On Sunday 14th April, 20 of us arrived at Elan Valley Lodge in mid-Wales for 4 days walking. We were welcomed by Steve, our guide and organiser for the week who explained the details of what to expect over the next few days. We had a delicious evening meal and settled down for the evening. With almost no phone signal, limited wifi and no TV, we sat in the lounge and chatted the evening away before going to bed rather earlier than normal!
DAY 1 Monday 15th April
Day 1 Highlights A circular walk from Elan Valley Lodge. Distance 10 miles
Warned of strong cold winds and heavy showers we dressed up for winter and set off uphill from our Elan Valley Lodge base. We soon gained height above Elan Village and approached the impressive dam of Caban-coch. Our guide and leader for the week, Steve, was full of interesting information about the walk and the things that we were seeing. With the recent high rainfall, the Elan Valley dams were full and water was pouring over the dam walls. High gusty winds and pelting hail did not dampen our enthusiasm as we climbed higher along the reservoir sides with magnificent views. We saw the little dam at Nant-y-Gro where Barnes Wallis perfected his dam busting bombs and then onto the moorland at the top of the hills. We learned about the sometimes detrimental effects of sheep grazing and how it affects tree and scrub regeneration. Lunch was in two parts and the first was sitting on rocks by the so-called unfinished Dolymynach dam. Arriving at a view point for Caban-coch we were shown the same view from a book as to how it looked before the reservoir was constructed and the valley was flooded. It was a good spot for our group photo especially as the sun had come out again!
The hills were criss crossed with many swollen rivulets and proved a challenge to cross with slippery rocks. Poor Val took a tumble and ended sitting in the stream but was unhurt, if a bit wetter for the experience. Second lunch was at the top of another hill overlooked by a toy dinosaur on a cairn but was cut short by another heavy hail storm.
We arrived at Nantgwyllt chapel that was built when the original chapel had to be lost to the construction of the reservoir in 1893. Some features from the original chapel were retained. Crossing the reservoirs via the aqueduct we arrived at the head house of the 73 mile water pipeline to Frankley Reservoir in Birmingham, for which these reservoirs were built. Most of us then chose to return the strenuous way back via Y Foel hill. The hard climb was rewarded with stunning views particularly as we descended back down into Elan Valley. Tree of the day had to go to a small Rowen tree that was growing out of cracks in an old oak gate post. We arrived back in late afternoon sunshine. Our supper went down particularly well that evening!
DAY 2 Tuesday 16th April
Day 2 Highlights. A circular walk from Elan Valley Lodge. 11.5 miles
Fuelled by another hearty breakfast, 19 of us set off on a drizzly morning up into the hills again. Alan had to stay back to meet the RAC to sort out a problem with his Morgan car. Our walk took us on a steady climb and before too long the sun came out and the views were magnificent. The route became moorland with very wet areas that we had to carefully pick our way through to avoid getting our boots full of water. Eventually we reached our intended goal of the trig point on the top of Crugyn Ci. We learned that we were on the watershed of the hills with one side draining towards the Elan Valley Reservoirs and hence potentially on to Birmingham and the other side into West Wales. Having a pee on the Reservoir side from then on became known as giving one to Birmingham!
After taking in the views from the peak we set off down, negotiating more bogs until we arrived finally at our lunch stop on an old railway bridge beside the Penygarreg Reservoir. The dam of this reservoir was a masterpiece of engineering and we marvelled at the efforts of the late Victorians to build such structures complete with supported railway tracks high up on the dam walls.
After lunch we made a minor detour to admire the skills of a wood carver who had created animal scenes from old tree stumps. Shortly afterwards, we came across some amazing and tall Douglas Fir trees that were growing out of crevices in rocks. One, in particular, was a wonder to see. It was our tree of the day today. The path then clung to the side of the mountain and followed along the shore of Garreg-ddu Reservoir. Eventually, in warm afternoon sunshine, we arrived at the Coed y Foel dam crossing and took the old railway track bed route back to Elan Village, passing Caban-coch dam, where we saw that water was being allowed out into the Elan River and the Hydro electric power stations appeared to be running.
DAY 3. Wednesday 17th April
Day 3 Highlights. A linear walk from Penygarreg Dam car park back to The Lodge. Distance 11.2 miles
This morning we set off in cars and the Lodge minibus to a remote car park by Penygarreg dam for a linear walk back to the Lodge. Our first leg was alongside the Penygarreg reservoir and through Devil’s Gorge. This was a section of the old railway track blasted through a rock face. A few years ago a huge lump of rock broke off the side and crashed into the gorge. Although now allegedly safe, we didn’t linger and continued on to Craig Goch dam. There we admired the wonderful Victorian civil engineering before heading gently uphill and into drizzle. It was a relatively gentle steady gradient up but the rain and gusty wind was coming down over the moors as we dodged around to avoid deep and largely hidden puddles between the tufts of coarse grasses. The rain eased and we stopped for a break after which we continued on “off-piste” to try to avoid the worst of the wet boggy conditions. Before long the rain stopped and the sun came out and our walk became so much nicer accompanied too by the delightful song of skylarks over our heads. We saw a large puddle full of tadpoles and learned of a Roman camp on the top of the moor and wondered what could have made them think that this was a good place to settle! Lunch was on a soft heather bank overlooking the valley far below and in the sunshine was a very pleasant spot.
The afternoon was largely dry but brief showers seemed to be timed just as we had taken off our wet weather gear. We made our way down hill to the outskirts of Rhayader village. There had been few trees today but one tree, perhaps worthy of “Tree of the Day” was an old apple tree in a field of sheep. It was knarled and it’s roots exposed and all the bark nibbled off the lower trunk yet it seemed to be surviving and was the subject of some tree discussions.
The final leg of our walk was along the old railway track bed back to Elan Village. We saw the old railway tunnel, now a bat cave and met a very affectionate cocker spaniel who was beside herself with excitement at us tickling her and heard her story from her chatty owner. We also met and chatted with the lady who had designed the wildlife information boards along the Elan Valley Trail.
On the whole another enjoyable and different walk and we had all pretty much dried out by the time we arrived at the Lodge.
DAY 4. Thursday 18th April
Day 4 Highlights. A circular walk from Elan Valley Lodge. Distance 10.6 miles
We woke to a frosty world and welcome blue skies on our last day of walking. Our route took us from the Lodge and up a gentle incline where we saw two black lambs and mum seconds after giving birth. Nature in action all around. Continuing on we arrived on the moor where we sat for a while and had a break whilst pondering on the small wind turbine up there. Leaving the moor with magnificent views of the valley before us, we descended down to the confluence of the Rivers Wye and Elan. A Duke of Edinburgh group of school children from London were there too. With their heavy backpacks and no phone signal or wifi, some of them were looking very unimpressed with their challenge! We stopped for a snack by the river before crossing it via a swinging rope bridge which added a bit of fun. The D of E children found that a lot of fun too judging by the roars of laughter as they crossed over the river! A small sapling tree planted and protected in an old tree stump was a good contender for our tree of the day. At least this sapling had a strong chance of making it to full maturity. Our picnic lunch was by the River Wye in Rhayader where we just had time to explore the immediate street and shops before setting off again. Nick bought a woodworking tool as his souvenir from the trip. Our return route took us past some very odd shaped trees in a boggy meadow and a dark pine forest before emerging into the grounds of Charlotte Church’s home with its extensive gardens and outbuildings. The house and grounds, that used to belong to Laura Ashley, are now used as a retreat. With so much recent rain, every possible surface was covered in deep moss. There were not many stiles in this part of Wales but a particularly characterful and wobbly one was a bit of a challenge as we neared the end of the walk. Our final leg into Elan Village was familiar as we had come this way on Monday. Thankfully the rain had kept away today so we returned dry and one or two layers lighter than when we set off.
DAY 5. Friday 20th April
Day 5 Highlights. A visit to Claerwen Dam before setting off home. No walking
After breakfast we thanked our guide, Steve, for leading us so well and explaining the area with several stops each day for historical and engineering matters of interest. Lesley gave him a bottle of wine and some money for the catering staff, Pippa and Ben, who had served us with such delicious meals all week. We settled our accounts and some headed home. Steve had one more treat up his sleeve, though, as 9 of us had a hunger for one more dam and reservoir. This was the Claerwen Dam and reservoir. It is the newest and largest one in the Elan Valley and was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. This was particularly spectacular with the water pouring over the top since the hydro-electric plant was shut off. We spent some time at the bottom and the top of the dam. We heard about the Top Gear stunt where Richard Hammond had been winched up the impossibly steep and rough face of the Claerwen Dam in an old Land Rover. The stunt can be seen on YouTube. The cold and wet with the high wind didn’t encourage us to linger but a final group photo needed to be taken! We all thanked Steve again and after returning to the Lodge to regroup, set off on our long journeys home.