’s a great hill-walk with stunning views, which makes for a great warm up for the Crickhowell Walking Festival.

DISTANCE – 16kms (10 miles)
HEIGHT GAIN – 730 metres (2400 feet).
START POINT – Crickhowell Car Park (pay & display).
GRID REFERENCE – SO/219183.
MAPS – OS Explorer OL13, OS Landranger 161.

DESCRIPTION:
A relatively straightforward hill walk, involving a steady climb through a wooded dingle in order to reach the open hillside, then up and around the edge of a high plateau with breath-taking views.  The return journey takes in the Iron Age hill fort of Crug Hywel, known locally as Table Mountain.

PARKING:
Cars can be parked in the pay & display car park in Crickhowell, well signposted at the eastern edge of the town.  The pedestrian exit through the disabled bays leads past the Crickhowell Resource and Information Centre, which is well worth a visit.

ROUTE:

Picture by Kevin Walker ©

Walk west along the main road through Crickhowell, past the Shell Petrol Station and the primary school, until you reach the White Hart Inn, just before which you turn right up Pregge Lane.  Follow this steeply uphill until, after about 200 metres, you can turn right onto a rough track over a footbridge.  Follow this, initially with housing on the right, to a junction where you turn left.

Picture by Kevin Walker ©

The rough path now climbs gently between high hedges until, after several sharp bends, it reaches the wooded Cwmbeth Dingle – a deep ravine.  Continue up the right side of the dingle until you reach a gate, go through this, cross the stream to the left, and stroll up the right side of the meadow.  At the far end, the footpath goes up the stream (literally!) between stone walls, then continues more dryly to a sheep fold.  Although this might sound complicated, the way is obvious throughout.

Picture by Kevin Walker ©

Leave the sheepfold through the upslope gap, turn left, and follow the obvious path up the hill, to the right of the wall, until the angle eases.  The Darren cliffs are obvious above and to the right, and your route is up the faint path that climbs the slopes immediately to the right of the cliffs.  Once above the cliffs, trend slightly right and head just west of north to reach the far edge of the plateau – a superb viewpoint.

Picture by Kevin Walker ©

You route is now obvious – just turn right along the edge of the plateau, the path slowly improving and becoming better defined.  Wherever the path starts to descend, take the upper path, and you will eventually curve around to the left and reach Pen Gloch-y-pibwr, where there are many ancient cairns.  Turn right here, and continue along the plateau edge, past another ancient cairn, to reach trig point and the summit of Pen Allt-mawr, arguably the best viewpoint in the Black Mountains and a great place for some refreshment.

Your route now follows the opposite side of the plateau, so head south along the edge of the plateau with the drop to your left, heading towards the obvious domed bulk of Pen Cerrig-calch, with good views across to Sugar Loaf.  The path is awkwardly rocky in places, but always well defined, and leads through a peaty section to the outcrops which guard the summit.  Scramble easily up the rocks, and shortly you will reach another trig point and yet more Bronze Age cairns on top of Pen Cerrig-calch.  Continue in a southerly direction along a rocky, peaty path, heading almost directly towards the distant Sugar Loaf, meander past springs and through some old, grassy quarries, then descend more easily on a grassy track to a sudden descent at the sharpening of the spur.  It is then but a simple stroll and short, final scramble to reach the obvious flat but sloping summit of Table Mountain (Crug Hywel), the original Iron Age settlement which became Crickhowell.

Picture by Kevin Walker ©

Leave Table Mountain through the old “gateway” to its east (along the left side as you approach from the spur), and follow paths to the left, then to the right, soon merging with a good path that curves around below the southern end of the hill fort and leads to a gate and stile .  Climb the stile and walk down the rocky, damp path beyond, soon reaching a gap on the left, just beyond which there is a stile (also on the left).  Cross the stile and descend the left side of the field beyond, cross another stile and descend the left side of the next field, then cross yet another stile (or go through the gate which is often open) and follow the left side of the final field to reach a stile leading to a sunken track.  Follow this track to its end, go through the gate on the right, and continue straight head and into the farmyard.  Turn left and walk down the farm road to reach a lane.

Carefully follow the lane to the right (it is surprisingly busy and there is no pavement!), bear left at the Y junction, and continue past houses to a T junction, where you turn right.  Go straight on at the mini-roundabout, and you will shortly reach an alley on the left that leads back into the car park.

If you are in no hurry to get away, just before the alley, on the right, is The Courtyard, home to a variety of excellent local suppliers including Debs Kitchen, where you can buy amazing Welsh Cakes (amongst other delights), and Black Mountain Gold, also known as Chocolate Heaven, the workshop of a local award-winning Master Chocolatier!  Alternatively, if you ignore the alley, continue to the end of the road and turn right, you will pass the excellent Crickhowell Adventure shop, and reach the wonderful Bear Hotel – a great place to recover and “rehydrate” after your walk.  Enjoy!

This is another walk followed on Kevin’s popular walking breaks.  Check out what else he has to offer at www.mountainacts.co.uk

Pancake Day in the Brecon Beacons & Great Recipe

Pancake Day in the Brecon Beacons….

Places serving pancakes…. (please comment if you would like your business added)

The Felin Fach Griffin- Will be serving pancakes just for lunch, flavours on the menu include smoked bacon & Maple syrup.

Here’s a recommended Pancake Day Recipe from Black Mountains Smokery….

This is a lovely recipe ideal for Pancake Day and can also be used  St David’s Day which is coming up soon, this lovely welsh recipe comes from our good friend Sarah Clay, who has learned to use laverbread in her cooking from her Mother-in-Law. These blini are absolutely delicious and not at all scary to make or eat.  The Carthews are now Laverbread and Cockles converts -  please do give this recipe a try!

Feeds 6  - 8 as a starter or canape

• 100g Self Raising Flour 
• ( I used a mixture of SR flour and Buckwheat flour with 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar & 1/2 tsp Bicarb of Soda)
• 1 egg
• 5oz milk
• 120gm(small tin) of Laverbread
• sea salt to season (I prefer Halen Mon)
• 220g our traditional Welsh Smoked Salmon
• Creme Fraiche
• 120g (small tin) Cockles

Whisk up batter in a mixing bowl and leave to stand for at least 1/2 hour.  Cook on a very hot greased frying pan or similar.

Drop on a spoonful and cook till bubbles appear on top of the blini, then flip over and cook the other side.  You can produce drop scone sixed pancakes or smaller bitesize ones – it’s up to you!

Slide off and serve warm or cold with a dollop of Creme Fraiche, a piece of Smoked Salmon, a sprinkle of cockles and a twist of black pepper.

Buy a special Celebratory Pack of Welsh Smoked Salmon, Laverbread and Cockles for just £23.50 delivered.

Other lovely savoury pancake ideas using smoked foods:

•  Try adding laverbread to pancake mixture – healthy & delicious – flavour rather like spinach

• Buckwheat crepes with oak roasted salmon and crème fraiche, a little lemon juice & lashings of black pepper
• Smoked salmon, rocket and crème fraiche

• Smoked chicken, fresh tomato and pesto

Family Fun: A Hedgerow Gathering

Dragged through a hedge forwards, happily.

Here’s a great blog from a famous author and personality who’s based in the Brecon Beacons.  Adele Nozedar, has just written a book called: The Hedgerow Handbook: Recipes, Remedies and Rituals which will be launched in March 2012.
You’ll never struggle not to find a hedge in the Brecon Beacons, so we thought it would be great to get some advice from Adele on how we can make the most out of our local hedgerows.  It’s certainly been a learning experience for us having spoken to Adele, here’s some advice from her:  

Ok, so it’s halfway through half term. The weather is unseasonably mild and lovely, but the kids are pale and heavy-eyed, faces blue from the light cast by the laptop or mobile phone as they update their status updates, and what’s more, they’re probably still in their pyjamas.

What can you do that costs nothing, well get them out into the fresh air, and for most people in Wales, this won’t even require a car journey? The trickiest bit is getting the kids away from those screens, and at this point I would recommend a little judicious tinkering about with your household fuse box. Once the ‘powercut’ hits you have a five-minute window of opportunity to hustle them into coats and wellies and head off outside…for a tour of your local hedgerow. Don’t forget to grab a couple of plastic bags.

For the next hour or so, the only tweeting that you need countenance will be those made by the actual birdies, which are starting to piece together their nests a little earlier than usual right now.

For many, the hedgerow is such a commonplace sight as to be almost invisible. But in reality, it’s an overlooked miracle, a World of wonder on your doorstep. You think I’m exaggerating? Give it a go. The Brecon Beacons have some of the best hedgerows in the world, ancient and yet beautifully maintained, and I can guarantee that the views, the sounds and the scents that you encounter as you meander your way along them will give wings to your soul.

The hedgerow is a piece of living architecture and archaeology, telling a tale of human progress and endeavour throughout many centuries. There are several ways of guessing the age of a hedgerow, and the method of doing so is fun for children to get involved in. The first indicator is the depth of the hedgerow; those with steep banks are the oldest. The presence of certain plants gives us a clue, too. The life history of many plants can stretch back thousands of years. Bluebells and primroses, for example, are old woodland plants and if you see them in a hedgerow, there’s a good chance that the hedge was probably once part of ancient woodland.

Otherwise, there’s a useful rule of thumb, published by Dr Max Hooper in his 1974 book, Hedges: Take a thirty-yard length of hedgerow and then count the number of woody species in. it. The number of species equals the age of the hedge in centuries. Easy. Try it.

Next, what might you find in those hedgerows that you can usefully do something with, that’s not only pretty fast, but fun? In mid February there’s not a whole lot, but there’s a good early crop of one common plant right now; the lovely nettle!

Although the sting is meant to be effective in counteracting rheumatism and arthritis, it’s best to wear a decent pair of rubber gloves when harvesting nettles. Go for the tender young leaves of the first young shoots, which you can use exactly as you would spinach – in soups, in Greek-style filo parcels with feta cheese, or as a soup with a splash of water mint raita swirled in if you feel like going wild. As they gather the plants, you can tell the kids that nettle fibres were used to make the uniforms of the German army during the First World War, when there was a shortage of anything else. There’s a particular kind of nettle that grows in the Himalayas that’s used to weave a beautiful, lacy, dull golden-coloured fabric called ‘Aloo’, which softens as it’s washed. Oh, and you can also make string out of nettle fibres!

Nettle syrup

The concept of nettle syrup might sound bizarre, but please do make this. You can use proportionally fewer ingredients if you don’t gather enough nettles and you shouldn’t need to pop out for anything else. The only tricky bit might be managing to tinker surreptitiously once more with the fuse box so that the oven works.

- 1kg young nettle tops
- 2 litres water
- 80g white granulated sugar for every 100ml strained liquid

Put the nettle tops and water in a large pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 hour or so and then strain into a measuring jug, removing the nettles. Return the liquid to the pan and add the appropriate amount of sugar (see above). Simmer for another 30 minutes or so, until the liquid thickens and turns syrupy. Leave to cool, then siphon into sterilised bottles. The large amount of sugar will give the syrup a long shelf life, but you can also store in the freezer, either in small freezer bags or even in an ice cube tray. You can drink the syrup diluted with hot water, or chilled, with sparkling water and a chunk of lemon or lime.

Adele Nozedar is an author and photographer who lives in the Brecon Beacons. Her forthcoming book, ‘The Hedgerow Handbook – Recipes, Remedies and Rituals’, is out in March via Random House.

Adele is available to take small groups on hedgerow tours. Contact her for details at www.adelenozedar.com

Walk Wednesday: Half Term Suggestions.

Half Term Walking Wednesday Suggestion….

Here’s more of a suggestion for a great half term walk that is fun and easy for this week’s Walking Wednesday.  We think this is an ideal day out as it involves some learning and an activity that will keep your children busy.
We suggest heading to and stopping by at the National Park Visitor Centre near Libanus, followed by a walk up Mynydd Illtyd common.

The Visitor Centre is a great base with fantastic food and is excellent information and learning centre for all ages.  There is also a shop that sells maps, local crafts and books including some written by Kevin Walker.

After spending some time at the Visitor Centre go for a walk of your choice in the surrounding area.  The whole of Myntdd Illtyd common invites exploration.  Visitors can head north-east up to the old iron age fort at Twyn y Gaer, with great views over the Usk Valley, or south-west down to the Traeth Moor Nature Reserve. There is also a circuit visiting both a section of Roman Road (Sarn Helen), the route will eventually take you back to the National Park Visitor Centre, so end the walk with coffee, ice cream & home-made cakes in their yummy restaurant.  

Directions
An easy way to get there is to leave Brecon from the Llanfaes roundabout that connects the A40 and A470.  From Brecon take the second exit that follows the signs to Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff.  Stay on the A40 until you go through Libanus, then just past the Tai’r Bull Inn look for a right turn.