Llandegfedd Reservoir

View of the reservoir from the south

Ange's cousin Ruth and husband Jon have taken us on several excellent walks in the area around Usk, and this was the latest. Llandegfedd Reservoir was formed by damming and then flooding a river valley and was opened in 1966. It covers an area of 434 acres (1.76 km²) and is managed by Welsh Water's leisure and conservation company – Hamdden. It is run as a country park and offers boating, canoeing, windsurfing, fishing and nature conservancy. And of course walking - we followed the circular Reservoir trail.

We set out from the large car park which is near the bottom of the reservoir and crossed the large dam, from which the picture above was taken. The water was very still, hence the lovely cloud reflections.

At the end of the dam we turned off to the left to climb into woodland. Just before that I took this pic of the outlet from the reservoir.

We turned right at the top of the hill and followed the contour passing some trees that were trying to cope with growing on the hillside.

We emerged into a grassy meadow which offered our first good views of the end of the lake.

At the end of the field we made a short detour to a bird hide. Not much going on, but we did see a Grebe and a couple of Shags. Resuming the path we found that the reservoir had a hitherto invisible arm going off to the east. We could also see some fish pens which were attracting interest from the Shags.

We continued clockwise in a wide arc some way away from the lake itself and came to a magnificent sunken lane which the trees were projecting out into. The striated rock underneath was also clearly visible.

This led to a lane and great views to some of the well-known local mountains. Jon did carefully trell me the name of the peak on the left, but I confess I have forgotten.

Soon we climbed into a splendid beech wood, Twyn y Cryn.

Emerging from this we headed towards Yew Tree Farm with its fine large wooden house.

Emerging from this, we passed the point where water from the River Usk enters the reservoir and entered an area of wonderful flower meadows. Scattered among them were two species of orchid, identified as ... Common Spotted ...

... and Southern Marsh.

These gave way to grassy track by the east edge of the lake, with nice views across to those mountains again.

There was however one more flower meadow and Jon encouraged me to try to get a pic of a single orchid in focus among all the other plants. It was a great idea and this was my best effort.

We paused for refreshments at the visitor centre and returned to the car park.

Conditions: a lovely sunny day.

Distance: 6.25 miles.

Map: Explorer 152 (Newport & Pontypool).

Rating: four stars. Lovely walk, interesting and varied.

Stanton and Partrishow

The Skerrid or Holy Mountain

We have met up with cousins Ruth and Jon for another adventure in the wonderful Black Mountains. Our walk starts in the village of Stanton at the car park near the pub. We follow a tarmaced track uphill for a while and then turn left along a path which follows the contours of the hill which is crowned by the Twyn y Gaer iron age hill fort.

After a short while there is a wonderful group of interconnected beech trees.

We emerge into a more open hillside and are pleased to see our old friend the Sugar Loaf, which we walked with Ruth and Jon in August 2012.  

We reach New Inn Farm and head in a northerly direction. Soon there are fine view towards Partrishow Hill to the west.

We pass an isolated, but very well restored, cottage, now a holiday let, agreeing that it wouldn't be much fun in the winter and follow a descending path which brings us to the bottom of a river valley. Here there is a Baptist chapel, or Tabernacle, of 1837. The plaque on the gable gives the initials of the builders.

We cross the road and walk uphill, passing a young German couple who say they have just arrived and are walking to Crickhowell. They have massive backpacks, but I don't think they have too far to go.

We continue uphill across fields and through a farm to reach Partrishow church - strangely also called Patricio. One is a phonetic version of the other. It is the church of of St Islow (or Issui) and is of Norman origin.

The absolutely stunning thing about the church, which is the reason Ruth and Jon have brought us here, is the Rood Screen and Rood Loft of about 1500. They somehow survived the Reformation - and it is interesting to realise that that this particular Rood Screen was only about 40 years old, rather than some ancient institution, when they were being torn down all over the country.

 The wood carving is spectacular. Here is a more detailed view.

On the end wall of the small nave was this fine Doom.

Now we retrace our steps down to the river at the bottom of the valley. There is a fine view across the valley which includes the holiday cottage mentioned above.

After passing the Tabernacle again we climb steadily until we are near the ridge on the other side of the valley. There are some stupendous Rowan trees full of berries.

We emerge onto a bracken covered hillside. The route is not too clear but we find our way up to the main path. There are great views behind us to the north-west.

We follow this track all the way back to the car park, with the Twyn y Gaer iron age hill fort this time on our right for a while. We spot this impressive fungus (?) on a wayside tree.

Conditions: bright and sunny, eventually clouding over.

Distance: 7 miles.

Map: AA Walker's Map: Brecon and the Black Mountains.

Rating: four and a half stars. We have no walking like this in our part of the country and it is a real treat.

Chepstow

Chepstow Castle

I stopped off at Chepstow on the way back from a visit to my daughter and collected the Heritage Trail map from the Tourist Office near the castle. Chepstow has a distinctive situation, lying inside a meander of the River Wye. I started by walking down to Old Wye Bridge over the river to see if it offered a view of the castle, which is on a long ridge rising away from the river.

There was a view from the but it was into the sun, so I contented myself with a picture of the river which highlights the surprising limestone cliffs on the opposite bank. The bridge you can see carries the busy A48 road. It was also clear that the Wye is still tidal at this point and is apparently notable for its very high rise and fall, a staggering range of 12m or 40ft.

A short tour of the impressive castle followed. Pevsner describes it as "one of the most exhilerating and instructive castles in the whole of Britain". It is surprisingly big, with several discrete sections stretching along the ridge. The Norman keep dates from 1067-75 and it was extended in two phases up to 1300. Further changes were made in the Tudor and Civil War periods. This is the lower bailey with the end of the keep beyond. The river can be seen in the background.

Beyond the keep lies the upper bailey and the barbican and this is the view back towards the Old Wye Bridge, currently being restored, from there. It dates only from 1816 and the upper part is made of cast iron. The centre of the bridge marks the boundary between England and Wales.

The town follows the line of the ridge as well and from the castle I walked up Bridge St. At the top on the right are the Thomas Powis almshouses of 1716. Pevsner describes them, in a way which is a bit patronising, as "a delightfully artless and unspoilt ensemble".

I continued on the same line along cobbled Hocker Hall St and Bank St to bear right and spot a section of the Port Wall near the public library. The meander of the river forms a U shape and this wall, built around 1272-8 as part of strengthening the castle, originally closed off the landward side. It is now much reduced and slightly sad looking.

I emerged onto Welsh St and headed uphill in search of a vantage point over the castle, but without success and so returned to the bottom of that street to find the Town Gate.

This was once the sole entrance through the Port Wall is said to have been rebuilt in 1524. I went through it and walked down the steep High St back towards the river, then into St Mary St and right into Lower Church St. Here there are a second, more picturesque, set of almshouses, those of Sir Walter Montague of 1614. Pevsner thinks the barge boards and drip mouldings over the windows are 19th century additions.

At the bottom of this street is St Mary's Priory church, founded 1067-71. The west end has a fine tower with an extravagant Norman doorway, but the transept (just visible on the right) and east end are in a very discordant Victorian gothic.

Immediately on the left as you go inside is the fantastic mid-Elizabethan tomb of the second Earl of Worcester and his second wife. The bright colours and reasonably lifelike figures are very arresting.

To complete my walk, I wandered along to the A48 bridge and took the picture of the castle at the head of this post. It doesn't do justice to it, but was the best I could manage. I returned to the castle car park by going past the church and skirting the former docks area by the river, now being redeveloped (although it looked as though work was currently suspended).

Conditions: quite warm and sunny.

Distance: 3 miles or so.

Rating: four stars.

Monmouth

Shire Hall, Monmouth

This post describes a walk around the delightful town of Monmouth. Between 1974 and 1996 Monmouthshire was part of the new county of Gwent, but now it is a county again in its own right. There was once some historical ambiguity about whether Monmouthshire was in England or Wales, but it is now definitely part of Wales. Our visit to Monmouth was with Ange's brother Ric and his wife Gabriella who are over from Canada on a visit.

We collected a leaflet describing the town's Blue Plaque Heritage Walk from the tourist office in Shire Hall and set off from there. Shire Hall is a most harmonious building of 1724 which was originally built as a combined assize court and market house. The celebrated Chartist Trials took place there in 1839. The statue on the facade is of Henry V, who was born in Monmouth, and was added in 1792. The statue in front of the building is of Charles Rolls (of Rolls Royce fame).

We crossed Agincourt Square and walked up Castle Street. On the left was Castle House with a fine Queen Anne doorway, while on the right is Great Castle House, an imposing structure of 1673. It is now the HQ of the Royal Monmouthshire Military Engineers.

More of less opposite Great Castle House are the remains of the original castle which dates from the 11th century.

Returning to the bottom of Castle St we turned left into Priory St. This is a very early example of a by-pass, being constructed in 1837 to route traffic away from the narrow Church St, until the main thoroughfare through the town. It the work of local architect G V Maddox.

On the left is what remains of Maddox's Market Hall. This once had two storeys with a cupola in the centre, but was largely destroyed by a fire in 1963. The building was saved from complete demolition by the casting vote of the mayor, but funds only allowed the rebuilding of the ground floor facade. The building now houses the Nelson Museum.

We were very struck by the view out of town from just beside the museum: below us was the River Monnow, from which the town takes its name and beyond it was open country.

Passing the church on the right (which we will come back to) we reached the Priory. Founded in 1080 by the Benedictines and dissolved by Henry VIII, it became a school in the 18th century and a Youth Hostel from 1971. The oriel window is know as Geoffrey's Window (after the historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, even though it was built 300 years after his death). Pevsner describes it as "sumptious" The three sandstone heads under the window represent The Knight, The Angel and The Miller.

At the end of Priory St we turned left briefly into Monk Street to see the Masonic Hall which was also the work of Maddox.

Then we followed Monk St in the opposite direction to reach the Rolls Hall which was presented to the people of Monmouth by John Allan Rolls to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887. The architect was F A Powell. It is now a library.

Further along Whitecross St you come into the pretty St James Square, with a lovely war memorial of 1923. There are a couple of fine 18th century houses here too. I was also struck by another view out of the town towards green hills.

We turned into St James St and soon discovered that the impressive pinnacles and gables we could see ahead belonged to Monmouth School, originally built in 1625.

We now turned into St Mary's St to find St Mary's Roman Catholic church on the right. The penal laws against Catholics were relaxed only in 1778 and this church was an early example of new Catholic churches built thereafter. Permission was only given on condition that the church not look like one and not open onto the highway.

The original chapel was built behind some houses and was only extended forwards to its present appearance in 1871.

Following this street to its end brought us to Church St and the entrance to St Mary's church, looking very appealing in the afternoon sun. The church dates back to 1101, and was rebuilt in 1736-7, but the present building was mostly constructed in 1882 by G E Street, retaining some Norman remains and the 14th century tower. Inside it is wide and spacious, with stained glass by Kempe.

Now we returned to Agincourt Square and walked down Monnow St towards the famous Monnow Bridge. Just before we reached it I took this view along the river with more hills beyond.

Monnow Bridge is a remarkable survival of a medieval bridge with a gate tower on the bridge. It was built in 1270, at the same time as the long-demolished town walls, and altered in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Conditions: waerm and sunny.

Distance: only a couple of miles. We missed out one or two elements of the offical town trail.

Rating: four stars.