Always take a map and compass with you. ©Crown copyright 2019 Ordnance Survey. Media 058/170 km (^246810121416)
400
200
0
1
2
3
4
5
1
Start/Finish
Park by canal
at Llangynidr
GR: SO144198
From canal lock on W side of
Llangynidr, take narrow lane
across canal rising steeply for
1.1km to house (Pen-y-bailey)
at junction with tracks. Turn R
through gate onto bridleway and
continue over next stile. Keep
ahead, climbing past woodland
and forestry on R to reach Open
Access land and grassy path
leading directly to summit of
Tor y Foel.
2
Leave summit SW and
descend to junction of
tracks. Go straight ahead on
good track (Beacons Way)
Tor y Foel & Clo Cadno
Brecon Beacons SOUTH WALES
16.2km/10 miles/5-6 hours
Ascent 920m/3030ft^8
WINE GLASSES
TINKLED on a nearby
narrowboat as sunshine
and shadows danced across
the Monmouthshire and
Brecon Canal. It was already
mid-aternoon and I knew
I had better get going. he
bridge across this bucolic
waterway – once an artery
of commercial activity – led
to a steep lane where tall
brambles and leggy hazel
almost formed a green tunnel
towards the hills.
he path rose abruptly
to the sot and silky summit
of Tor y Foel. his would
be the perfect little peak
for a family outing, and in
many ways it mirrored the
better-known Sugar Loaf
on the far side of the Usk
valley. Table Mountain – the
rocky plateau which onceand pass through next gate with
forestry on R.3
Fork L on track by Pen
Rhiw-calch (signed Brinore
tramroad) for 400m and then fork
L again through gate to take
bridleway across ield. Cross small
footbridge and continue S to gate
at edge of forestry. Path ahead is
narrow and indistinct in places but
keep ahead, past some cleared
forestry, to meet a couple of gates
near house at Glasgwm-isaf. Take
L-hand gate and then turn R down
track for 400m to cross Afon
Crawnon and meet lane by farm
at Pyrgad.4
Turn R for 120m and take
broad track/bridleway on L.Keep uphill for 1.1km, through
dense plantation, to meet gate
onto open moor. Continue
climbing until ground levels out
and turn N on faint path towards
old enclosures by stream. Leave
path and head NE for 800m
towards limestone bluffs and
crest of Clo Cadno. Continue NE
along broad undulating hilltops
for 2.5km and eventually descend
to wall and path by narrow gap
at far end of Open Access land.5
Go through gate and
diagonally downhill over
ield to stile. Keep to next ield
edge and pass another two stiles
to house at Tyle-bach. Go through
small gate and join track to gate
and farm at Llwyn-deri. Turn R
at lane, take irst stile on L after
next house, cross three hedges/
stiles and turn R along edge of
wood. Stile leads to Pentwyn
Farm and lane after 200m.
Turn L and L again at T-junction
to return to start.Gradient proile Metres above sea level
Roger Butler
explores the
valley of the
garlic river
The Great Outdoors Spring 2019 99