Wales Day 3 – Brecon Beacons

Today we headed back East to the Brecon Beacons – just to the north west of Cardiff. It’s about a two hour drive from our house so we set off soon after breakfast.

Our first stop was another castle on the western edge of the beacons. Carreg Cennen is sited on a limestone crag that commands panoramic views above the River Cennen. It’s relatively inaccessible at the end of a winding and narrow country road. However, its dark ruinous silhouette is visible miles before arriving.

It is thought that a Welsh stronghold was sited on the crag in the 12th century. This was replaced in the 13th century by Edward I as he conquered Wales. It was dismantled in 1462 by Yorkists during the War of the Roses.
We arrived at the base of the crag and rugged up as usual. James donned his wellies. The climb to up the crag to the castle is made through lush green fields that are shared with woolly sheep. I think James’ favourite part of the walk was passing through the several gates on the way to the top.

The castle itself is relatively intact with some large limestone outer walls. The approach is made through past large circular foundations that form the main gates. Beyond them are the remnants of the barbican. We made our way to a low wall that lies on a cliff edge that gives stunning views of the Cennen River and the valley. This section of the wall seems to sit right on the edge was would have provided very good security.

We crossed over what would have been a few draw bridges and passed through the curtain wall in to the castle interior. The ruins rose at least four storeys. James took us on a tour of the rooms, pretending to open sliding doors at each one. His favourite, he declared, was a room at the back of the castle with a window that overlooked the valley beyond the cliff edge. He thought it was full of toys!

After exploring we may our way back outside for some lunch. We had the panoramic valley to one side and the castle to the other. Although cloudy up until now the sun did start to break through casting some dramatic shadows on the crumbling walls.

On the way back to the car we stopped for a coffee in a converted barn that overlooked the rolling hills. Very nice indeed.

From the castle we made our way through some very narrow roads to the Carn Goch just south of a small village called Bethlehem (pretty topical for this time of the year!) There is no doubt we would have had no way to find this without the SatNav. It is an iron age fort that apparently is one of the largest in Britain. I find these absolutely fascinating. Not least is imagining what life was like all that time ago.

The site consists of two forts and a large carn – all approached by a walk of about a mile. Reaching the site of the smaller fort on the top of a hill the wind was blowing and James was cold. So he and Merrilyn returned back to the car whilst I went off to explore.

The sun was making an appearance but this time washing the scene with that gorgeous orange winter light. I made my way to the larger fort on the top of the next hill. Along the way I wound through soft ground cover and couldn’t help but think that I was perhaps damaging this environment.

The fort itself consists of a large circular wall that consists of mounded rocks. The wall is quite high – about 4 metres. And very wide – about 6 metres. Its basically rocks piled on a wide base with sloping sides to form a triangle cross section. Inside would have been houses and other functional rooms. However, there is not much sign left in this fort. As I walked I could from time to time feel the rocks underfoot. Grass and soil has obviously accumulated over time. On one side of the wall I caught sight of the moon in the blue sky. It was a little eerie.

I rejoined the family about 3:30pm and we decided to continue our journey of the Brecon Beacons by heading east along the north edge of the park and then cutting south to complete a circuit of about one third of the park. James was asleep almost at once but we did make a short stop at Llandovery and I stole some time for a quick reconnoitre of the small castle there.

Photos are here. Short videos of Carreg Cennen and Carn Goch.