Liz had to cancel her planned walk to Bryn Arw because of unexpected circumstances and Barrie agreed to step in with Phil to lead a replacement walk, in fact Phil led the walk whilst Barrie carried out some back-marking duties.
They were also lucky with the weather and making their way to the Cray (Crai) reservoir, where they parked, the group of ten walkers set off on an overcast morning but with sunny periods throughout the day.
The Cray reservoir was built in 1898-1906 by the Swansea Corporation originally to supply water to the Swansea area. It was therefore constructed in an area known for its high rainfall and more importantly upstream from the industrialised area of the Tawe Valley so that the collected water would be untainted and of better quality, as the area surrounding the reservoir is open moorland with plantations of conifers and the dam is 28-metres high.
The group headed southeast across the wet and boggy moorland a reminder of just how much rainfall there has been in past weeks and followed the Nant Gyhirych river climbing up into the forest where they stopped for morning coffee.
The route continued along forestry paths to Bwlch y Duwynt, where they changed course turning southwest and as they progressed they met a group of youngsters who were taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s gold award scheme and enjoyed a chat.
The DofE as it is commonly known is open to youngsters between the ages of 14-25 who have to complete certain activities to earn a Bronze, Silver or Gold award. It was begun by Prince Phillip in 1956 and was initially designed to attract boys who were not interested in other organisations such as cubs or scouts. In 1957 girls were permitted to join in but on a different sort of scheme and in 1969, the two schemes were replaced by one single programme. With adult assistance participants of the scheme can select activities such as volunteering in the community, physical activity to promote fitness, learning a skill and planning an expedition either at home or abroad. At Gold level they are expected to participate in a residential section by staying and working away from the comforts of home in a shared activity to promote team-work.
After leaving the forest they climbed gently up Fan Gyhirych, a mountain in what is known as the Forest Fawr region of the Brecon Beacons and where the trig point stands at 725-metres. It being a clear day the group was able to appreciate the 360-degree spectacular views.
John Christie was a very wealthy Scottish entrepreneur who had amassed his fortune from the Indigo trade with India which allowed him to purchase the Crown Allotment of Fforest Fawr (the great forest) in 1819 when it was sold off by the Crown. He had great ambition and started by building the Brecon Forest Tramroad which crossed the north and west flanks of Fan Gyhirych. He built a series of tram roads or waggonways that connected Sennybridge, Abercraf and Ystradgynlais firstly to convey limestone and then minerals and later the Neath and Brecon Railway was constructed which followed part of the route of the old tram road and which eventually closed in the 1960’s.
Descending first to a road and then a small quarry they took advantage of the sunshine and enjoyed lunch becoming mesmerised by a beautiful dragon fly doing acrobatics in the air. Refreshed they moved on to another forest between the Nant Byfre and Nant yr Wydd streams and experienced a sharp rain shower which fortunately only lasted about five minutes and considering themselves very lucky the group trekked a very wet track which led them back to their cars after an enjoyable day.
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