Having safely negotiated the single track lanes through Llanthony, Capel-y-ffin and the Gospel Pass in the stunning Vale of Ewyas which contains the River Honddu, it was anyone’s guess if the eight walkers who joined leaders Clive and Rachel would manage to beat the forecasted heavy rain on Bank Holiday Monday.
Reaching the stone circle car park off a minor road at the base of Hay Bluff and alighting from the cars the breeze was rather cool but other walkers were already tackling the steep climb up the west face of the mountain.
However the leaders had other ideas and instead they followed a gentler track along the Offa’s Dyke Path which follows the contours of the lower slopes and gradually ascends up the flanks of the mountain. The group enjoyed the splendid views overlooking the peaceful Craswall valley where the remains of a Grandmontine Monastery lie.
St Stephen of Muret founded the Order of the Grandmont in France and its followers dedicated their life to sheer poverty and contemplation. For over a hundred years the monks of Craswall dedicated their lives to this devotion without interference and totally undisturbed until in 1337, the Hundred Years War between England and France broke out leading King Edward III to seize all foreign priories for the Crown. After the war ended the status of the priory was still uncertain until 1441 when Henry VI ejected the monks and disposed of the property which over the next five centuries fell into ruins. But with the support of English Heritage there is a yearly pilgrimage following old paths across the hills from the Cistercian monastery of Abbey Dore to Craswall in commemoration of the lives and devotions of the monks who lived there.
As the group climbed the mountain side was covered with ponies with their new foals enjoying the weak sunshine before the group stopped further along on the hillside in a sheltered spot out of the breeze for morning coffee.
Reaching the ridgeway, the wind began to pick up and huge flat stones formed a path across the open moorland before the group turned and made their way along the well worn path to the 677-metre trig point on Hay Bluff which is the northernmost tip of the Black Mountains.
The mountain lies mostly within the county of Powys but its eastern flanks lie in Herefordshire and a number of small quarries have been worked over the years for Ffynnon Limestone on the northeast and northwest flanks.
Standing on the flat summit at 2,221 feet above sea level on open access land the group enjoyed gorgeous views towards Hay-on-Wye and across the other Black Mountain ranges to the Brecon Beacons away in the distance.
Fighting against a strong wind the ridge along Ffynnon y Parc led them to their descent into the valley floor where they crossed the Gospel Pass. This is an ancient road that follows a high pass over the steep valley of the Vale of Ewyas that was named after a small kingdom which grew after the Romans left Britain.
The Gospel Pass is believed to be named after the 12th third Crusade that passed through the area preaching and raising funds for their expedition and has linked Hay-on-Wye to Abergavenny for centuries. Rising to a height of 549-metres this pass is the highest road in Wales beating Bwlch y Groes in Bala by a whole 4-metres!,
Now another climb lay ahead up a well trodden path where they passed some shy mountain ponies and several young people who were wearing a variety of footwear from Wellingtons to trainers to soft pumps making the group feel somewhat overdressed!
At the top a small stone cairn marks the 689-metre summit of Twmpa or Lord Hereford’s Knob, but where the origins of this name stem from are a mystery!
With the wind still very fierce and after enjoying the surrounding views and having a picture taken for posterity, they sought some shelter in grassy hollows out of the wind for a brief lunch well aware that the sky was changing and the forecasted rain was on its way.
So refreshed and continuing along the ridge passing several families with small children the wind hit them full in the face and it was a relief to begin the descent to Rhiw Wen where they crossed open moorland as raindrops began to fall.
At Caemarchog the group stopped to admire this beautiful refurbished Welsh byre house with its unattached barn and perfect surrounding dry stone walls. The name first appears in 1758 when it was owned by Mr James Tickner of Middlesex and when the family sold the property in 1841 it passed into the Greenow family and although it is now let out for holiday use it still remains in the Greenow family ownership.
Crossing a stile and dropping downhill through a grassy path to a footbridge over the brook at Pennant Ford and passing two more lovely old houses the group entered farming land and fields full of sheep and lambs.
As the rain began to worsen the huge lump of Hay Bluff in the distance above them indicated the end was in sight and noticing some miniature ponies that were only as big as the sheep that accompanied them in the field, the group turned off near a sheep dip for the last short steep climb of the day which led them back to the car park having almost, but not quite avoided the rain.
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