Easter Saturday ... weather not too canny, so most of the population of South Wales, I guess, looks forward to a day in front of the TV eating chocolate. But not all. The call may be unspoken, but never unheard... we must head for the hills.
The small town of Llangynidr – very much the sort of place you’d retire to if you had enough money – lies a little west of Crickhowell beside the River Usk and attendant canal. The shapely peak of Tor-y-Foel, a perennial favourite, precedes the snow-clad summits of The Brecon Beacons to the west. When they are not obscured by a more off-white curtain of opaque vapour, that is. To the south, however, the high ground is of an unknown quantity, the B4560 allowing the motorist panoramic views of The Black Mountains of the quality usually reserved for the hillwalker as it snakes its way towards Ebbw Vale. I check the map. Somewhere upon the western fringes of these uplands lies the obscure Carreg Wen Fawr-y-Rugos stone row. The cloud base is holding. I think I’ll give it a go, but neglect to tell the Mam Cymru the true objective. Hey, I might not be ‘The Postman’, but Gladman must be seen to deliver. And today I’m not too sure I can.
A very minor road descends into Cwm Cleister just before the ‘bend-to-end-all-bends’ near Pen Rhiw-garn. We (eventually) manage to park below a stile (public footpath sign) midway between the access for Pantllwyd (dirt track) and High Meadow (private road) farms. The latter name is descriptive, the path linking the upland farms across sodden grassland, the way ahead indicated by marker posts. At Pantllwyd farm we veer SW and follow a stony track – more resembling a stream today – between drystone field enclosures towards the open hillside. Breaking free, I take a bearing and up we go....
The mountainside is teeming with water. The vestiges of melting snow? Probably not, since the map shows a myriad natural springs in the area, a fact which no doubt accounts for the especially numerous wild ponies within view. Unlimited food and water on tap. Right on! As we make our way to the far side of the ridge, the barest glimpse of orthostat amongst the coarse, long grass promises success, duly confirmed a few moments later. I manage a few hasty photos before the heavens open, water now coming at us from all sides, not simply straight up from the ground(!!), water driven by wind gusting at approx 40mph now we’ve left the mountain’s lee. Hell, this is a great place for a pic-nic, sitting upon the lead, and by far the tallest, stone, a stone strangely enough ‘crossing the T’ of the row in its fallen state, suggesting it didn’t just topple of its own accord? The other orthostats are much smaller by comparison, although the shattered nature of one may mean it was once more substantial. Some way to the north-east stands a low outlier....
The view to north and north-east towards the Black Mountains is stunning, the decapitated top of Crug Hywel prominent above Crickhowell. But why place a stone row here. Is the proximity to the life-giving springs significant. Or was it intended to point the way towards the burial cairns in the manner of those upon Dartmoor? We must head to the summit and have a look for ourselves...
A rough compass bearing would be appreciated of any stone rows . Like many others the 1:25000 map , Magic and Coflein are not sufficiently accurate to get a good reading and it's not visble on Google earth .
Always intersting to know if there is astro component or if it's pointing at a monument or even nothing apparent to us .
I very nearly had this down for yesterday's objective, it looks too tempting on the map - but Mynydd Troed was chosen and was a blast, so this will have to wait.
oops should ahve mentioned or even a gps ref for each stone , it's rough but better than nothing .
Sorry, didn't think of that. Large stone rows are not exactly numerous in Wales... best I can do is NE-SW.
Mr Brookes.... if you should happen to find the lure too much?
It's not going to take much encouragement!
Working "backwards " if the stones are oriented at 43 degrees they would be aligned on the major standstill but I think that may be a wee bit too far south judging by the pics .
Visited today in better weather than Mr G. Fieldnotes to follow at some point, but the bearing along the row from the SW terminal to the NE outlier is 54 degrees, pointing towards the saddle between Pen Cerrig-calch and Pen Gloch-y-pibwr (i.e. nothing in particular geographically, no idea about astronomically).
Oh, and a PS. I spent a fair amount of time walking around in a circle trying to find this (doh) so particularly impressed with Gladman for getting here in pouring rain and mist.
Dunno about that..the Mam was looking at me on the way down as if to say 'I hope you know what you're doing?' Like Drew I usually end up losing any path and taking the hardest option available. Mind you the ponies help... they tend to stay in the vicinity of stones to have a good scratch now and then.
Path? Ponies? All I saw was sheep, reeds, boggyness and (eventually) stones. Very enjoyable though, although I did go in a complete circuit around the row before I found it! Thank goodness it wasn't misty or I'd still be there now. Lol!
54 degrees could be a candidate for Summer Solstice sunrise. It would depend on the elevation and whether the 54 is a magnetic or true bearings, but it's a good match. I was in the area on saturday 1st visiting the Chartist cave, and was going to see for myself, but my new waterproof coat was no match for the hail and showers. So perhaps for another day, maybe midsummers day?
54 is adjusted to grid north from magnetic. Hail? Bloody hell, you were unlucky, all I had was a bit of light drizzle. I was there about midday before going off to Carreg Waun Llech, you probably weren't far away!
I got there about 3pm, and i was soaked by 4pm. My new coat will be back in the shop by 9am,sharp.
True North would be about 1 degree less, so 53 degrees it is. This would be very close, given that the saddle is a bit higher than the row. A trek over the moors in the dark will be the only way to be sure though.