Blorenge

/ 26/03/2025

So another visit to South Wales, with family and friends to visit in the area and plenty of walking on the cards. Our trip last year had more normal March weather, with clouds and some rain at times. However this year the weather was excellent, with plenty of sunshine, with the exception of one walk which I will write up in due course. We had set off from home around 9.30 and we were parking up just after midday at the fine car park by the Keeper’s Pool at the southern end of Blorenge. The car park was recommended by Andy at Surfnslide and is a good spot for walking in this area. You could class it as a cheater’s place to park as the ascent from here is tiny, but we had driven a fair distance and didn’t want too much of a walk, so it was perfect for us. That said the walk we had was superb, the terraced path which skirts around the western side towards the northern end, overlooking Abergavenny, is fantastic, giving some lovely views along the Heads of the Valley and across to Sugar Loaf. Its a hill I’ve had on my list for a while and it is always good to tick these off, especially in such good weather, the fact that it matched expectations as well, was a bonus. Did I mention we also walked in t-shirts for the majority of the walk? Might need to double check we did actually walk in South Wales and not Spain!!

Start – Keeper’s Pool

Route – North end cairn – Blorenge summit – Cefn y Galchen – Keeper’s Pool

Distance – 4 miles  Start time – 1pm  Time taken – 2hrs  Highest Point – Blorenge 561 metres

Weather – Lots of blue sky and glorious sunshine, t-shirt weather for the first time this year

© Crown copyright 2025 Ordnance Survey FL 2025 SF
We arrived in sunshine and pretty warm it was too. We decided to have a bite to eat before setting off, so with the car parked below we had a sit here and enjoyed our sarnies.
Keeper’s Pool is the starting spot, you follow the path around to the left and enjoy views to Sugar Loaf straight ahead
That’s the B4246 below which runs between Blaenavon and Llanfoist, we also get our first glimpse down to the River Usk valley, which splits to become the Heads of the Valley around to the left
Gilwern Hill is over there beyond some mine workings, you can also head that way to extend this walk if you fancy it.
We were very happy though with the terraced path, and we were busy taking off layers as it was pretty warm
There is a split off left from the terraced path, that path heads to Llanfoist
As you reach the northern end, views down to Abergavenny greet you. It was time for another coffee break whilst we looked across to Sugar Loaf (on the left hand edge), we would be up there later in the week with Andy.
We took a bee line straight for this upright mast/post thinking it would have the cairn next to it. But after heather bashing a bit we realised the main path to the cairn was left of here.
The cairn we were looking for at the northern edge
Its not too far to reach the summit and the trig point
Looking west, the distance views were a little hazy but walking in warm weather in March isn’t to be sniffed at, so I’m not complaining
Looking back at the summit mound
Turning around we are heading for those masts over there
Plenty to see up here and I reckon the butterflies would be fairly common up in this area
We reached the masts fairly quickly and turned to follow this path back to the car, this path runs parallel to the road so is easy to find.
Back at the car and the pond, a lovely walk, lovely weather, lovely views, lovely long sit and coffee, altogether it was lovely 😊

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13 thoughts on “Blorenge”

  2. A regular walk for us when we need an easy short walk and can’t be bothered with uphill bits. The trick to avoid heather bashing is to follow the edge above Abergavenny until you reach a small brick hut and follow the path from there. Then finish up with a swim in Keepers Pond!!

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