Monday 1st April 2013
A morning walk from Pandy over the hill of Ysgyryd Fawr to reach the train station at Abergavenny
Distance: 12km; Ascent: 410m; Overcast, windy with occasional light snow; Solo
After yesterday's very long day walking in the Black Mountains, I decided that something shorter was in order for today. I needed to end up in Abergavenny in order to catch the train home this afternoon, so the hill of Ysgyryd Fawr seemed like an obvious choice. It was snowing lightly as I set off walking from Pandy just before 9am, initially along the Offa's Dyke Path with good views of Ysgyryd Fawr ahead.
 |
| Ysgyryd Fawr from south of Pandy |
After a couple of kilometres I left the Offa's Dyke Path and headed SSW along a minor road to Pen-y-parc. Just beyond here I picked up a footpath up onto The Arwallt, which was exposed to the cold wind (and it felt even colder than yesterday!).
 |
| Ascending Ysgyryd Fawr |
I followed a good path up the NE slopes of Ysgyryd Fawr, through intermittent snow patches to reach the summit ridge a couple of hundred metres south of the summit. A short wander along the windswept ridge brought me to the summit rock of
Ysgyryd Fawr (Marilyn) together with the nearby
trigpoint; there were also a couple of stones, which mark the spot of the ancient St Michael's Chapel.
 |
| Summit of Ysgyryd Fawr |
 |
| Summit trig point on Ysgyryd Fawr |
There were good views from the summit, although they were somewhat limited by the greyness of the day. After a quick break out of the wind I followed the ridge southwards for a little over a kilometre, passing quite a few people ascending the hill.
 |
| Looking south along the ridge of Ysgyryd Fawr |
Upon reaching Caer Wood, I realised that if I walked quickly I could probably make the 12:42pm train which would get me home an hour earlier than I had originally planned. Therefore I walked quickly down to the B4521 road, which I followed into Abergavenny. Google Maps' walking directions were very useful in finding some shortcuts through residential streets and walkways on the eastern edge of town. I arrived at the station just before 12:30pm, in plenty of time for my train, after an excellent few days of snowy walking. I shall have to make arrangements to return to Pandy to complete the final couple of sections of the Offa's Dyke Path to Chepstow.
N.B. 03/06/13 - Post date updated to actual date of walk, i.e. 01/04/13 (from 15/04/13). Trig point link also added.
I remember Pandy - just.
ReplyDeleteThanks to some Wye Valley beer, I left the maps in the pub the night before and had to go back for them in the morning - an extra mile or so added to the already quite long day from Pandy to Hay.
Happy days ......