Abergavenny Weekend - Friday

Gilwern & Clydach Circular
Abergavenny, the gateway to Wales. Filled with variety, this walk is the gateway to our Abergavenny Adventure weekend. An approximate, but steady, 10 miles, with around 1800 ft of ascent. Meet at 10:15am for a 10:30am start
Heading from the car park we will make our way through Gilwern and out along the canal. With our legs warmed up nicely on the flat we will begin our slow, stead ascent up to the Lonely Shepherd via St Elli church.
The lonely shepherd is a standing stone overlooking the Clydach Gorge and River Usk. Legend claims the stone was once a man who was so cruel to his wife she drowned herself in the river. For his cruelty he was turned to stone, coming to life at midnight on mid summer's eve to walk the river calling his wife's name.
We will relax with the cruel shepherd for a while, taking the time to appreciate the stunning views. From here you will be able to see the mountains that we will be climbing on Saturday and Sunday, Sugar Loaf (596m), Skirrid Fawr (486m) & The Blorenge (561m).
Having recovered from our climb we will then make our way across the hill top before beginning our descent, via a variety of paths and tracks, down to a contemporary rust coloured bridge which will see us safely across the busy A465 and into the beautiful Cwn Clydach Nature Reserve.
Here we will continue our descent down to Devils Bridge & Waterfall (Pwll Cwn) before climbing back out the gorge and up to the disused railway line. This part of the walk, you will be pleased to know, is nice and easy, and will lead us to the ruins of the Clydach Ironworks.
Built in the 1790s, by 1841 there were 1350 people working at the Ironworks, day and night, closing in the 1860s. Limestone was quarried for building stone and to make cement and lime, creating the rocky cliffs at the top of the valley that we will have walked past.
The Ironworks were at the heart of a complicated network of horse-drawn tramroads. These brought limestone, iron ore and coal down from the quarries and mines and took the finished iron away to the canal at Gilwern. Steam trains arrived in the 1860s when the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway was built, also known as the Heads of the Valleys line.
Complete with a picnic area, we will grab the opportunity to sit down in style and enjoy a cuppa. After our cuppa we will then make our way back into the gorge and back to Gilwern via another waterfall.

For those staying over on the Friday evening, if you would like to join us for dinner please message Dianne Hall direct and we will happily include you in the arrangements. We will be dining at The Kings Arms Hotel, Abergavenny. 7pm meet for 730pm food.
Deposit £10 pp. Menu included in the photographs for you to choose your options. Simply message Dianne your food choices and she will get you booked in. Deposit payable on booking on.