Pen y Gadair Fawr, Waun Fach and the Grwyne Valley

/ 16/03/2024

So time for our last walk in the Brecons, and we’d been talking to Andy from SurfnSlide about walks in his local area. We’d agreed a meet up time and a walk around the Grwyne Valley, which he’d done before, admittedly in some lovely warm conditions with sunshine. After a long drive down a long lane, we turned up at least 15 minutes late, mainly due to the fact that I doubted my directions and pulled in twice to check. We met Andy and booted up for the walk, starting deep in the Grwyne Forest from a decent sized car park which was filling up, even at 9.15am. The walk out is a good one, ignoring the first bridge and crossing the second one, over the Grwyne Fawr. Then it got interesting as the gradient ramped up steeply, heading towards Pen y Gadair Fawr. To be fair it was a steep climb but not as bad as the previous day to Pen Cerrig-Calch, but it felt it on the second day of walking. It was a shame on reaching the summit of Pen y Gadair Fawr that the cloud had dropped, as it is the better summit for views. However as we left the summit, the clouds lifted and we got the views. The walk to Waun Fach and beyond that summit is now better due to the extensive path improvements, making the peaty sludgy areas an easy gravel path walk. We crossed easily to this summit, still confused at how Waun Fach’s summit is marked higher than Pen y Gadair Fawr. We then descended on a good path and traversed to the head of the Grwyne Fawr before dropping into the valley holding the river. We stopped for lunch in the lea of the wind before continuing along the ever improving valley to the reservoir and beyond. It was a pleasure to finally meet up for a walk with Andy, and this will certainly not be last time, as he is an excellent guide. All that was left was a fine pint in the Skirrid Arms (the oldest pub in Wales), where Andy then left to watch his team Man City win comfortably in the FA cup against Newcastle and we had the long drive home to Plymouth.

Start – Car park at the end of the Grwyne Forest lane

Route – Pen y Gadair Fawr – Waun Fach – Pen y Manllwyn – Grwyne Fawr – Grwyne Fawr Reservoir – Car Park

Distance – 9 miles  Start time – 9.20am  Time taken – 5hrs 40mins Highest Point – Waun Fach 810 metres

Weather – Low cloud down to start, then cleared for Waun Fach with a cold wind, then we descended down the valley to warmer weather. Poured with rain as we reached the car

© Crown copyright 2024 Ordnance Survey FL 2024 SF
The second bridge from the car park. Not too far to the car park from here, which would be important on our return to the car. That’s the Grwyne Fawr running under the bridge.
Part of the steep climb to Pen y Gadair Fawr. Looking back down towards Grwyne Fawr valley and up to the area around the Chwarel y Fan quarry. It was a steep climb up here necessitating the odd break to take in the views
As we hit the top of Pen Y Gadair Fawr the cloud had dropped a bit, but the views were just about there. We are looking over through some murky mist to yesterday’s walk and Pen Allt-mawr
The cairn on Pen Y Gadair Fawr, with a claggy Waun Fach in the distance. The group had overtaken us on the way up Pen Y Gadair Fawr, but seem to have lost their dog at this point as they headed off in the direction they were pointing, before returning steeply up to the path to Waun Fach
Myself and Andy at the top of Pen Y Gadair Fawr
Starting to clear a bit
Right at the back is the mountains around Pen y Fan, middle distance is the ridge along Mynydd Llysiau
Our path to Waun Fach now the cloud has cleared
And looking back to Pen Y Gadair Fawr on the left. Pen Allt-mawr is to the right and in the far distance is the pointy Sugar Loaf
I think Andy was talking about the OS trig point here, however what we did all talk about was how cold the wind was. It would have been around freezing at least at this point, so we beat a hasty retreat down.
Heading down to Pen Y Manllwyn we look across the valley that holds Castell Dinas and Mynydd Troed. The background has gone a little claggy as the cloud rolls in
These guys were constantly flying in aggregate to repair a path across Mynydd Llysiau
Again at the back is Mynydd Troed, the ridge dropping down towards the pointy end of Mynydd Troed is called the ‘Dragons Back’
Pen Y Manllwyn ahead
Along the Dragons Back or at least the first part of it called Y Grib on the maps
As we round the corner and turn more northerly we see the ridges at the north end of the Black Mountains which are Hay Bluff and Lord Herefords Knob. At one point we could see Fan y Big and Lord Herefords Knob which the children in us found amusing.
Linda and Andy heading towards the area marked as Mynydd Bychan on the map, the Wye Valley is beyond
As we turned back towards the car we saw some pools filled with frog spawn. Later we saw one lot without a pool.
Heading down the Grwyne Valley, the cloud lowered on our right here over Waun Fach. If you fancy a longer day out then carry on up to the ridge on the left here and follow that back towards the forest
Approaching the Grwyne reservoir, there is a tiny house down there which is the bothy. I’m fairly confident it would have been cosy in there that evening as we saw at least 2 or 3 people looking like they were heading that way, and another 2 who asked us where the bothy was. Andy says it will only fit 4 max in there.
Looking back up the valley, the tiny bothy on the right
Passing the dam gives this view along the last part of the valley as it reaches the forest
Turning around to see the dam, the cloud was down on Waun Fach, and we’d timed things well on this walk to get the views we did
The horse whisperer
As we reached our cars the heavens opened and I don’t think it stopped raining until the next day when we were home. Thankfully we drove the short distance down the lanes to the Skirrid Arms which is Wales’ oldest inn. The end of a superb walk and our 3 day break, seeing some of the lesser know hills around the Black Mountains to the eastern side of the Brecons. More to see and explore when we next come up this way, and looking forward to it already.

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21 thoughts on “Pen y Gadair Fawr, Waun Fach and the Grwyne Valley”

  3. A great day out despite the rather grey weather. It was great to meet you both and really enjoyed the company which always makes for a much better day (a pint at the end always helps!). Hopefully we can meet up again either up here or down your way.

    It is an odd experience to see myself on someone else’s blog!!

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  4. Always a treat to get out with some good company. I guess we’re like a little community of regular commenters conversing and chatting electronically. It must have been good to meet up properly for the walk

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    • It was a good day and a long overdue meet up, which we’d missed out on a couple of years ago. My email address is on my About Me page if you ever visit this way and need a guide of a coastal path or moorland walk. I promise I won’t mention the rugby league!

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    • It certainly good to see lots of different parts of the Beacons, away from the obvious Pen Y Fan. I found the walking there more accessible than the Lakes, due to it being less busy

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