DL Talgarth walks V5 PRINT JUL2018...and bungalows to a gate. Go through the gate on the left (Point 2) to walk straight up two fields with the hedge to your right. After crossing

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Talgarth Walking Guide

In the foothills of the Black Mountains

DL Talgarth walks V5 PRINT JUL2018.indd 1 15/07/2018 20:37

2 visittalgarth.co.uk

Walk 1 Through Park Wood to Rhos Fawr, finishing via Pwll-y-Wrach Falls Page 4Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 12 km/8 milesClassification: Moderate to Hard

Walk 2 Llanelieu and its Ancient Church Page 8Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 9 km/6 milesClassification: Moderate

Walk 3 To Castell Dinas via the Gliding Club Page 12Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 11 km/7 milesClassification: Moderate

Walk 4 Mynydd Troed and Penyrwrlodd Page 17 Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 12 km/8 milesClassification: Moderate to Hard

Walk 5 Town Walk around Talgarth Page 21Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 1.6 km/1 milesClassification: Easy

Walk 6 Talgarth Towers Walk Page 25Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 6 km/4 milesClassification: Moderate

Walk 7 Meadows, Moats and Mountains Views – a Bronllys Round Page 28 Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 11 km/7 milesClassification: Moderate



Talgarth Walking Guide 3

Welcome to Talgarth, at the foot of the Black Mountains in the eastern part of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority. The name Talgarth means ‘front of the hill’. Talgarth is believed to have been the centre of the kingdom of Brycheiniog founded in the mid 5th Century. The kingdom was ruled by King Brychan. It is now a friendly riverside market town, with a recently restored corn mill and bakery. It is a lively hub for outdoor activities.

Our area offers superb walking country, with diverse terrain ranging from the historic townscape in and around Talgarth to the northern escarpment and plateaux of the Black Mountains.

This booklet describes seven circular walks, which are designed to help you discover some of the history, myths, and wildlife of the area and experience the wide range of landscape.

Talgarth is one of the elite group of UK towns which has achieved Walkers are Welcome (WaW) status. Since 2013, we have organized the annual Walking Festival which takes place during the early May Bank Holiday. The Festival gives the opportunity for participants to explore the landscape around Talgarth, and to learn more about the traditions and culture of the inhabitants who have fashioned the landscape. Follow www.talgarthwalkingfestival.org for news of the events.

We would like to see you come and stay in and around Talgarth, to enjoy and respect our countryside, to come back again and again, to go home refreshed, to tell your friends about us and to start planning your next visit.

Further information about Talgarth is available at www.visittalgarth.co.uk




Descending the track from

Rhiw Cwnstab

Walk 1 Through Park Wood to Rhos Fawr, finishing via Pwll-y-Wrach FallsStart: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 12 km/8 milesClassification: Moderate to Hard

START Walk out of the main entrance of the car park and turn left towards the town centre. Cross the medieval Tower Bridge, with the Mill upstream on the right. The TIRC with its medieval Tower is just after the bridge. In the town square, fork right up the Bank past the Town Hall. Follow the road up to the gates of St. Gwendoline’s Church and fork right along Church St. with the graveyard to your left, to continue to a fork (Point1). 1 Fork left and left again to walk uphill past some cottages and bungalows to a gate. Go through the gate on the left (Point 2) to walk straight up two fields with the hedge to your right. After crossing a stile near an electricity line, cross the middle of a field to a stile at the bottom of Park Wood.

2 Cross the stile and keep ahead to join a broad forest track (Point 3). Turn left onto this and follow it for about 2.5 km, ignoring any forks to the left.

[Parts of the track are muddy in wet weather]. The track eventually climbs to a gate and a stile that leads to a meadow. Keep straight ahead to follow a line of electricity poles across the field. Join a track which leads to a gate onto a broad ancient track. Follow this to a gate that leads onto Felindre Common. Go through and fork immediately right to walk uphill with the fence/hedge on your right. Continue to the very top and keep straight ahead to join a lane (Point 4).

[If clear, there are impressive views of the Northern Escarpment of the Black Mountains, including Hay Bluff, Twmpa, Rhos Dirion, Y Das, Y Grib and Mynydd Troed. In the distance there are views of Pen-y-Fan in the Brecon Beacons.]



3 Turn left to follow this lane onto open common land. Fork half right to follow a faint track uphill, towards the high point of the common. You pass a pond as you climb the slope. Follow the track which runs alongside a wall on your right. Keep straight ahead to drop slightly and then turn right to ford a stream in a gully. Fork left to take the upper path that contours about 50 m above the forest. Follow the contouring path around the hillside to a gate in a fence which runs up the hillside.

[To ascend to the Black Mountains plateau, turn left after going through the gate and follow the track up Rhiw Cwnstab]

4 Go through the gate, and follow the track down to the right for a few metres and then take a left-hand path to cross a stream. Continue along the path which contours across the hill side. Stay on this until it crosses a stream in a deep gully. Just after this, turn right around a daffodil field [impressive blooms in early spring] and follow a track down to where it re-crosses the stream to a stile. Follow the grassy track down past a house and a small nature reserve.

5 Cross the road and cross a stile ahead. Keep right to a waymark post and then turn right, with the hedge to the right, to cross a footbridge. Now keep straight ahead, crossing a succession of stiles, until the path drops to cross a tree-lined track by a large stone post. Bear right here and aim for woodland in the bottom right hand corner of the field, where a stile leads onto a lane (Point 5).

6 Turn right and walk along the road for 100 m to a gate on the left. Cross this and follow the woodland path alongside the stream, ignoring any tracks that head right uphill. Continue over a stile and down steps to Pwll-y-Wrach waterfall (Witches Pool). Care is needed here as it is often muddy and slippery. From here, continue downstream to a path junction and bear right, onto a well-surfaced path with a handrail that leads up to a lane. Turn left onto this lane to drop back down into Talgarth.

LOOK OUT FOROld GwernyfedA manor house had been built on this site by the late medieval times but was re-built in the 17th Century. There were formal gardens and fishponds laid out behind the house. The stone pillars that survive from this time show where the gated entrance to the manor house stood. Today the entrance to the Jacobean manor house along with its attached farm buildings is past two stone lions that stand guard, paws raised to catch the unwary visitor. Look down the tree lined driveway to the front of the house, on either side there are round towers that may have been store rooms and the upper parts dovecotes, a source of fresh meat in winter. The west wing of the house is a ruin, the result of a fire in the 1780s.


LOOK OUT FORPwll-y-WrachThe ancient and secluded woodland of Pwll-y-Wrach (The Witches Pool) hides many a secret, apart from the birds and wild animals. Access to this nature reserve is easy with footpaths from the car park to the pool itself. However it can become very muddy under foot. Watch for the blue fl ash of a kingfi sher; listen to the call of the birds; the scuttling of the animals in the undergrowth, even the bark of an otter. Breathe in the heady fragrance of the wild fl owers and you soon begin to imagine St Gwendoline herself, the patron saint of Talgarth Church, bathing in Pwll-y-Wrach. But there’s a darker secret. Was it a scream of a jay you heard or the screech of a witch? Was the pool used in medieval times and after to decide whether witches were innocent or guilty? What do you think?

Pwll-y-Wrach




Walk 1 Through Park Wood to Rhos Fawr, fi nishing via Pwll-y-Wrach Falls

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© Crown Copyright 2017. All right reserved. Licence number 100019322



Walk 2 Llanelieu and its Ancient ChurchStart: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 9 km/6 milesClassifi cation: Moderate

START Walk out of the main entrance of the car park and turn left towards the town centre. Cross the medieval Tower Bridge, with the Mill upstream on the right. The TIRC with its medieval Pele Tower is just after the bridge. In the town square, tun right up the Bank past the Town Hall. Follow the road up to the gates of St. Gwendoline’s Church and fork right along Church St. with the graveyard to your left, to continue to a fork (Point 1). 1 Fork left and left again to walk (Point 2) uphill past some cottages and bungalows to a gate. Go through the gate on the left to walk straight up two fi elds with the hedge to your right. After crossing a stile near an electricity line, cross the middle of a fi eld to a stile at the bottom of Park Wood.

2 Cross the stile and keep ahead to join a broad forest track (Point 3). Turn left and then immediately right up a steep, narrow path. Follow this across a broad track and over a stile into a fi eld. Turn left to follow the edge of the fi eld past a marker post and on to a stile adjacent to the top of the wood. Cross this and continue along the edge of the next fi eld, passing a concrete container and eventually joining a fence. Keep the fence to your left now and continue over a succession of stiles, always heading in the same direction until arriving at a crossing footpath where you need to turn right to take the path down to Lodge Farm (Point 4).

3 On reaching Lodge Farm turn left and follow the road up the hill to Ffostyll Farm and beyond to a crossroads where your turn right to go down the steep hill to Llanelieu. The church is up the steps on the left after crossing the bridge over the river Ellywe. Exit the grounds by a gateway at the top and turn right and then left onto the road to follow it up onto Rhôs Fach Common. Ignore a road to the right and continue past a track junction to a waymarked footpath on the right, immediately ahead of a house (Ffosrhys) (Point 5).

4 Go diagonally right to a stile and then keep the hedge to your left to walk past a ruined barn and then past a fi ne house. At the end of the fence, bear half right to climb to a stile and continue over another before dropping to a gate at Berth Fedw. Turn right and go through the gate straight ahead for a few paces before turning left over a stile. Drop to the bottom right corner and cross a stile to continue with the hedge on the left. Keep ahead to a stile by a barn and cross this and turn right to continue in the same direction, now with the hedge on the right.



Walk 2 Llanelieu and its Ancient Church


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HIDDEN TREASURES St Ellyw Church, LlanelieuJust outside the upper gate of the Churchyard to the south is the locally notorious “WhippingTree”– an ancient Yew tree alongside the road leading to Rhos Fach Common. Look out for the holes, where the hands of miscreants were restrained for punishment by whipping. Evidence of cross incised stones dating to the 7th and 9th centuries indicate some form of ecclesiastical centre existed on this site well before the arrival of the Normans. The present stone building is generally of 13th Century origin, but inside are the real treasures. The loft is painted blood red, while the 14th Century screens are of extremely high quality, probably reflecting the prosperity the church enjoyed alongside the monastic cell associated with Llanthony Priory, which was established in the nearby building now known as Llanelieu Court. A fine set of monuments within the church are generally of 17th Century origin. Perhaps because of the church’s remoteness, these treasures are still available to us, avoiding the attentions of the Dissenters. Now in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches, the very large key to the Church can be found in the conservatory porch of Llanelieu Court, opposite.

Llanelieu Church

After the next stile, turn diagonally right to aim directly at caravan park in the distance and this will lead to another stile. Hop over this and follow the sunken grassy track as it winds leftwards and then rightwards down to the road at Wern Fawr. Turn left and pass the old hospital entrance then continue along the road for half a mile to a bridge. Turn left just before this bridge onto a waymarked footpath and cross the stile to walk along the right-hand edge of the field and over another stile. Keep ahead to a stile on the right that leads to The Rocks and turn left and then right to cross the footbridge by the waterfalls. Continue out onto Bell Street and turn left to walk back to the main car park.



HIDDEN TREASURES Rhos Fach CommonRhos Fach Common (Small moor) and Rhos Fawr Common (Big moor) are enclosed commons, land used for grazing animals by adjoining farms which have ‘common rights’. These areas were vital for the poorer people of the parish to graze their house cows, poultry and sometimes pigs. Manorial Courts once ensured good husbandry and regulated animal numbers to prevent over grazing.

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Walk 3 To Castell Dinas via the Gliding ClubStart: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 11 km/7 milesClassifi cation: Moderate

STARTWalk out of the main entrance to the car park and turn left towards the town centre. Take fi rst right up Heol Las, and keep straight ahead to merge with Regent Street. Turn right and follow this old Abergavenny road – now a footpath – to a turning area and gate. Continue for 0.5 km and cross a stile on your left, keep straight ahead to drop down steps to a footbridge and continue ahead to a road. Turn right and then after a short distance turn left through a fi eld gate, walk up the edge of the fi eld with the hedge on your right. Continue through another gate and keep ahead as the fi eld narrows to a stile at the very top.

1 Cross the stile and turn left onto the road. After a short distance on the road, cross another stile on your left and bear slightly left to meet a gate and drop down through woodland to Cwm Trappi Dingle. Cross the bridge and climb away to cross another stile to emerge into a fi eld. Continue for a few paces then turn right over a stile. Now keep to the left of this second fi eld towards Troed-yr-harn Farm. Cross stiles to the right of the farm dropping down onto the farm lane. Turn right and at the junction keep right (signed Glider Club). Just before the entrance to the gliding club, the foot path goes off to the right skirting around the gliding fi eld. On reaching the lane, turn right to meet a junction by a converted Chapel (Point 1).

2 Cross the road to the drive of The Rhos Farm, cross the cattle grid and bear right to a stile. Cross the stile and continue down two fi elds with the hedge on your left. (Looking to your left, you will see Castell Dinas which is where you are going). At the bottom of this second fi eld cross another stile to enter a dingle. Climb out of the dingle into a fi eld and follow the arrows around the fi eld to the right. Pass through a gate keeping the hedge on your right. Cross the next stile and turn left now keeping the hedge on your left. Continue until meeting two gates each side of a ditch (Point 2).

3 Bear left to the next stile, continue uphill crossing three more stiles. Having crossed the third stile, bear right towards Dinas Farm. The next stile and gate is on the right at the top of the fi eld. Having crossed this, drop down to the left of Dinas Farm. Cross the next stile and emerge onto a lane. Turn left and continue uphill until meeting a stile on your right. Cross the stile and climb steeply to the old castle ruins (the walk returns the same way so the climb can be avoided) (Point 3). The fort offers wonderful



Walk 3 To Castell Dinas via the Gliding Club


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Map of Talgarth and surrounding area






views over the surrounding area, with the Rhiangoll Valley leading south east to the Usk valley and the Wye valley stretching out to the north. Explore the Norman ruins built on the site of an earlier fort.

4 Then retrace your steps to (Point 2). Instead of going through this double gate continue down the field with the hedge on your right. Cross the next stiles into a depression, turn left across a small stream and through a gate, keep ahead to the hedge, turn right keeping the hedge on your left. Pass through another two gates heading towards Middle Genffordd Farm. The stile onto the lane is in the top corner of this last field. Having reached this road, turn left and then right down the drive of Middle Genffordd Farm. Take the stile on your left before reaching the farm. Turn right through the first gate and keep straight ahead to cross another stile. Now continue with the hedge on your left and after the next stile, bear half left to the far corner of the field where you will join the road near Gwrlodde Farm (Point 4).

5 Turn right and continue for a mile to re-join your outward route into Talgarth.

‘UP, UP AND AWAY!’ Gliding ClubBlack Mountains Gliding Club was started by two local farmers in the 1980s. Today one of the country’s premier gliding sites, set amid spectacular scenery and with the longest average flight times in the UK – why not have a trial lesson? The views from above the mountain ridge in the company of a buzzard or even a red kite soaring the same thermals, is a unique experience. Make yourself a drink in the club house, put your feet up outside and watch. Just ask any member to help make those dreams come true. This is an active airfield so remember to stop, look and listen, before crossing the airfield – gliders are almost silent when landing or taking off!

Castell DinasMore glorious views as you climb to the top. Since Iron Age times this has been a fortress to defend the Pass below from Talgarth to Crickhowell. Looking at the views of the Usk Valley,Wye Valley and Black Mountains, it’s easy to see why the Romans, 5th Century King Brychan Brycheiniog and then the Normans all made this a strategic hillfort and castle. See the grass covered defence mounds or ramparts of ancient people, then the walled baileys and keep of the Middle Ages. The Castell even has a water spring situated near the summit. At 1476 feet above sea level Castell Dinas is the highest castle in England and Wales – you truly are ‘King of the Castle’



Walk 4 Mynydd Troed and Penyrwrlodd Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 12 km/8 milesClassification: Moderate to Hard

STARTThis walk starts from the Main Car Park, but an alternative start is at Trefecca, joining the walk at (Point 1) – Trefecca Fawr Leave the car park via the exit in the bottom right hand corner near old station buildings. Cross the road and turn left then right through a gate into the playing fields. Turn left onto a track and follow it past a barn to a gate into a field. Continue diagonally across the field to a stile and continue ahead on a rough hedged track that veers left to a gate onto the road. Turn right and then left, ahead of a bridge, onto a signed footpath. Follow this around the edge of the field and through a stile then continue ahead, keeping the river Llynfi to your right, to the far end of the field, where you’ll join a lane. Cross over on to a track marked Pont Nichol. Walk up the track and pass beneath the buildings, which sit on the site of the old railway crossing, then fork left to a stile that leads into woodland. Follow the path through woodland and up to a stile that leads onto the B4560, close to College Farm (Point 1). 1 Turn right – taking care of traffic – to walk through Trefecca Village and out the other side and then take the ‘No Through Road’ on the left, which leads to Trefecca Fawr (Point 2). Follow the lane up and around to the right and then continue climbing through Felin Cwm Dingle to reach Llanerch Farm – signposted Llanerch Farm Only. Turn right through a small gate and follow a track through rows of trees. This is an ancient sunken track which climbs steadily until it reaches a lane, where you turn right to walk past Whole House Farm (Point 3).

3 Continue on the lane past the farm until the lane turns a corner at Heol-y-Cefn. Turn left up a wide track and continue until reaching another lane corner. Go straight ahead for a few metres to a gap in the left hedge with a narrow path that leads into a copse on the left. Follow this path through two gates onto the open ground at the foot of Mynydd Troed (Point 4).

4 Turn left and follow the obvious track following the mountain wall/fence until the path dips leftwards to a gate that leads onto a road (Point 5).

5 If the weather has been wet, there is a better, parallel path a little further up the hill. If you wish to climb to the summit of Mynydd Troed, follow the diagonal path that climbs to the right. Halfway to the summit, the track bends round to the left. Return by the same route or or go down the North nose of the mountain to the left hand side of a field surrounded by common land. Follow the mountain fence on the left hand side to the lane (Point 5).



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TIMEPenyrwrlodd Long Barrow In 1972 a farmer looking for stone, excavated a large mound on his farm. What he discovered became known as the Penyrwrlodd Long Barrow. Archaeological investigation revealed the remains of at least fi fteen humans, along with fl int arrow heads and a fl int knife and most interesting of all a hollow sheep bone which appears to be fashioned into a fl ute, making it the earliest musical instrument found in the British Isles. The barrow was estimated to have been built around 3500BC making it the earliest in Southern Britain and the best preserved in the Black Mountains. Only partially excavated, it is estimated the remains of over fi fty people may still remain in the barrow. As you look around, it is a sobering thought that this structure was built and the area inhabited before the Celts or the Romans arrived in Britain.

6 Turn left onto the lane and then right at the junction and continue past Penyrheol and Trewalkin farms. Continue for 100 yards and bear left, through a gate, and head towards the farm beyond the next fi eld. Aim just to the left of the house, where you’ll cross a stile and then a track and then another stile, to enter a fi eld. Keep to the right to another stile and then head diagonally right, over the brow of the hill and down to the far corner, where you’ll see another stile beneath a small plantation of evergreens. Cross this and a stile on the right to enter the site of the Long Cairn (Point 6).

7 Go back over the stile and turn right to go down to another stile. Proceed with the hedge on your right and pass through a gate and continue towards a cluster of buildings at Cefn Mawr. Keep these to your left and locate a path that ducks into bushes on the right. (If you started from Trefecca, turn left beyond the buildings and take the track down to Trefecca Fawr (Point 2) and on to the lay-by, which is across the fi eld from there). Continue down, with the hedge to your right, to pass close to a new barn to a gate and stile that leads onto a lane. Turn left and follow this down past Trefecca College to the B4560.

8 Cross the road and continue down the lane opposite, which turns into a steep, stony track and drops to cross the dismantled railway. Bear left then right to cross a footbridge over the Afon Llynfi . Now head up the steep bank ahead to join a lane by the farm buildings at Tredustan Hall. Turn right (motte on the right by the barns) and follow the lane back to Talgarth, taking a right and then left at the junctions. Alternatively, return by the route of your outward journey via College Farm and Pont Nichol.

Options This walk can also be done from Trefecca, by parking at a lay-by 200m further along the B4560 from (Point 2) at Trefecca Fawr.



Entrance of Penywrlodd Long Cairn

Walk 4 Mynydd Troed and Penyrwrlodd


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Pen Allt Mawr and Pen Cerrig Calch

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TIME College Farm Originally known as Lower Trefecca, or Trefecca Isaf, but was purchased by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon in the late 1700’s as a College to teach young preachers for the Methodist faith, and consequently became known by its present name. The house was probably first built in Queen Elizabeth the First’s reign and the porched doorway is typical of houses of that period, dated 1576. It is believed the house was originally built as home and farmhouse for Walter Prosser, High Sheriff of Brecknockshire in 1592, but was extended by The Countess of Huntingdon. Trefecca means Becca’s settlement and is documented as Treveccke in 1409 and Trevek in 1398. Note the coat of arms above the door-way of a circle quartered and a cherub in each quarter!

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Walk 5 Town Walk around TalgarthStart: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 1.6 km/1 milesClassification: Easy

STARTLeave the car park by the main entrance and pause at the street. The barn opposite with the Trefecca Road sign was the site of the Talgarth Electric Co (c1912) and to the right you will see Gwernyfed Rugby Club which was a 20th Century malt house. Turn left and the first stone building on the left was an early 18th Century malt house which is attached to the rendered Radnor Arms. Behind the Victorian façade there is evidence of a Mediaeval Hall House. Take the first right up Heol Las (Point 1) and pass one of the two town bakeries on your left. The lane to the right leads to the decommissioned Bethania United Reformed Church.

1 Continue uphill past the Electricity sub-station. A few yards past this is a blue corrugated shed which was the office of Talgarth Livestock Market at the turn of the 20th Century. The area to the right of the path was cider apple orchards. Turn left into Regent Street. The first cottage on the left was the 17th Century Old Black Lion which made cider from the apples. The Baptist Church on the right dates from 1837.

Talgarth TowerThe Tower in the Town Centre is a four-storey building, a survivor from an era of turmoil in the Welsh borders. It is one of only a handful of buildings of its kind in Wales. It was built as a fortified house, probably to defend the settlement and the strategic crossing point on the river Ennig. It is thought to date from the 13th or 14th Century. In the 16th Century it was described as “the old prison”. The original tower is square in plan, with the walls 1.68 m thick. Shops were built onto the tower in the 19th Century (at the front) and 20th Century, obscuring most of the arrow slits.The pyramidal roof was added in the 18th Century. Before then, the top of the building featured a defensible parapet, similar to the top of a castle tower. The stairs are built into the thickness of the wall, again like a castle. The sections of masonry which protrude from the tower wall above the front shop are the remnants of a garderobe – a toilet with an external drain. The basement, below modern ground level, was once a dungeon with no means of exit except by ladder. John Leland, who became Henry VIII’s Antiquary in 1533, toured Wales a few years later, and described the Tower in Talgarth as ‘a little prison’. The tower is now a private house.



2 A little further down on the left is the double fronted Castell yr Eos which was the town police station only closed in 1965. Look over the wall to see the latticed window of the old cell block. Continue downhill to the Bell Hotel which still retains several 16th Century features (Point 2). The stone building opposite was the Magistrates Court until 1990. Turn back right between this and the Strand Café then shortly turn left down a path after the red brick houses. The building on the right was once a carpenter’s shop built of stone from Tregunter House. Cross the River Ennig at the Rocks up some steps and turn left. Just before you come to another bridge on your left is the line of the (old removed) mill leat. This, together with the Mill, has been restored to working order. The Mill is open to the public.

3 Cross the bridge and continue up the lane and at the end turn right up the hill (Point 3). On the left you’ll pass Neuadd Felin, one-time home of the historian, author and poet, Jane Williams (1806–1885). There are some fi ne old houses on the right, which used to form part of the commercial centre of the town. Continue up the hill with the church wall to your left and go through the gate on the left at the far end. Now follow the path to the entrance and porch. Howell Harris, the Methodist Revivalist, was buried here with over 20,000 attending the funeral. The church is named after Gwenffrewi, daughter of King Brychan, one time King of Brycheiniog [now Brecknockshire] (Point 4).

4 Leave via the kissing gate at the tower end and walk down the lane opposite, passing the old school house and school (1845), the replacement school (1976) and the Bethlehem Presbyterian church (1850) on the way. At the bottom turn left to the Town Hall (1877). Adjacent is the 13th Century

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Walk 5 Town Walk around Talgarth


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Talgarth Tower House, a fortified dwelling beside the bridge and home of the Talgarth Information and Resource Centre. The 20th Century extension was the site of a bank, but it is now home to the Wye and Usk Foundation which supports river conservation (Point 5).

5 Continue past the restored working Water Mill (open to the public) and The Bakers’ Table café. Cross over the Mediaeval bridge to see the 1920’s painted advertisements on the side wall of the Bridge End Public House. On the corner is the old post office, with a small lean-to which housed Talgarth telephone exchange.

Go straight ahead down the High Street passing Ashburnham House and the shops including a superb local butcher W. J. George and Son. The family has traded for over 100 years and runs one of the few remaining small independent slaughter houses in Wales. There is a range of shops here and on the Square that are valuable assets to the town.

Returning to the car park you could take a few minutes to cross to the other pedestrian entrance and see where the road runs along the old line of the railway and the platform and buildings of the station, which closed in 1963.

St Gwendoline’s Church and Howell Harris The Church is named after Gwendoline the eleventh daughter (of 24 daughters and 11 sons!) of 5th Century King Brychan of Brycheiniog (after whom Breconshire was named). This beautiful church and churchyard may date from the 6th Century when these original Llans or enclosures were the cradles of Welsh Christian communities. The church dates from the 13th/14th centuries and was restored in 1873.

The main east window was given in 1897 in memory of Colonel Roche of Tregunter – an ancestor of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. The Preaching Cross in the churchyard was the place of outpourings by local man Howell Harris, leader of the Welsh Methodist Revival Movement in 1735. His charismatic teachings inspired one William Williams, Pantycelyn who was riding past, not only to join the Movement, but to return home and write the most famous of Welsh hymns ‘Guide me, Oh! Thou Great Redeemer’. Howell Harris founded a Methodist community called ‘The Family’ at nearby Trefecca which aimed to be almost self- sufficient with 60 different trades. Howell Harris’s fame spread far and wide and it is said 20,000 people came to his funeral in St Gwendoline’s Church in 1773.

The Church tower is 15th Century, it has a stepped base and cusped belfry lights and is divided into three stages.



Walk 6 Talgarth Towers Walk Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 6 km/4 milesClassification: Moderate

STARTLeave the car park by the main entrance and turn left. Go up High Street and crossing the bridge with the Bridge End Inn on your right you will see the Tower House on the left.1 Carry on, past the Town Hall on the right and turn right up The Bank until you reach St Gwendoline’s Church with its 15th Century tower (Point 1). Go down School Lane between the church yard and cottages. Carry on past new houses on the right (Church View) and turn right on to a track which turns to the left behind houses and allotments. Follow the track, cross two stiles and continue into a field. Go straight on by the hedge-line and cross a stile and narrow foot bridge. Turn left and keep to the hedge line. Go over the stile on to the road and turn right carrying on until opposite the entrance to Great Porthamel (Point 2).

2 Cross the road with care and immediately go through a gateway into a field on the right. Follow the hedge on the left around the field boundary and then turn left through double gates. There is a good view of the Great Porthamel including the Gatehouse. Keep to the hedge-line on the left and branch left near the bottom of the field (near old machinery) on to the old railway track between Talgarth and Hay.

3 Cross the railway track with the old railway bridge on the left and carry on down a track towards the River Llynfi. Turn right by a large wood pile and follow the fence to a yellow footpath marker and stile with the river and a ford on the left. Keeping to the left go through a gate and turn left on to a footbridge to cross the river (Point 3). Turn right and follow the right hand edge of the field until you find a stile at the top. Cross the stile and turn right to follow the hedge going round the field to a stile in the top left hand corner. Go across the next field and through two metal gates in a conifer hedge. Carry on to a metal gate in another conifer hedge and cross the next field to the far left corner. Cross a stile and turn right. Go along the hedge line past an ancient oak to a stile (Point 4).

4 Cross the stile and turn left to follow the hedge to the bottom right hand corner. Cross a stile and follow fence along the bottom of the field. Cross another stile, go along field edge for 100 m and branch left down a steep woodland path. Follow the path through woodland and a field. Go to a gate in the left-hand corner of the field by the river into the grounds of Bronllys Castle.



MAP 6Walk 6 Talgarth Towers Walk

© Crown Copyright Database Rights OS licence no. 100060121 2018

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Great PorthamelThe medieval manor house of Great Porthamel was built in the early 15th Century by Sir William Vaughan, High Sherriff of Breconshire. The most striking building is two-storey tower fortified gatehouse which formed part of the walled precinct around the house. The gatehouse is a progression from the earlier defensive Towers like the one in the centre of Talgarth. It has been suggested gatehouses were built in the belief that the chaotic political situation in the 15th Century would end in anarchy and defence of the home would be necessary. This did not happen as the Tudors brought more stability and ruled with an iron hand.In the early 16th Century, a porch was added to the house, and it was further extended in the 18th Century. The house consists of a near-central cross passage within a former open four-bay hall. Today, the precinct walls have gone but the tower remains. The medieval hall house is also intact, although altered externally. Great Porthamel has been described as ‘one of the most remarkable medieval houses of Wales’. The buildings are privately owned.

Bronllys CastleBronllys Castle is believed to have been built by Richard Fitz Pons in the late 11th Century. It was a timber motte and bailey construction which was prone to fire. By 1165, parts of the castle were rebuilt. A new castle was constructed of stone by William de Clifford around 1230, with a top floor added in the 14th Century. The uprising by Owain Glyndwr led to repairs to the castle in 1400 and 1409. By 1521, the castle had become dilapidated and was only suitable for a prison. CADW is now responsible for upkeep of the castle, which is open to visitors between 10.00 and 16.00 daily [free entry].

Continue on the path by the river down steps with Bronllys Castle up on the right. Go out on to the road (Point 5) and turn right to the entrance to the castle. Leave the castle turn left and walk towards Talgarth.

5 Return to the town along the pavement [take care of passing traffic] and enter the car park by the pedestrian access from the bypass. Alternatively, from Bronllys Castle, turn left, follow the road towards Talgarth (300 m), then cross main road and follow signed footpath past houses and along left hand field boundary to river bridge. Turn left and follow path along the river. Near the end of the second large field, turn left at a fence bend and go through a small gate to a footbridge. Bear right to gate and follow path through a gate and then along left edge of a field and football ground. At tennis courts, turn right on to a road, branch left in front of Club House, and go right to main road and pedestrian crossing. Cross the road and turn right to car park.



Walk 7 Meadows, Moats and Mountains Views – a Bronllys Round Start: Talgarth Main Car Park Grid Reference: SO 153 337Distance: 11 km/7 milesClassification: Moderate

STARTFrom Talgarth Main Car Park, walk to the roundabout, cross the road and go through the gate to the rugby club ground. Immediately turn left and follow the lane past first farm buildings to a gate ahead. Cross the field to the diagonal right corner, and follow along the left edge of the next two fields to a lane. Turn right and follow road gently uphill (1000 m) to Tregunter (Point 1). 1 Pass Tregunter farmhouse and turn right immediately through gate and stile, then over field to gate and river bridge beyond (500 m). Cross river and head diagonally right to gate (50 m). Follow left hand field edge over first field then diagonally left to stream bridge and up to stile (Point 2). Cross main road and follow path (two stiles) to school (now closed) playing field. Pass school on the right, turn right and follow footpath to and across Bronllys Medieval moated site. Head for a row of terraced cottages.

2 By the gate to Fosse Way see info panel about the ‘Moat’. From Fosse Way, cross main road and join Pontywal Lane. Fork left (200 m) up lane at large chestnut tree and up ‘Haemorrhage Hill’ (so called as it was ‘kill or cure’ for 20th Century TB Sanatorium patients!). Turn right at top of steep hill along sunken lane and path through ‘No Man’s Land’ (bluebells in Spring). Over stile (mud!) and follow left hand field edge, over another rather steep stile and keep to the field edge to pedestrian gate at the brow of the hill (great views back to Black Mountains) (Point 3).

3 Head diagonally right descending towards an oak tree (wind turbine beyond) then follow right hand field edge over three fields towards Porth y Morddwr Farm. Leave farm buildings to right and follow power line direction to oak tree, over stream and through path gate. Follow left hand field edge then through farm gate and immediately right over stile and turn right up the sunken lane – follow uphill to minor road (great views of Wye Valley and Begwyns hills beyond) (Point 4).

4 Turn right and follow quiet lane towards Bronllys (2.4 km). At edge of village, turn left then along lane to mini-roundabout (200 m). Turn left again and follow road past garage and shop to the Honey Café (refreshments) (Point 5).

5 Cross main road opposite, go through footpath gate and head eastwards down field edge to River Llynfi. Turn right and follow riverside/field edge footpath upstream (three



Walk 7 Meadows, Moats and Mountains Views – a Bronllys Round

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TregunterThe manor of Tregunter was granted to Sir Peter Gunter by Bernard Newmarch [Neufmarch] after the Norman conquest. The estate stayed in the possession of the Gunters until it was sold in 1774 to Thomas Harris, brother of Howell Harris of Trefecca, a leader of the Welsh Methodist Revival Movement, and Joseph Harris, the King’s Assay Master. Thomas built the house, a three-storey five-bay house with lower three-bay wings on either side, replacing an earlier dwelling. It was visited by Mary Robinson who married Thomas Robinson, Harris’s illegitimate son. Protege of Garrick, she later became known as Perdita, one of the most popular actresses of the day, and was mistress of the Prince Regent. After the house was sold in 1910 the grand staircase, tapestries and fittings were stripped out and sent to America, and the estate was sold by auction in September 1916. The house and outbuildings were used from June 1918 as a prisoner-of-war camp. The house was largely demolished in 1925. Today, Tregunter Farm remains as the former home farm for the estate. The farmhouse was built in the 19th Century.

stiles) to pass to lovely old oak trees, descend wooden steps and reach main road via metal gate – take the opportunity to visit Bronllys Castle (50 m to right hand) – a Norman motte and bailey – information panel and entry is free. Stairs lead to the very top (Point 6).

6 From Bronllys Castle, turn left, follow road towards Talgarth (300 m), then cross main road and follow signed footpath past houses and along left hand field boundary to river bridge. Turn left and follow path along the river. Near the end of the second large field, turn left at a fence bend and go through a small gate to a footbridge. Bear right to gate and follow path through a gate and then along left edge of a field and football ground. At tennis courts, turn right on to a road, branch left in front of Club House, and go right to main road and pedestrian crossing. Cross the road and turn right to car park.

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Mid-Wales Sanatorium The Mid Wales Sanatorium was built after the acquisition of Pontywal Mansion from Capt Stuart Williams. Howell Harris claimed to have built Pontywal Mansion in 1759, but the building is mainly 19th Century. The project to build a sanatorium followed a national conference in 1910, convened in Shrewsbury by Alderman John Chappel, Lord Mayor of Cardiff, to consider the question of a Welsh memorial to King Edward VII. At that conference, it was decided that the memorial should take the form of an organised campaign to eradicate tuberculosis in Wales. On 17th May 1912 the King Edward VII Welsh National Memorial association was formed by Royal Charter for the purpose of providing Sanatoria and other institutions for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis.Due to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, construction was put on hold and restarted late in 1919. The sanatorium was offi cially opened by King George V and Queen Mary on 17th July 1920. The sanatorium was designed to accommodate beds for 304 patients.

Talgarth town map




In the foothills of the Black Mountains

Mynydd Troed

A good variety of accommodation can be found in and around Talgarth together with cafes, restaurants and pubs. Information on accommodation can be found from Talgarth Information and Resources Centre – www.visittalgarth.co.uk

Whilst you are in Talgarth please follow these guidlelines: Be safe – plan ahead and follow any signs Wear appropriate clothing and footwear for

outdoor activities in the mountains Leave gates and property as you fi nd them Protect plants and animals, take your litter home Keep dogs under control Consider other people

This Guide has been produced and funded by Talgarth Walkers are Welcome Group. Care has been taken to be accurate at the time of print in July 2018, but the Group does not accept

responsibility for any errors or their consequences.


Documents

DL Talgarth walks V5 PRINT JUL2018...and bungalows to a gate. Go through the gate on the left (Point 2) to walk straight up two fields with the hedge to your right. After crossing