Ramblers follow a well-trodden path on castle circular
ON Saturday, June 19, Cyril Phillips led the Carmarthen Ramblers on a five-mile circular walk in the Carreg Cennen area.
The walk followed footpaths, fields, farm tracks, forestry tracks, country roads, a couple of sections of the Beacons Way and skirted around the edge of open moorland on the side of the Black Mountain before viewing the source of the river Loughor.
Fine weather was forecast for the day with light clouds that gave way to some hot sunny periods with a light breeze and temperatures that reached about 19C.
The walk started from the visitor centre of Carreg Cennen Castle from where they immediately picked up the Beacons Way long-distance trail and walked along the footpath through the farmyard, passed the castle and down a well-trodden footpath through Coed y Castell into the Cennen Valley to a footbridge which crossed the River Cennen.
They followed a stony path steeply uphill on the opposite side of the valley for a short distance before leaving the trail as they turned eastwards to cross some rough ground to locate a track that after a quarter of a mile led them to Wern-wgan where they met a quiet country road.
At this point the terrain changed to easy walking as they now turned to a south-westerly direction following the road around Banc Wernwgan and picked up another section of the Beacons Way before stopping for lunch with a dramatic view of the castle across the valley. In the afternoon, they continued along the road for about a mile in a south-westerly direction around the northern edge of the Black Mountain passing the highest point of the day at a height of 326 metres near the pillow mounds of Beddau’r Derwyddon.
They left the trail at the entrance to Brondai farm to reach a stile a quarter of a mile further down the road that gave access to a field.
This was the start of the return journey as they headed northwards to pass a massive swallow hole and then shortly after it – the source of the River Loughor. They picked up a track that led to a ford in the Loughor near the medieval house at Cwrtbrynbeirdd and followed it to Llwynbedw. There was a steep descent from Llwyn-bedw into Cwm Cennen through a couple of fields with an absolutely stunning view of the castle on the opposite side of the valley standing out in brilliant sunshine against a clear sky directly ahead.
When they reached the valley floor, they crossed the Cennen via footbridge to a footpath that led steeply uphill to meet a country road below the castle and followed it for about a quarter of a mile to meet a pedestrian gate that gave access to a field that they crossed to reach the farmyard again to complete the walk.