Thursday, 3 February 2011
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Sun 30 Jan 2011.....Waun Rydd 769m(2,522ft)
Brecon Beacons in Wales.....
GS, KL, the "boys" and I set out on a different excursion this time. Whilst mountaineering was the general theme of the day, our main target was to visit a WWII Plane Crash site on the slopes of Waun Rudd.
**made an error on the crash details in the previous entry and have now corrected this**
Some history on this crash:
On the 6 July 1942, Wellington Bomber No. R1465 took off from the Operational Training Unit at Wellesbourne Mountford, near Stratford upon Avon for a cross country flight training exercise. In heavy cloud conditions the pilot appears to have decided to descend from his advised level of 10,000 ft, to try and fix his position. In doing so, he hit the summit of Waun Rydd. All 5 members of the Canadian flight crew lost their lives.
Also:
The small pile of stones on the left, behind the monument supports a cross bearing the name "Tony P". It is said that Tony P was an ex-member of the Parachute Regiment who served in the Falklands and subsequently became a member of the Brecon Beacons Mountain Rescue Team. His ashes were spread at this location. We hope to find some more information on Tony and why his ashes were spread here............
The location of the memorial had a somber feel about the area and after paying our due respects we settled above on the face of Waun Rydd for tea and snacks.
In reflection, if the pilot maintain his course 30-40m higher he would have totally cleared the face of the mountain and landed safely on top................poor guys!!
After our break we spent some time investigating the remnants of the plane and took some photographs. Then we climbed a short distance to the top of Waun Rydd and explored the area briefly before commencing our decent to return to the car park.
We passed some fantastic picnic and camping sites on the side of river, of which we must make a note to return to this coming summer.
All in all a fantastic excursion in good weather which left us all in great spirits. A overall 5.5mile round trip which we completed in around 5hrs at a leisurely pace.
GS, KL, the "boys" and I set out on a different excursion this time. Whilst mountaineering was the general theme of the day, our main target was to visit a WWII Plane Crash site on the slopes of Waun Rudd.
**made an error on the crash details in the previous entry and have now corrected this**
 |
| the memorial to the flight crew |
On the 6 July 1942, Wellington Bomber No. R1465 took off from the Operational Training Unit at Wellesbourne Mountford, near Stratford upon Avon for a cross country flight training exercise. In heavy cloud conditions the pilot appears to have decided to descend from his advised level of 10,000 ft, to try and fix his position. In doing so, he hit the summit of Waun Rydd. All 5 members of the Canadian flight crew lost their lives.
 |
| memorial to Tony P |
Also:
The small pile of stones on the left, behind the monument supports a cross bearing the name "Tony P". It is said that Tony P was an ex-member of the Parachute Regiment who served in the Falklands and subsequently became a member of the Brecon Beacons Mountain Rescue Team. His ashes were spread at this location. We hope to find some more information on Tony and why his ashes were spread here............
.
 |
| route map with elevation |
We started out at the car park on the south-west corner of the Blaen y glyn woodland and headed up Beacons Way over Craig y Fan Ddu; and continued along the eastern side of Graig Fan Las moving in a north-easterly direction until we met the intersection with Bwich y Ddwyallt and Rhiw Bwlch y Ddwyallt; then dropped down to the now visible memorial site in a south-easterly direction
 |
| GS and KL at the memorial |
The location of the memorial had a somber feel about the area and after paying our due respects we settled above on the face of Waun Rydd for tea and snacks.
 |
| GS and KL at upper area of wreckage |
In reflection, if the pilot maintain his course 30-40m higher he would have totally cleared the face of the mountain and landed safely on top................poor guys!!
 |
| lower area of wreckage |
After our break we spent some time investigating the remnants of the plane and took some photographs. Then we climbed a short distance to the top of Waun Rydd and explored the area briefly before commencing our decent to return to the car park.
 |
| a view up the vally on the return journey |
We climbed down the western face of Cerrig Edmwnt heading in a south-westerly direction until we joined the river; and continued to head south on the side of the river until we reached the eastern side of the Blaen y glyn woodland; and then joined then joined a well formed path to head through the woodland to the car park.
 |
| cascade of waterfalls on the return journey |
We passed some fantastic picnic and camping sites on the side of river, of which we must make a note to return to this coming summer.
 |
| GS, KL, and "the boys" on return to the car park |
All in all a fantastic excursion in good weather which left us all in great spirits. A overall 5.5mile round trip which we completed in around 5hrs at a leisurely pace.
Sun 23 Jan 2011.....Cefen Cul 740m(2,427ft)
Brecon Beacons in Wales.....
 |
| GS, KL, and "the boys" |
GS, KL, "the boys", and I started from the lower car park south-east of the Storey Arms Centre and headed out of the south-side of the car park avoiding the normal tourist route.
The route was desolate with the odd hiker at a distance and also a group young recruits on the Long Drag proving their ability and worthiness to serve queen and country in the highest order.
A good 4 hour "slow" hike with fantastic views on route. All enjoyed the excursion and there were no issues this time..........Great!!!!
Jan 2011..... three new members join the team
KL a friend of over 10years who is a keen walker with many years of experience in rural environments, has now joined our team with his two "boys" and brings added experience and a logical head to the team.....welcome!!!
Dec 2010 to Jan 2011.....general notice
After our walk on the Taff Trail we did not undertake any lengthy excursions until 23 Jan 2011 mainly due to the following reasons:
Also in January, changes in KT's work schedule dictated his inability to attend our Sunday excursions. Hopefully, it will change soon and he will be back to take on some new challenges!!
- I was compelled to rest my knee to recover properly from the injury.
- Heavy snowfall "snowed-in" my vehicle
- Christmas family commitments
Also in January, changes in KT's work schedule dictated his inability to attend our Sunday excursions. Hopefully, it will change soon and he will be back to take on some new challenges!!
Sun 12 Dec 2010.....3rd endurance test
Taff Trail in Wales.....
Yet again GS had to miss out on this one mainly due to the distance we intended to cover.
KT and I joined the Taff Trail at Pontypridd at 09:30hrs and aimed to find out how far we could travel before sunset. The target if possible was to make it to the Storey Arms Centre in Brecon. I only managed to take one photograph on route.......shame.
We hit our 1st problem at just past Aberdare where we lost the route for about 20min due to inadequate route signs, then again the same in Aberfan where we lost another 30minutes due to inadequate route signs, and then finally in Merthyr Tydfil we lost another 45min trying to find the trail.Possibly the signs were vandalised.....who knows...........but we lost 1hr 35min on route.
Up to about 15:30hrs we were progressing well and reached Merthyr Tydfil. Our pace was averaging 4miles per hour.........not bad for our age eh?? But unfortunately another old knee injury hindered my progress just before we got to Merthyr Tydfil and my pace rapidly started to slow down.
By 17:30hrs we made it up to Cwm Taf just below the Llwyn-on Reservoir and the sun was setting quickly, and that's was as far as I my knee would permit me to go.....the pain was excruciating and I had to stop and call for our lift back to base.
We covered just over 20miles including the brief detours when the route was lost!!!
Yet again GS had to miss out on this one mainly due to the distance we intended to cover.
KT and I joined the Taff Trail at Pontypridd at 09:30hrs and aimed to find out how far we could travel before sunset. The target if possible was to make it to the Storey Arms Centre in Brecon. I only managed to take one photograph on route.......shame.
 |
| a view looking up Twyn Brynbychan |
We hit our 1st problem at just past Aberdare where we lost the route for about 20min due to inadequate route signs, then again the same in Aberfan where we lost another 30minutes due to inadequate route signs, and then finally in Merthyr Tydfil we lost another 45min trying to find the trail.Possibly the signs were vandalised.....who knows...........but we lost 1hr 35min on route.
Up to about 15:30hrs we were progressing well and reached Merthyr Tydfil. Our pace was averaging 4miles per hour.........not bad for our age eh?? But unfortunately another old knee injury hindered my progress just before we got to Merthyr Tydfil and my pace rapidly started to slow down.
By 17:30hrs we made it up to Cwm Taf just below the Llwyn-on Reservoir and the sun was setting quickly, and that's was as far as I my knee would permit me to go.....the pain was excruciating and I had to stop and call for our lift back to base.
We covered just over 20miles including the brief detours when the route was lost!!!
Sun 05 Dec 2010.....2nd endurance test
Brecon Beacons in Wales.....
GS missed out on this one again due to the distance and difficulty level of route
KT and I set out from the Storey Arms Centre and headed north down the Taff Trail for about 1.5miles and turned due west to cross the fields onto the A470 and across it; and continued north-west to TwynDylluan-ddu and descended down its north-western face to join a path at 400m heading south-west around Graig Cerrig Gleisaid national nature reserve; off the path we turned due east at Pont Blaen-cwm-du and climbed the waterfall until we joined the the Beacons Way at approximately SN096220 and followed it back to the Storey Arms Centre in a south-easterly direction.
This was another excursion where we aimed to test our navigation skills un-aided by a map........bad move!! All was going well until we climbed the waterfall and tried to find the Beacons Way. The top of Craig Cerrig-gleisiad was covered in a layer of at least 2ft of snow and the path was respectively invisible. By the time we reached the top the sun has set and there was a thick blanket of mist all around us. With visibility no more than 10m ahead of us and with no reliable point to take a bearing from, we scrambled aimlessly in a northerly direction for about half an hour until we located Trig Point 629.....phew.....and then within about 10 minutes the mist cleared giving us views of clear sky and terrain around us enabling us to locate the line of Beacons Way and head back to the Storey Arms Centre.
All in all a very interesting and exhilarating walk in which we covered around 15miles of mixed terrain. Unfortunately we did not get the chance to take many photographs.
GS missed out on this one again due to the distance and difficulty level of route
KT and I set out from the Storey Arms Centre and headed north down the Taff Trail for about 1.5miles and turned due west to cross the fields onto the A470 and across it; and continued north-west to TwynDylluan-ddu and descended down its north-western face to join a path at 400m heading south-west around Graig Cerrig Gleisaid national nature reserve; off the path we turned due east at Pont Blaen-cwm-du and climbed the waterfall until we joined the the Beacons Way at approximately SN096220 and followed it back to the Storey Arms Centre in a south-easterly direction.
 |
| view from Twyn Dylluan-ddu looking south-east to Y Gryn and beyond |
This was another excursion where we aimed to test our navigation skills un-aided by a map........bad move!! All was going well until we climbed the waterfall and tried to find the Beacons Way. The top of Craig Cerrig-gleisiad was covered in a layer of at least 2ft of snow and the path was respectively invisible. By the time we reached the top the sun has set and there was a thick blanket of mist all around us. With visibility no more than 10m ahead of us and with no reliable point to take a bearing from, we scrambled aimlessly in a northerly direction for about half an hour until we located Trig Point 629.....phew.....and then within about 10 minutes the mist cleared giving us views of clear sky and terrain around us enabling us to locate the line of Beacons Way and head back to the Storey Arms Centre.
 |
| view from Twyn Dylluan-ddu looking west over Heol Senni and beyond |
All in all a very interesting and exhilarating walk in which we covered around 15miles of mixed terrain. Unfortunately we did not get the chance to take many photographs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)