Tag: walking
Beacons Way, day 7: Llanddeusant to Carreg Cennin
The day’s started well: I’m travelling on one of my favourite railways, the Heart of Wales Line. The two-carriage train is dawdling and rattling its way towards Llangadog. The trick is to choose a seat on the left, and catch views of the coastal mudflats and Gower across the water. At Llanelli the train reverses, […]
Beacons Way, day 6: Craig y Nos to Llanddeusant
After a comfortable night in the Penycae Inn I opt for the full breakfast, on the theory that yesterday’s fatigue was caused by lack of calories, and make an early start in the spring sunshine. Before the climbing starts there’s an hour-long ‘overture’ of flat walking. I cross the Tawe and retrace my steps along […]
Beacons Way, day 5: Storey Arms to Craig y Nos
Another cloudless day, another trip on the TrawsCymru T6 bus from Swansea to Brecon, followed after a break by the T4 to Storey Arms. This time I’m on the other side of the A470 from Pen y Fan. I’ve always wanted to explore the unfashionable west slopes above Storey Arms, and now’s my chance. My […]
Beacons Way, day 4: Llangynidr to Storey Arms
In the Coach and Horses I’m awake early. The day’s bright again, and after a modest breakfast, I’m outside and walking before eight o’clock. I find the lock on the canal, cross on a small wooden bridge and start the journey westward, through trees and then a series of fields, past two farms, Llwyn-yr eos, […]
Beacons Way, day 3: Crickhowell to Llangynidr
It takes two bus journeys from home to reach today’s starting point, Crickhowell. The T6 winds its way via Cwm Nedd, Cwm Dulais and the Usk valley to Brecon, and there I swap to the smaller X45 bus that speeds along to Crickhowell. There are just a few fellow passengers, including a group of workers […]
Is there a history of walking?
It’s a question that wouldn’t have been asked, let alone answered, before Rebecca Solnit’s pioneering book Wanderlust, published in 2000. Solnit is a writer probably best known for her books on women – she was the first to formulate the idea of ‘mansplaining’ – but her range of reference is startlingly wide, and her work […]
Walking across Afghanistan
There can’t be many more walks more extreme than the one described by Rory Stewart in his book The places in between. He takes us with him on a journey he made, entirely on foot, across the central regions of Afghanistan in 2002, from Herat to Kabul, soon after the US-led invasion of the country […]
Beacons Way, day 2: Llanthony to Crickhowell
It’s before seven o’clock in the morning, but it has the look of a dark day to come. I glance out of my bedroom window overlooking the ruins of Llanthony Priory. I can’t see the top of the Hatterrall Ridge I’d descended yesterday afternoon, or the top of the hill I’ll be climbing this morning. […]
Beacons Way, day 1: Abergavenny to Llanthony
I’ve had Ffordd y Bannau, the Beacons Way, in my sights for years. I bought the guide written by John Sansom, the deviser of the Way, and Arwel Michael, but it lay on the shelf unused for a decade or more till now. The reason I hesitated is that, as a 100-mile path across almost […]
Glyndŵr’s Way, day 11: Meifod to Welshpool
The negatives: rain has fallen overnight; the morning’s cloudy and windy, and it feels colder than ever; our boots are still damp inside. The positives: Eleri has fed us well over two days, to counter the hunger caused by long walking; we’re back in the fine village of Meifod; there are not too many miles […]