A Winters Tale.
03rd February 2019
Yesterday Susan and I went for a drive and a walk around the area, with the aim of getting a few shots of the recent snow. We attempted to get up onto Mynydd Illtud but failed miserably because the road leading up there was a sheet of impassable ice. We then decided to drive along the A470 Brecon to Merthyr Tydfil road – big mistake!! I should know better, the scene which unfolded before us could only be described as madness. Literally hundreds of parked cars lined the road and all the layby’s were also rammed with vehicles. The Storey Arms car park was jam - packed and the newly constructed Pont Y Daf car park was also ‘chock a block’. Lines of people, reminiscent of ‘Marching Ants’ were going up and down the mountain in their quest to reach the summit of Pen y Fan. I had no doubt the Neuadd car park in the next valley was also rammed full. I cannot understand why everybody has to walk up to Pen Y Fan and nowhere else, they must have a ‘Lemming’ mentality. I fear my days of walking in that area are finished because the last thing I want to do is walk in a queue!
Fifty years ago, when I was just a kid my mates and I used to ride our bikes from Merthyr up the A470 road to the Storey Arms, it seemed like an epic adventure, traffic was light and the road was much more undulating. There were no car parks then, Storey Arms had a small pull – in for lorry drivers who wanted to get something to eat in the café there. We used to have a much anticipated hot pie and a cup of tea before we made the return journey to Merthyr, which was much easier because it was mostly downhill. When I started to walk the Beacons forty five years ago, in the aforementioned Neuadd valley you could park your vehicle outside the old water treatment works and walk from there, it was always very quiet. I could walk for three or four hours and not see anyone and there would still be no other cars parked where I had left mine. If you came across anyone walking, then odds – on you would know them because there was only a small core of walkers who did the Beacons regularly. I remember three old blokes who I used to see, they were getting on for seventy then, and one of them used to use a walking stick and if the mist was down really thickly you couldn’t see anything but I could hear the ‘Tap - Tap’ of his stick and I knew who it was without seeing them - they must be long gone now, also disappeared into the mists of time.
Those old mountain walkers, if they were alive today would be amazed at the current scene.
Apologies for the digression, Susan and I couldn’t wait to escape the mayhem and we slowly drove our way back to Brecon. I have had a shot in mind for some time now and it was from just outside Llanhamlach Church with the Beacons in the background.
We pulled in near the church and after some thought on the best position I finally came up with a shot. It was now a very cold scene with a bitter breeze blowing so I took a few shots and we headed for home.
Fifty years ago, when I was just a kid my mates and I used to ride our bikes from Merthyr up the A470 road to the Storey Arms, it seemed like an epic adventure, traffic was light and the road was much more undulating. There were no car parks then, Storey Arms had a small pull – in for lorry drivers who wanted to get something to eat in the café there. We used to have a much anticipated hot pie and a cup of tea before we made the return journey to Merthyr, which was much easier because it was mostly downhill. When I started to walk the Beacons forty five years ago, in the aforementioned Neuadd valley you could park your vehicle outside the old water treatment works and walk from there, it was always very quiet. I could walk for three or four hours and not see anyone and there would still be no other cars parked where I had left mine. If you came across anyone walking, then odds – on you would know them because there was only a small core of walkers who did the Beacons regularly. I remember three old blokes who I used to see, they were getting on for seventy then, and one of them used to use a walking stick and if the mist was down really thickly you couldn’t see anything but I could hear the ‘Tap - Tap’ of his stick and I knew who it was without seeing them - they must be long gone now, also disappeared into the mists of time.
Those old mountain walkers, if they were alive today would be amazed at the current scene.
Apologies for the digression, Susan and I couldn’t wait to escape the mayhem and we slowly drove our way back to Brecon. I have had a shot in mind for some time now and it was from just outside Llanhamlach Church with the Beacons in the background.
We pulled in near the church and after some thought on the best position I finally came up with a shot. It was now a very cold scene with a bitter breeze blowing so I took a few shots and we headed for home.