Around the Vale of Ewyas

The steep clamber up out of Capel-y-ffin will definitely have you trying to catch your breath, but don’t be put off. Once you’ve made the giant cairn that marks the top, the rest is child’s play and the views, as you cruise comfortably along the giant whaleback that makes up the Ffawyddog ridge, are just superb. At Pen Rhos Dirion, you nudge over 2,296ft (700m) and reap the fruits of your labour with a sweeping panorama over the Wye Valley.

East is Twmpa, often referred to as ‘Lord Hereford’s Knob’, and beyond that, the Gospel Pass and Hay Bluff – the eastern end of the impressive Black Mountains escarpment. The head of the Ewyas Valley is split in two by a rugged slither of upland known as Darren Llwyd. This offers an airy return route with views to the east that match the earlier vista to the west. The spur drops away sharply at its southern tip and your eyes will be drawn straight ahead, where the Ewyas displays the classic U-shape of its ice-age roots.

This walk is near to the small town of Hay-on-Wye, a bustling, cosmopolitan place, which can be seen clearly from the northern escarpment. The town marks both the northernmost point of the National Park and also the Anglo-Welsh border, with Herefordshire to the east and Powys to the west. Like many of the towns in the area, Hay-on-Wye grew up around its impressive Norman castle, which was built on the site of an earlier motte-and-bailey construction. These days, the town is known as the ‘second-hand book capital of Wales’, and for the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, better known as the Hay Festival, celebrated every year in late spring.

Walk towards the bridge, but before you cross it, bear left up a narrow lane, signposted to The Grange Pony Trekking Centre. Follow this along the side of the stream and past a footpath on the left, marked by a stone archway. Continue to a drive on the left, again leading to the trekking centre, and follow this up to a cluster of barns.

Keep right here and continue uphill to a large house on the right, with a gate blocking your progress ahead. Bear around to the left and climb on a loose rocky track that leads up to another gate. Pass through this and follow a rough, eroded track as it zig-zags up on to easier ground. Cross the source of a small stream, and continue to the foot of a steep zig-zag track that climbs steeply up the escarpment.

Follow this, bearing both right and left and then, as the gradient eases, continue ahead on a broad and often boggy track. Take this past a few small cairns to a large one that sits on top of the rounded ridge. Turn right and follow the track easily over Twyn Talycefn to the trig point on Pen Rhos Dirion. (The summit can be avoided by a clear path that traverses right before the final climb.) Turn right and drop steeply down through the heather into a broad saddle.

Keep straight ahead over the flat section and then climb steeply up on to Twmpa. Turn right here and then, for maximum effect, bear left on to a narrower track that follows the line of the eastfacing escarpment. Stay with this track until the ridge narrows and drops steeply away.

Descend directly to a large square cairn, then keep ahead to continue down a steep spur and as it becomes too steep to continue, zig-zag left then right, to cut a steep line through the bracken to a junction with a broad contouring bridleway. Keep straight ahead to cross this and drop down to pick up a narrow stony track that runs along the side of a wood.

After the wood, ignore a grassy path that crosses obliquely. Shortly after, turn left almost back on yourself to follow this down to a stile and keep straight ahead to pass between two houses. When you reach the drive, keep straight ahead to cross a stile and continue in the same direction to cross another stile in the bottom corner. Turn right to follow the lane to return to your car.