Black Mountins, Hay on Wye, Brecon and the Forest

Black Mountains, Hay on Wye and Brecon

In order to visit Hay on Wye we took a longer route via a road through the Black Mountains. As we drove towards the mountains it was very foggy and I began to wonder if we had made a mistake, however, the fog soon cleared as we were able to see the road ahead. I am of course used to the fantastic views of the Berwyn Mountains of North Wales so was slightly disappointed with the journey however, as we turned one particular corner we were greeted with outstanding views of the countryside which rival any of the ones in North Wales. After a photo stop we arrived in Hay on Wye and took a stroll. The town lies in the Brecon Beacons National Park and is famous for its secondhand bookshops. It is also host to a 10 day Literary festival . I would highly recommend a visit if in the area and in fact a nice trip could be to combine a walk in the Mountains with a spot of lunch in Hay.

After we had a cupper and Scott had a warm scone with cream and jam we drove 15 miles to Brecon. This town sits north of the Brecon Beacons and is a market town which marks the start of the Brecon and Monmouthshire Canal. The basin was a slight anti climax as there was not a signal canal boat (apart from the day trip ones). The Canal is 35 miles in length and runs mostly through the Brecon Beacons National Park and I have read it meant to be a lovely stretch of water but sadly, unless we put our boat on a lorry and take it there by road it will never cruise this canal.

After a another stroll around the town and a cup of coffee we drove through the Brecon Beacons via a reservoir. This area is one of the three national parks in Wales. It is home to Welsh Mountain Ponies who graze wild as well as the many sheep. I have a feeling that we only explored a fraction of the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons so we have made a promise to ourselves to return very soon.

Sculpture trail

As it was such a bright, frosty and sunny morning we drove at first to a place called the Pudds which is just above the village of Lydbrook to look at the view.

After The Pludds we drove to the Sculpture Trail which as the name states is a series sculptures in woods. The actual trail is quite long and as we forgot any form of refreshments we only did half. The weather was lovely, nice and bright and as the sun melted the frost the air was clear, mist was rising from the leaves and little sounds of droplets falling could be heard. The ground of the forest changed and underneath some larch trees lay a bed of needles
which reminded me of snow as we walked along it. Some of the sculptures were odd to say the least but it made a walk in the woods more interesting.

Pictures: Top two views from the Black Mountains, next two are the reservoir in the Brecon Beacons, next are some sculpture and I will leave you with some forest ones below, note the mist in the first one below rising from the ground.