Sarn Helen

"...These mountains and valleys, like the rock on which they are founded, are of old stock and even though there may be little record to tell of the ancient people who passed this way, the very landscape shouts it out."
(The Secret and Sacred Beacons by Brian S. Griffiths)

Walking in the footsteps of the all conquering Romans is to sense the history of the hardship that must have been suffered to construct the 160 miles of this highway, which connects Aberconwy in the north to Carmarthen in the South. This particular section of Sarn Helen starts just north-west of Ystraffellte and runs northwards beneath Fan Frynych en route to the Roman fort of ‘Y Gaer’ in Brecon.

History now tells us that the Roman conquest of Wales began circa AD 50 and within half a century most of the "strategic" land, including coastal stretches and lowlands, were under Roman rule, a situation which lasted until AD 400 in spite of continual skirmishes with the feisty Celtic tribesmen.



Just as you join this section of Sarn Helen the OS map identifies the site of a Roman Fort although no physical evidence of this appears to remain visible. After about half a mile the surface shows signs of the original road laid by Roman engineers over two millennia ago. With sophisticated drainage channels built into the road, the outlines of the sandstone slabs remain clearly visible.

After only a mile and a half a stone monolith, Maen Madoc, stands proudly alongside the road over eight feet high. The following Latin words are engraved on its side edge:

"DERVAC FILIUS IUST HIC IACIT"
Which is translated to: "DERVACUS, SON OF JUSTUS. HERE HE LIES."

Like the stone at Gelligaer Common, it is thought to mark a Christian burial (roadside graves being a feature of Roman burials). It is also not that far from the Maen Llia stone which lies about a mile to the north (We visited this a few months ago).

Though the stone is named after a Madog it is not clear who Madog was. One theory is that he was a local landowner. The base of the standing stone is surrounded by deeply embedded stones although previous excavation failed to reveal any sign of a burial.



Fan Nedd and Fan Llia provide a stunning backdrop as the walk passed Coed-Y-Garreg Farm. Leaving Sarn Helen at Duffryn Nedd the path starts quite well defined but soon disappears and this section of the walk did not appear to be used very often.



After a scramble through thick undergrowth you climb a stile and return to a path that leads south to eventually join a ‘C’ road by which you return to Ystraffellte, passing the New Inn which unfortunately was closed by late afternoon.



Near the end of the walk I met a very polite group of teenagers who had been hiking and camping in this region of the Welsh hills for the last few days as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, soon afterwards the radio commentary confirmed that Eoin Morgan had scored the maiden century of his Test career against Pakistan in the First Test Match at Trent Bridge.

All of the photographs taken on this walk can be viewed here. Select 'slideshow' for automated viewing.

Fforest Fawr

Conveniently tucked between the Brecon Beacons and Mynydd Du (Black Mountain), with the Senni valley from the north and Mellte valley from the south merging to split both two thousand feet peaks of Fan LLia and Fan Nedd - which were our initial targets on the opening day of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Probably one of the 'forgotten' hill regions of South Wales, they certainly appeared to live up to their reputation today because in this vast open space we appeared to be the only two visitors! The whole western area of Fforest Fawr is part of the privately owned Cnewr Estate, with a section of our chosen route closed annually between 15th April and 10th May for lambing.



Some basic navigation skills along the narrow country lanes confirmed our arrival at the starting point at the conveniently remote parking area at Blaen Llia forestry. Crossing the bridge over the Avon Llia we started the relatively gentle climb of Cefn Perfedd along this particular section of the Beacons Way. Firm short-cropped grass and patches of bracken created excellent hill-walking conditions underfoot.



Less than forty minutes later we had reached the cairn at 600 metres just below the summit of Fan Llia (2,071 feet). With superb views including Ystradfellte Reservoir and Fan Fawr to our east we continued to Fan Dringarth before turning westward to start the descent to the neolithic standing stone at Maen Llia. With no pre-defined path the going wasn't easy over the tussocks of grass.



Both Steve and I agreed that the weather conditions were perfect for walking. With wispy strands of cirrus clouds high above us at an altitude of 20,000 feet confirming the fine weather. They never produce rain as the clouds form in such a cold part of the atmosphere that they contain only ice crystals. Seeing the cirrus clouds provided us with reassurance that we would not need to use the waterproofs today.



The proud standing stone at Maen Llia is perfectly aligned on a magnetic north/south axis between Ystradfellte and Defynnog. Dating from the Bronze age, it is likely that a quarter to a third of the stone is located below ground level, helping it with-stand thousands of years of wild Welsh weather. The landmark is clearly visibile from some distance and this suggests that it could possibly be a territorial marker or was used to guide travellers down an ancient trackway. Some faint Latin and Ogam inscriptions were visible on the stone's surface until recently.



There is a common legend attached to many standing stones, when usually at mid-summer, the stone 'gets up and goes for a walk' down to the local stream or lake. At sunset on Mid-Summers Day, the shadow from Maen Llia is at its longest. It stretches for over 300 metres and goes through the stream of the Afon Llia. The shadow, because of the shape of the stone and the angle of the setting sun, looks like a tongue, and this could be interpreted as 'going down to the stream for a drink'. if you combine this with the alternative translation for 'Llia', which is to 'lick or to lap', then 'Maen Llia' is literally the licking stone, or the stone that licks (or laps).

Our expertly timed arrival at Maen Llia allowed us the luxury of a well deserved lunch interval before crossing the road that splits the valley to commence the ascent towards Fan Nedd (2,176 feet) via a ladder-stile.

This particular ascent was much tougher then the relatively gentle climb of Fan Llia although we both found the steepest section near the summit to be the easiest!! The views when we arrived at the 'cone shaped' cairn at the northern end of the ridge were spectacular, with the giant of Fan Brycheiniog (definitely another one to do really soon!) to the west and Penyfan in the east.

We then reached the haven of tranquility at the trig point over-looking the Mellte valley at 663 metres before the easy descent and our return to the parking area. This was thirsty work and a compulsory rest and recuperation stop at the Nant Ddu was essential.



This particular walk was 11km (7 Miles) with a link to the map of the route here.

All of the photographs taken on this walk can be viewed here. Select 'slideshow' for automated viewing.