Sugar Loaf Mountain

With Simon named on the insurance, we were very appreciative of having access to Graham’s car as we set off to Wales.

We made the most of Georgie’s book “the Extra Mile” to find a lovely café in Clevedon just 5 minutes off the motorway for our morning coffee.  We continued on to Abergavenny to the base of Sugar Loaf, one of the highest peaks in the Black Mountains, part of the Brecon Beacons National Park.  

Whilst the skies were brilliant blue, the views were hazy so we couldn’t appreciate the full beauty of the walk as we climbed past the Welsh ponies to the domed peak.  There were a myriad of tracks to choose from and in summer the approach must be covered in bracken based on the brown, withered fronds that peppered the landscape.  

Despite the haze, the views were still good and we found a sheltered spot to enjoy our picnic lunch before taking a different route back to the car.

It was only a short drive to Pencelli and whilst we had the postcode, the road stopped at a collection of bins and we couldn’t see any reference to Pantllefrith so we returned to the canal where I rang Kathy.  Turns out we had been close and just needed to take the track opposite the bins. 

We soon found the house, a beautiful 400-year-old stone cottage with expansive views.  We received a warm welcome from Kathy – an old school friend who I hadn’t seen since we spent Christmas together when I was living in England many years ago. 

Bags deposited, on instruction from Kathy, her husband, Justin, took us on a tour of the estate – and explained the work they had undertaken to date, including levelling land big enough for a tennis court and its associated viewing platforms. Kathy and Justin had bought the house, a listed building in the national park, when it was uninhabitable and had trees growing out of the chimneys.  They have done an amazing job to restore and appropriately furnish it. 

Dinner was a delicious venison sausage casserole, accompanied by some of the Butterleigh pub wine that we had purchased from Graham.

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