Blog Archives

29/9/2023

morocco earthquake: pen-Y-fAN charity walk

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sEPTEMBER 28TH: pEN-Y-fAN CHARITY WALK IN SUPPORT OF THE BRYN WALKING JUST GIVING APPEAL TO RAISE FUNDS FOLLOWING THE DEVASTING EARTHQUAKE RECENTLY.

introduction

Most of us in the group of 8 had visited Morocco and stayed at the Kasbah du Toubkal in the High Atlas Mountains. Following the devastating earthquake, Helen Menhinick of Bryn Walking/Bryn Walking for Women set up a JUST GIVING £1000 appeal fund to help those we know in that area. The fund will be administered by the Kasbah du Toubkal who are the most appropriate people to ensure the money raised goes where it is best needed.

the pen-y-fan walk

Following on from the effects of Hurricane Agnes, we were expecting strong winds of up to 30 miles per hour. We set off at about 10 a.m. up the main path from Pont ar Daf and reached the summit of Pen-y-Fan (886m) before midday. Taking photos wasn't easy as the winds proved to be as forecast so we didn't linger long on the summit.
We walked over to Corn Du (873m) and sheltered just off the western edge of the summit, for an early lunch and hot drinks. It was still windy and the wind chill was felt by all, even Cooper (Helen's dog) who kept warm with a Paramo gilet!
With two summits (Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du) ticked off we descended to the Tommy Jones Memorial and I showed the group the nearby spot where the body of young Tommy Jones had been found back on August 4th 1900, having strayed from the Cwmllwch farmhouse where his family had been staying.
Continuing onwards we reached the third summit of the day, Y Gyrn (619m), before descending to Storey Arms and returning to our cars at Pont ar Daf.

Over £1600 has been raised to date which includes over £100 raised yesterday - many thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this appeal. Special thanks to helen for initiating and supporting this important appeal.

please contact helen menhinick for any further details of this appeal - [email protected] - www.brynwalking.co.uk

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25/9/2023

UPLAND ARCHAEOLOGY cPD WORKSHOP + NNAS TUTOR AWARD RECCE

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tuesday 19th september - elan valley visitor centre: Upland archaeology CPD workshop

PART 1 BY ZOE ARTHURS OF THE CLWYD-POWYS ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST: UPLAND ARCHEOLOGY
PART 2 BY GARTETH BALL OF ELAN LINKS: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE ELAN LINKS project AREA

PART 1: This session, by Zoe Arthurs, gave a general introduction to upland archaeology and was reinforced by an introduction to several websites where we can research sites we find on our upland journeys. The header photo is a site that I've visited with Helen Menhinick of Bryn Walking/Bryn Walking for Women and we wondered about it's historical significance. The ARCHWILIO website we looked at confirmed it as a sheepfold which was in use around 1887 and until 1904 when it's designation changed to "Old Sheepfold"!
Another site in the Elan Valley that Helen and I planned to use for "Day into Night Navigation" proved to be of great historical significance but the two archaeologists advised we could still use the area.
Several slides popped up with sites we'd passed on Bryn Walking courses and thought they were just rocks proved to be 4000 year old tombs. A fascinating morning indeed.

PART 2: This session, by Gareth Ball, took us on an illustrated tour of key archaelogical sites in the Elan Links Project Area. An excavation of Cairn Ricet was quite relevant as it's immediately next to Monk's Trod which we'd walked last year on a Bryn Walking event. Gareth's description of the Cwm Elan Mine was fascinating so Helen and I will need to look at this site sometime soon. We were advised there is an information point on site with a 3D digital model available there.
In the 19th Century, some estates introduced rabbits and rabbit warrens to help feed and cloth their farm workers. Excess meat and skins being sold at local markets and the Cray Cnewr Estate features many Pillow Mounds as they are known with Warreners managing rabbit farming in these areas.

Other things we learnt included:

1. The Normans introduced rabbits, and rabbit warrens, into Great Britain to be used as food and the skins for clothing for poorer people. More affluent people had better clothing made from higher class animals such as deer, fox, cattle etc. This class clothing system was a law.
2. The Elan Links Project Area covers a land mass equivelant to 1% of Wales but the project funding sadly runs out in November. There are 17 different organisations within the Elan Links Project. The area has managed to avoid development to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the areaand to boost opportunities for enjoyment.
3. CADW has an ethical obligation to protect sites for public benefit.
4. Often sites of interest which we pass on our upland journey might not be visible, are not recorded anywhere, and might not even be on our maps. If we find unrecorded sites, we should record details and pass on to the appropriate Archaelogical Trust.
5. Elan Links has 34 Listed Buildings and 39 Scheduled Monuments with 10 recommendations for new scheduling and at least 800 new records of historic assets.
6. More information about the development and testing of the "Bouncing Bomb" on Caban-coch Reservoir which was extremely interesting.

conclusion: an extremely fascinating and interesting day which i wasn't aware of until helen asked if i'd like to attend with her. Thanks Helen!

my accommodation was kindly provided by helen menhinick at her excellent airbnb: bryn Heulog in newtown

wednesday 20th september - recce for a scheduled nnas tutor award course in october for a private group

My NNAS Tutor Award courses are an 8hr course for up to 10 candidates wishing to become NNAS Bronze or Silver Course Directors. The morning is generally classroom based with the afternoon outdoor based. Helen and I drove over to the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre where the morning will be based and then recce'd the Long Mynd for the outdoor session on the course.

thanks helen for your kind hospitality and the DIY pizza evening!

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17/9/2023

"Heritage slate trails of snowdonia" - A recce for bryn walking

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bryn walking "heritage slate trails of snowdonia" April 22nd - 26th 2024 based at dol peris - this is the recce

Yolande and I drove from Cardiff up through mid-Wales to the Oakley Arms at Maentwrog where we arrived in time for a late brunch which was very good.
Bryn Walking's October 2nd to 6th "Snowdonia Walks" is based there for the Rhinog and Moelwyn walks so I thought it would be useful to check it out. The hotel and self-catering cottages look good so I'm looking forward to the event with Helen Menhinick of Bryn Walking.

wEDNESDAY - The Wrysgan Mine Walk (for april 22nd)

I thought this short walk might be suitable for the first afternoon walk in April walk so we drove around to the Cwmorthin Car Park above Tanygrisiau where the walk starts. The weather was fine and sunny so we set off passing the pretty waterfall to join the access road that goes up to Cwm Stwlan.
Passing the large incline where we'd seen a very large group heading up to the incline tunnel, high above, we continued past a small dam and a barred mine entrance soon after. The published route we were following wasn't particularly clear and there was simply no safe route up onto to the high ground on our right so we abandoned the route sadly.
For April 22nd however I believe the route can be modified if we climb the incline and climb through the tunnel (we'll need headtorches according to my friends who regularly use the incline) to reach the Quarry (disused) above Craig yr Wrysgan and explore the area.

I'm discussing the incline with a few other regular users but might decide on a recce before April 22nd.
We then drove on to Bettws-y-Coed for a wander around and to visit the Rohan Designs shop where we met the new owner, Michelle Baylis who was very welcoming and showed us the shop which is very nice. We later met husband Steve on the Saturday when we popped back in to make a few purchases.
Continuing on to Llanberis we arrived at Dol Peris but had to wait a while until our Room 8 was ready.
Dinner was a selection of curries from one of our favourite restaurants in Cardiff - Mattancherry which specialises in South India cuisine. After dinner we reviewed the published route we intended to follow the next day and decided to remove the 3.5km pavement section to be able to spend more time on the rest of the route.

thursday - the dinorwig quarry walk (for april 23rd)

PR Taxis (Tel. 01286 871785) collected us promptly at 0930 in a newish and vey clean 8-seater and dropped us off as arranged at the 105m spot height at the eastern end of Llyn Peris. This saved a 3.5km pavement walk alongside the noisy and busy A4086.
We were walking by about 0950 and a series of long, but not steep rough roads, saw us gain height, passing some quite spectacular inclines and quarry buildings to the Victoria Quarry. At one hairpin bend we passed through a gate to a large flat rock for a coffee break on this day with fine clear views.

Continuing on to the Matilda Quarry we activated a QR code on the fencepost to learn all about the site and there were several of these further along. The magnitude of the entire area was amazing and I've never seen anything like it, over 3000 men laboured here in all weathers when these quarries were active.
The inclines seemed to get bigger and bigger until we arrived at the massive double roofed building which was part of the Ardal 'Mills' complex. We walked over to the viewpoint which provided great views and had part of our lunch there.

Continuing on we looked at the mill buildings which was a massive structure but roofless now of course. Arriving at the Allt Ddu Car Park there was some interesting interpretation which we looked at before starting our descent down into the well maintained Padarn Country Park. Our descent was through the ancient oak woodlands of Coed Dinorwig but on April 23rd, we'll use a different route down past the Anglesey Barracks to the lakeside. "Hidden away on the hillside is Snowdonia's forgotten street of the Anglesey Barracks, a desolate place that was once home for quarrymen working the mines but are now long abandoned like an eerie ghost down" - I was disappointed not to see this site this week.
We arrived at the old Quarry Hospital site which is an exceptionally well preserved visitor centre, sadly closed today, and where the very first x-ray in the UK took place. The local website advises this site is open all year round so hopefully we'll get in in April. We finished our lunch here with fine views across the lake.
The Slate Museum was our next visit and, with free entry, this provided a fascinating insight into the history of the area.
A short walk alongside the Llanberis Lake Railway brought us back into Llanberis and we enjoyed a drink at the Padarn Pub before returning to Dol Peris.
Dinner was pizza night but prepared by myself using GF Schar pizza bases for Yolande.

the slate museum

LLANBERIS

april 24th will be yr wyddfa (1085m) via the pyg track with the llanberis path for the deScent

friday - the dorothea and talsarn quarry with mynydd y cilgwyn (347m) (for april 25th)

The drive round to Nantlle for this walk is about half an hour with only roadside parking available in this village although a small layby immediately south is where we parked with space for just two cars next to a National Park boundary stone.
This walk was to be another example of a published walk which for the first third was quite different to the text as read. Strong map skills were needed for the middle third as waymarking of public rights of way on the climb up to Cilgwyn simply don't exist.
The workings at the Talsarn Quarry are particularly impressive and worth seeing as there is a three storey engine house there. At the farm before Pen-hafodlas, I asked a smallholder for directional advice and he was particularly helpful in an area where no waymarking existed. He had some lovely horses in his fields.
Up at Cilgwyn we followed a contour track over to Fron, another small village with excellent views of the Nantlle Ridge, across the valley.
From Fron it was wide tracks and a bridleway all the down to the eastern end of Nantlle and we then walked back to our car.
Opting for a different route back to Llanberis we drove eastwards through the rugged landscape countryside to Rhyd-Ddu where we saw the Welsh Highland Railway steam train pulling its carriages westwards. I noted there was one pullman carriage which I'd like to try out!

a final evening in llanberis

We enjoyed a pre-dinner walk around Llanberis before an excellent dinner at the Peak Restaurant which we first visited some 15 years ago and it's still under the same ownership. The newly opened Llanberis Tandoori, a takeaway, is receiving good recommendations.

saturday - we drove home via newtown to enjoy lunch with helen and james

ROHAn designs in betwws-y-coed

It is hoped that a customer evening in support of the Bryn Walking Morocco Appeal will be held in Bettws-y-Coed at 6.30 pm on Wednesday 24th April by arrangement with Rohan Designs of Bettws-y-Coed. I'll be giving an illustrated presentation about my Treks, Travel and Training experiences as an International Mountain Leader.
This will be followed by a visit to the shop, kindly arranged by Steve and Michelle Bayliss.

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1/9/2023

WILD CAMPING

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WILD CAMPING IN THE CAMBRIAN MOUNTAINS: aUGUST 29TH/30TH/31ST

Over three days this week, Helen Menhinick (Bryn Walking) and I headed into the remoteness of the Cambrian Mountains as part of her planning before offering "Wild Camping with Bryn Walking For Women" as a new event for her members in 2024.
Our primary objectives were to test suitable routes and campsites in a wild environment and undertake risk assessments for such an activity.
Additionally we'd review the equipment we used and assess it's suitability for journeying in such remote terrain where there isn't any phone signal so self-dependency is essential.

day 1

Helen and I met in Llangurig at the Blue Bell Hotel where we'd arranged to leave my car for the time we'd be in the hills and also enjoyed lunch there. Travelling on along westwards on the A44 we turned northward on a minor road to a roadhead north of Pumlumon.

A word of caution to those reading this would be that several Public Rights of Way on the map simply don't exist on the ground and in these areas, the ground is hard going.

Heading north on a track below Fainc Ddu Uchaf/Isaf we reached the "stream" which was deep but Helen knew the area well and so we used our alternative footwear (Crocs/Teva Flip Flops) and carried our boots and socks across safely. Rucksack chest and waist belts undone as standard procedures for crossing water features!

Beyond the "stream" we reached the footbridge and continued on the south bank, eastwards, of the larger river on a restricted byway but soon abandoned this idea as the going was so difficult. Back at the footbridge, which we crossed, we continued eastwards on a very faint path (along the 380m contour) which was very wet in places to the old ruins of Lluest Newydd and Hengwm-annedd farms where we decided to camp for the night. In this remote area, there were few suitable areas for camping, mostly because the vegetation is so tall and the ground so uneven.

day 1 - campsite

It's important to select an overnight campsite with several factors to take into account, for example:

Is the ground fairly flat and not too lumpy to prevent good sleep quality?
Is there a suitable nearby appropriate water supply?
Where is the prevailing weather coming from so that tent doors are downwind?
Be sensitive to latrine requirements and carry a trowel or trenching tool and be at least 50m away from water features.
Carry a rubbish bag to take out what has been carried in.
Comply with the "Leave no Trace" guidelines.

Our water supply was 175m away across rough ground along the line of the non-existant bridleway towards an old ruin on the far river bank (seen on the header image). It's therefore very important not to allow a single person to venture that far on safety grounds in case they fall into the water feature. Helen and I struggled across the rough ground but filled up our water bottles and our Ortlieb 10L Water Bag - essential for wild camping. Sigg food containers are also useful on these trips.

day 1 - tea/dinner

As we'd both enjoyed a cooked lunch back at the Blue Bell Hotel, we'd decided to enjoy a simple evening meal of cheeses (Cathedral City Cheddar and St. Agur) with biscuits and olives. There had been a plan to enjoy a pork pie as well but this somehow didn't appear from Helen's share of the food being carried.

tents: Eiger trekker single + TERRA NOVA POLAR LITE 3 +

Cooking equipment (gas): msr pocket rocket + msr reactor

MSR equipment is highly recommended by Helen and myself
MSR REACTOR

Integrated System: State-of-the-art stove and high-efficiency cookware are combined into a compact, self-contained and easy-to-use system.
Unrivaled Boil Time: Outperforms the competition in head-to-head lab tests—boiling .5 liter of water in just 1.5 minutes—with an even greater advantage out in the real world.
Unmatched Wind Protection: Heat exchanger completely encloses radiant burner head, virtually eliminating the effects of wind to maintain outstanding boil times and save fuel.
Maximum Efficiency: Patent-pending radiant burner, heat exchanger and internal pressure regulator produce best-in-class, fuel-sipping efficiency in all conditions.
Compact: All systems are self-contained, fitting the stove and fuel inside the pot.

MSR POCKET ROCKET

Consistently Fast: Pressure regulator maintains stove's fast boil times even in cold weather & with low fuel.
Ultralight: Just 83 g (2.9 oz) and ultra-packable; expands the menu options for ultralight backpacking.
Push-Start Ignition: Fast, reliable piezo lighting; spark igniter is protected inside burner for maximum durability.
Broad Burner: Improves wind resistance and combines with simmer control for excellent cooking versatility; wind-blocking burner lip.

day 2

Breakfast: Bacon and egg rolls with freshly brewed coffee. The coffee was prepared on my MSR Reactor stove with the optional MSR Coffee Press which proved to be an amazing piece of equipment. Helen was very impressed with the speed the MSR Reactor boiled water.

With the ground being so difficult to cross, we thought we try to follow the line of a bridleway (not visible on the ground) northwestwards, across the open hill into another valley to camp for the night. The distance wasn't far and we'd set up camp by midday so that we could explore the area and continue with planning discussions for 2024. Our campsite was out of sight and well above the restricted byway in the valley with a nearby stream for our water.

day 2 - campsite

day 2 - lunch + tea/dinner

Lunch: More of the two cheeses and biscuits. There was still no sign of the pork pie sadly......
Tea/Dinner: Steak baguette sandwiches.

day 3

Breakfast: Bacon and egg rolls with freshly brewed coffee.

It was a morning with overcast weather and drizzle from the time we broke camp until the time we reached the car.

food & beverage arrangements

As we were never intending to cover vast distances, we agreed that food and beverages could be a level up from hard core wilderness backpacking......

MISCellaneous

Preferred expedition meal packs: Expedition Foods (Freeze-dried) + Wayfarer (Boil in the bag) - I've used both over many years and can highly recommend both brands. Note that these were not used on this recce. Expedition Foods come in different sizes which is useful. Pros and cons are that Freeze-dried foods are light to carry.
Mattresses by ThermaRest
Rucksacks by Deuter: 65L minimum size
First Aid kit by LifeSystems
Torches by Petzl
Sleeping bags by Mountain Hardwear and Aldi.

concluding thoughts

It had been an interesting recconaisance and planning exercise ready for 2024.

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morocco earthquake: pen-Y-fAN charity walk

sEPTEMBER 28TH: pEN-Y-fAN CHARITY WALK IN SUPPORT OF THE BRYN WALKING JUST GIVING APPEAL TO RAISE FUNDS FOLLOWING THE DEVASTING EARTHQUAKE RECENTLY.

introduction

the pen-y-fan walk

Over £1600 has been raised to date which includes over £100 raised yesterday - many thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this appeal. Special thanks to helen for initiating and supporting this important appeal.

please contact helen menhinick for any further details of this appeal - [email protected] - www.brynwalking.co.uk

UPLAND ARCHAEOLOGY cPD WORKSHOP + NNAS TUTOR AWARD RECCE

tuesday 19th september - elan valley visitor centre: Upland archaeology CPD workshop

PART 1 BY ZOE ARTHURS OF THE CLWYD-POWYS ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST: UPLAND ARCHEOLOGYPART 2 BY GARTETH BALL OF ELAN LINKS: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE ELAN LINKS project AREA

conclusion: an extremely fascinating and interesting day which i wasn't aware of until helen asked if i'd like to attend with her. Thanks Helen!

my accommodation was kindly provided by helen menhinick at her excellent airbnb: bryn Heulog in newtown

wednesday 20th september - recce for a scheduled nnas tutor award course in october for a private group

thanks helen for your kind hospitality and the DIY pizza evening!

"Heritage slate trails of snowdonia" - A recce for bryn walking

bryn walking "heritage slate trails of snowdonia" April 22nd - 26th 2024 based at dol peris - this is the recce

wEDNESDAY - The Wrysgan Mine Walk (for april 22nd)

thursday - the dinorwig quarry walk (for april 23rd)

the slate museum

LLANBERIS

april 24th will be yr wyddfa (1085m) via the pyg track with the llanberis path for the deScent

friday - the dorothea and talsarn quarry with mynydd y cilgwyn (347m) (for april 25th)

a final evening in llanberis

saturday - we drove home via newtown to enjoy lunch with helen and james

ROHAn designs in betwws-y-coed

WILD CAMPING

WILD CAMPING IN THE CAMBRIAN MOUNTAINS: aUGUST 29TH/30TH/31ST

day 1

day 1 - campsite

day 1 - tea/dinner

tents: Eiger trekker single + ​TERRA NOVA POLAR LITE 3 +

Cooking equipment (gas): msr pocket rocket + msr reactor

day 2

day 2 - campsite

day 2 - lunch + tea/dinner

day 3

food & beverage arrangements

MISCellaneous

concluding thoughts

2021 Onwards

Categories

Archives

PART 1 BY ZOE ARTHURS OF THE CLWYD-POWYS ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST: UPLAND ARCHEOLOGY
PART 2 BY GARTETH BALL OF ELAN LINKS: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE ELAN LINKS project AREA

tents: Eiger trekker single + TERRA NOVA POLAR LITE 3 +