Welcome to our detailed report of our 1990 Easter tour to Wales. The
tour was advertised in the national CTC tours guide and so attracted youngsters
from across the UK as well as from our own section.
We've taken a lot of time to scan the photos from the tour using a high
quality slide scanner, and to combine them with the reports written at the time.
If you took part in this tour we'd love to hear from you - please take the
time to fill out the comments form at the end of this page and we'll add them to
our Comments page. We'd also
like to add any photos that you might have from the tour, so please get in touch
with us if you would like to share them.
We hope you enjoy reading about this exciting and unique adventure.
Friday 13 April
Mid Wales Senior
Tour Day 1: Devon to Bryn Poeth Uchaf
4
Present: Hazel Brown, Jeremy Ford, Richard Hopper, Andrew Simmons
Weather:
Variable
'Croeso i Gymru' the
greeting ran, as we crossed the Severn Bridge into Wales in the car. The
rain greeted us as well, which wasn't that surprising, and this was followed
by hail. All we needed now was snow, and on the Brecons there it was. We
parked in Brecon and headed out in a stiff oncoming breeze sharing our route
with a fairly elderly rough-stuffer from Birmingham. Apparently it was the
Rough Stuff Federation's AGM in Brecon that weekend, and he was getting in
an early ride with his brother before the serious business started. After
Upper Chapel we came across a 'Road Closed Ahead' sign. The nearby farmer
said it was a firing range, but we should be OK - if flags weren't flying.
Half a mile up the road and the flag was flying, but no sentry in sight.
Andrew was all for going on, holding a small branch over his head for
camouflage, but in the end we opted for safety via a longer route. This
took us through another firing range, but the signs simply warned us to keep
on the road. After the final short but horrendous climb we arrived at Bryn
Poeth Uchaf to find a mix-up over the booking, but they coped with this by
giving us the family room. To Jeremy's joy there was a shower, but his face
fell when he found it wasn't working. The common room fire is notorious for
smoking badly, so we were glad to have our own room to retreat to.
Saturday 14 April
Mid Wales Senior
Tour Day 2: Bryn Poeth Uchaf to Blaencaron
The day started
brighter, but rapidly deteriorated. A tail wind, fortunately, but plenty of
rain and quite cold. We got chilled waiting for Jeremy to mend his puncture
at the highest point, then had a three mile descent to make us even colder.
Lunch was taken sheltering under some trees from very heavy rain, then the
sky cleared for the beautiful long descent to Tregaron. We had to wait
quite a long time for Hazel to appear at the bottom of the hill, and this
was because she had taken a tumble onto the grass verge somewhere near the
top. Her brakes had been insufficient to cope with the wet, the steep drop
and the sharp bend. Both bike and rider were OK, although Hazel nursed a
heavy bruise on her leg for the rest of the tour. We spent an hour in the
cafe in Tregaron, drinking tea and steaming gently, before we ambled the
three miles out to the hostel at Blaencaron. Jubilant Jeremy: a shower
that worked!
Sunday 15 April
Mid Wales Senior
Tour Day 3: Blaencaron to Glascwm
Cold but dry, and the
wind was even stronger. However, today it would be in our favour. Jeremy
was our tarmac fanatic, and left us at Pontrhydfendigaid to take the easy
route through Cwmystwyth and meet us in Elan Village: at the post Office, we
said. A steady climb took us to the start of the track at Ty'n-y-cwm farm
and the very rough track gradually petered out as it climbed steeply to 450m
near Llyn Egnant. It was then a matter of sheep-tracking and
tussock-jumping to make our way down to Claerwyn Reservoir. After all that
bouncing around it was a pleasure to get on to the stony farm track
alongside the reservoir. We lunched out of the wind, basking in the
sunshine in the lee of a bend in the track. Mind you, after five miles of
the track it was even greater comfort to hit tarmac again at the head of the
reservoir. The post office in Elan Village had disappeared since the map
was made, so it took a few minutes to find Jeremy. The A470 to Newbridge on
Wye had pleasantly little traffic on it, but the last few miles from 100
House to the hostel at Glascwm seemed quite a slog. A fairly typical simple
hostel, using an old village school and with the warden living nearby. No
shower, to Jeremy's disgust, but delightfully quiet.
Monday 16 April
Mid Wales Senior
Tour Day 4: Glascwm to Dolgoch
The weather forecaster was hedging his bets: 'Sunshine
and showers, with the possibility of hail and thunder.' What else could
there be? we wondered. The sun was shining as we set off in a brief shower,
back into the teeth of that wretched wind again. A Little Chef is
not Richard's ideal eating place, but the one in Builth Wells appeared just
as a really heavy shower began. (This time the forecaster was right about
the hail.) Stodgy second breakfasts were consumed until the weather
brightened and we headed off towards Llangammarch Wells. On the way we saw
a strange rural sight, one which those of you who like poultry might prefer
to ignore. The pig was fine, but the flock of chickens that followed it
around competed vigorously with each other to consume its excrement. We had
our own lunch later, on a lovely sunny bank by a small church. This had a
font with grooves cut in it which tradition said were caused by Cromwell's
Roundheads sharpening their swords during the Civil War.
The road narrowed down to single track and we knew the
Devil's Staircase was approaching - 1 in 4 and quite a challenge. We paused
at the bottom to watch the cars struggling up the hairpins, and then off we
went. It snowed for the next twenty minutes, but this wasn't enough to stop
Andrew and Jeremy coming back down to enjoy the climb again. Hazel and
Richard were happy to walk most of the way.
We arrived at Dolgoch to find George
the warden asleep in front of the fire. We hesitated to wake him, as we'd
heard he was a little crochety, but we found him very pleasant and helpful.
He was a little fussy about lighting the gas lamps (the hostel has no
electricity) but happy to get the heater for the shower going. Two hikers
arrived in the dark, otherwise we had the hostel to ourselves. The lights
faded and died and we had to switch the cylinders over in the dark and
rain. Thunder rumbled and lightening flashed, so the forecasters were
vindicated at last. Richard is keen on juggling, and by this time the
others were tempted to learn. The warden was so impressed that he bought
three of Richard's beanbags for the benefit of future visitors.
Tuesday 17 April
Mid Wales Senior
Tour Day 5: Dolgoch to Devon
We awoke to find a
thin sprinkling of snow on the ground, the first since November, according
to George. It soon melted in the morning sun, but it meant that Jeremy's
spectacular fall in a ford must have been pretty chilly. We left the bleak
peace of the mountain roads and descended long valleys into the warmth of
civilisation. We had one final reminder from the weather, a violent
hailstorm at the top of the last big climb, then we were back in Brecon,
relieved to find the car where we had left it, and on our way home.
South Dartmoor CTC