Earlier this year, we talked about taking on a big challenge this summer and, while my initial ideas of backpacking around west Wales or taking on the South Downs Way haven’t come off yet, yesterday we tackled something I’ve wanted to do for a while – the Dragon’s Back.
I adore the Brecon Beacons – now, of course, known officially and correctly as the Bannau Brycheiniog. They are a serious walking challenge, more physically strenuous and mountainous than my native Dartmoor, and are close enough to home that we manage a camping trip here most years. We rarely go to the same place twice but I particularly like the areas around Talybont-on-Usk, set in a lovely wide river valley with good pubs, and Talgarth. Talgarth is at the foot of the Black Mountains, the easternmost section of the Bannau, dark and brooding and even named like a Tolkien landscape. If you drive south from Talgarth over Pengenfford and towards Talgarth they loom over you on your left, often shrouded in cloud, and in profile they do look much like the spine of a recumbent dragon. It’s a road we’ve driven many times and although I’ve walked up there myself it has always been too much for the family; deterred by the challenge when the boys were younger and bad weather in more recent years.
This year, in our campsite at the dragons tail and with good weather and fit boys, we were ready for the challenge at last.
We’ve hit upon a good system for linear walks in recent years, where I drive the van to the finish point and cycle back ready to start the walk. As a bonus, of course, I get an extra short bike ride in without guilt! So first thing in the morning I drove the van up to the Dinas Castle Inn and had an enjoyable roll back downhill to the campsite in Cwmdu. Meanwhile, the family were almost ready and after a change of boots we were off.
We had already done a warm-up walk a couple of days ago over to Llangors – taking in a lovely climb as part of the bike relay, of course – just to make sure we were prepared. It was hot and we had to be careful, especially with Maggie who bounds around in all weathers and doesn’t drink as often as we’d like. We took several litres of water, made sure we went slow, took a stop every time we found shade and made sure it was manageable and comfortable for everyone. Today was much cooler, but we were ready to go nice and early so that we could tackle the hardest bit before the weather got too warm.
Breakfast in our bags, we started off up the hill, climbing a steep lane, through a farm with loud dogs and a stonemason’s yard, and carried on steeply up through fields filled with sheep and ponies. Before long, we had passed through a small evergreen copse and were out on the hill. It had taken us the best part of an hour to get this far, it as it was still relatively cool we pushed on slowly up the hill, climbing successive escarpments until we found a good spot at about the 450m contour. We’d climbed 300m already, and it was time for breakfast in the sun, with the valley floor far behind us and the distinctive silhouettes of the central Bannau now in clear view. It was lovely, at least until we discovered that the ‘cinnamon rolls’ were actually pizza swirls, not my ideal breakfast but devoured hungrily by the boys.
We were reinvigorated by breakfast and pushed on, Elaine picking some great paths to follow as we zigzagged our way up the mountainside. Behind us the views continued to open out and occasionally we stopped to see if we could spot our tent far below. Before too long we were ready to stop again, just below the rocky summit of Pen Gloch-y-pibwr, and we were very satisfied that we had the hardest climbing done already. Following the ridge along for another kilometre or so brought us to our first major peak of the day, Pen Allt-mawr with a cairn at 719m. It was a name I recognised, oddly enough, from a can of beer I’d drunk the night before. Antur Brewery’s branding consists of the contour lines of significant places around the Bannau, and their altbier features this very hill. Incidentally, they also have a deal going with the campsite and all the beers we bought at Cwmdu were specially branded. I thought this was very cool.
Anyway, now the valley was so far below it was no longer the dominant feature, and our route ahead was laid out before us. The path snakes around Pen Twyn Glas and over Mynydd Llysiau, before dropping down for the final climb over Pen Trumau and up to Waun Fach. We were already higher than Mynnydd Llangorse which we had climbed the other day, and even Mynydd Troed – the huge mountain that looms over Talgarth – was below us. On the skyline, the twin peaks of Pen y Fan and Corn Du and even the distant singular Black Mountain were clear. To the south, Sugarloaf popped in to view. We were surrounded by mountains and it was glorious.
Soon we were at the summit of Waun Fach, a wide, flat and circular 811m summit with barely a rock to mark it. Despite its incongruity, it’s the highest point in the Black Mountains and the second highest in the whole Bannau. For much of our walk, it had appeared secondary to its far more interestingly-sculpted neighbour, Pen y Gadair Fawr, and its only on the final stretch that you realise Waun Fach is the modest big brother after all. We stopped for lunch at the summit, now in fleeces to guard against the wind, but still enjoying a warm day perfect for walking. We were struck by the lack of people around. We had passed one Duke of Edinburgh group (who we had wished good luck to in Crickhowell the day before!), two families and one mountain biker all day. In half term week, I imagine the central Bannau would have been far busier and I was glad to have found a quiet but equally challenging route.
From here it was downhill to the pub, but far from downhill all the way. This part of the route was a series of ever-diminishing hills, so we went down a bit, then up a bit, then down some more, then back up a little bit, over a series of five hills at the top of the valley overlooking Pengenfford. The wind here was howling despite there being no wind in the forecast, but it swept up the valley so strongly we could barely hear one another speak. After a couple of hills, including a short snack stop where I briefly fell asleep, we decided to take a sheep track around the northern edge of the hill to get out of the wind. This was much more pleasant and the views out to the north were amazing. Before long, we were on the decking outside the Dinas Castle enjoying a pint and wondering what to do for dinner. The lack of pie at the inn had scuppered our original plan of eating there! Never mind – back to camp, a quick shower and an evening at the New Gurkha Inn in Talgarth, which is rapidly becoming a family favourite.
As challenges go, it was a good one – 18km and over 900m of climbing, but manageable for us to complete as a family and the pub at the end was a real bonus. The first part was physically tough especially for the smallest legs in the family, but it’s a classic ‘once you’re up there…’ as the upland part of the walk is fairly straightforward. It is fairly remote, so make sure you look after yourself and your family, take extra warm gear even on a warm day and plenty of water as there are no sources en route unless it falls from the sky.
Full details and a link to my Plotaroute plage are below if you’re thinking of doing this walk yourself.
