Towy Valley Rainbows
With the Mountain Weather Information Service indicating clearer weather coming through by midday, it seemed a good opportunity to make a foray up into the hills at the western end of the Brecon Beacons National Park, some twenty-five miles from my home in Carmarthen, and starting with an easy cycle eastwards along the Towy valley following the gently undulating B4300 (NCR 47).
Setting off a little before 9am, I’m dodging showers much of the way to Llangadog; the clouds moving slowly but steadily eastwards tooin the strengthening westerlybreeze. Intermittent sunshine and showers produce an array of vivid rainbows with each shower, the light reflecting in the waters of the river Towy which, with all the recent rain, was displaying a very relaxed attitude to following its course, spreading itself over the valley floor, but hey, it’s Sunday, and even rivers are allowed to relax and spread themselves about from time to time!
The Small Ford
The B4300 goes as far as Ffair Fach below Llandeilo and from there I take the quiet minor road to Llangadog via Bethlehem, the only climb so far being up through this village before dropping down into Felindre & crossing the Avon Sawdde on Llangadog Common.
From this point the route heads south for a few kilometres on the A4069, twisting and climbing gently through woodlands as it follows the rushing, foaming waters of the rivers Sawdde and Clydach upstream into the hills. Around 8km along the road a small lane called Heol y Gelli turns uphill to the left (SN 73518 22007) and leads, after a kilometere or so,to the farm of Neuadd Fach; the end of the tarmac and the start ofopen access land. I’m cursing and dodging hedgeclippings along the lane, praying not to get a puncture this early in the ride. The Gods are with me on this occasion and my tyres are left unscathed.
Back down Cwm Sawdde Fechan
The track leads past the seemingly empty farmhouse along a short stretch of sunken way down to my first obstacle of the day, a small ford. Filled with snowmelt the water is cold as I wade through barefoot in an effort to keep my socks dry, a precaution that proves pointless by the time I finish my ride. The track on the other side is muddy and boggy as it heads across a waterlogged meadow and from there up into Cwm Sawdde Fechan.
Shake holes Passing out of the farmland the ground changes, becoming rockier with limestone scree covered in sphagnum moss and tussocks of coarse grass, the narrow track little more than a sheep trail and acting as a streambed for the water cascading off the hills.
The remaining clouds, having mostly given way to clearer weather, are chased across the sky, their shadows providing an ever shifting, changing lightshow across the landscape of brown grass, grey rock and green moss. The wind blowing around the hills on my right push at my back giving a helping hand in climbing up the cwm as I push the bike.
At the far end of the cwm the faint path disappears completely and the terrain steepens becoming rockier necessitating the bike to be carried as I pick and scramble my way between the rocks. Across the other side of the valley a brightly coloured group of walkers appears, a youth group of some sort; they stop, finding shelter from the wind behind an outcropof limestone. I watch them for a few moments as I pause to catch my breath guessing they are stopping for lunch as it is sometime past midday now. My own thoughts turn to food and I start looking for a suitable spot, deciding my best options are over the other side in the lee of the bwlch
Once over the pass the ground opens out and becomes easier to move across. It is pock-marked with shake-holes where subterranean water has errodedthe limestone causing the roofs of tunnels and passageways to collapse.
Taking shelter in one of these I consume my lunch; ham sandwiches & flapjack washed down with plenty of hot chocolate from the flask. The view from my perch shows the peaks of Picws Du and Fan Brycheiniog dusted with snow over in the north east.
To my right the Avon Twrchsnakes away southwards carving a steep scree strewn notch through the hills.
The ground becomes pock-marked and hummocky once more requiring me to carry and drag the bike up and down each one, there is no discernable path and I make my own way the best I can, keeping the Avon Twrch away to my left and contouring down andround the hillside.
After a couple of kilometres the slope begins to ease and the grassbegins to dominate over the mossand rock, growing increasingly longer as the ground becomeswetter from the water cascading off the hills, slowing and pooling in the valley basin. The last half kilometre is spent wading through pools and clambering over grassy tussocks, the red brick chimney from the old mine workings peeking up out of the small valley off to my left until, at last, the safety of dry land is reached in the form of a concrete track leading to a nearby farm.
From here the track runs down into Ystradowen where I locate and join the Amman Valley Cycle Way (NCR 437), a shared pedestrian / cycle path running the 13 or so kilometres to Ammanford following, for much of its way, the Avon Aman as it flows away westwards. The path is bound by the river on one side and the lower slopes of Mynydd Du on the right.
From Ammanford it’s back to road riding and a steady climb from the Amman valley up to the radio masts at Maesybont via Capel Hendre before dropping back down into the Towy Valley and rejoining the B4300 (NCR 47) back to Carmarthen.
Snow on the Fans