Talybont Routes 10-12
Here’s a fine weekend featuring a classic horseshoe plus a couple of lesser visited routes with fascinating historical links, courtesy of Martin Sweeney.
Take on the Beacons Horseshoe and a pair of lesser-known Welsh ambles
Pen y Fan draws the crowds in the Brecon Beacons, but it’s certainly not the only mountain worth a visit. An extended horseshoe route from Blaen y Glyn to the south also takes in the best of the surrounding tops, with glorious views all around. A lesser-trodden trail winds through Talybont Forest to Waun Rydd, the easternmost top of the Brecon Beacons proper. A well-tended cairn marks the 1942 crash site of a Wellington bomber. The five Canadian crewmen lost their lives, and some wreckage remains to this day. The final route also heads out from Blaen y Glyn, but southwards across empty moorland to the disused Hendre and Blaen Dyffryn limestone quarries and onwards to the Chartist Cave. The quarries recall the area’s industrial past, while the cave was a secret arms store prior to the 1839 Newport Chartist Rising.
TRANSPORT
Few public transport options available.
PUBS / GRUB
Both The White Hart Inn (01874 676227, www.white hartinn talybont.co.uk) and The Usk Inn (01874 676251, www.uskinn.co.uk) are good options in Talybont.
ACCOMMODATION
Both of the pubs listed above have accommodation options – The White Hart has bunkhouse availability, while the The Usk Inn is a small hotel.
PRACTICALITIES
Essential supplies from the Post Office in Talybont. Cashpoints, petrol and supermarkets all available in Crickhowell and Brecon, as well as the outdoor shops Crickhowell Adventure and Gibbs (Brecon).
LOCAL INFO Brecon Tourist Information Centre, 01874 620860.