Bit out of our normal area for this walk as we were down visiting my sister, Elen, and her husband, Ali, in Y Fenni. I had never done this walk before and so was totally dependant on Elen and Ali to find us somewhere nice! They didn’t let us down. My husband, Edd, also joined us today. He suffers from an autoimmune disease called Sarcoidosis so he isn’t able to join us on walks often - any kind of hill work causes him a lot of pain. This walk was about the limit of what he could achieve - but he did achieve it! This gives an idea of the difficulty of this walk- although we were up at the Blorens trig point we really didn’t have to do much climbing because of the location of the car parks. All the paths were straightforward and clearly defined. However, despite being an easy walk, you are at quite a height and the views are spectacular! This was little Anwen’s longest walk to date. She did really well and thoroughly enjoyed herself!
Distance: 3.28 miles / 5.27km (according to OS app.)
Time taken: 1hr 56
Total ascent: 345ft (OS app)
Parking: Yes - 2 car parks nearby. Free.
Facilities: None.
Walkers: Me (35yrs), Megan (6yrs), Anwen (3yrs), Edd, Elen and Ali.
1. There are a couple of possible car parks for this walk. We parked at the Pen-ffordd-Goch pond (also known as the Keeper’s Pond or the Forge Pond) car park. The Keeper’s Pond car park is located on the B4246 between Gofilon and Blaenafon. It is a very popular location for swimming and picnicking and was pretty busy due to it being such lovely weather and a bank holiday weekend. We managed to get parked but if it is full there is another car park further along (marked 2 on the map).
Families enjoying Pwll Pen-ffordd-Goch
Pwll Pen-ffordd-Goch
This pond was built as a reservoir in the early 19th century to provide water for Garnddyrys Forge, which started production in about 1817. The forge was dismantled during the 1860s and whilst the pond no longer fulfilled an industrial purpose, it rapidly became a local beauty spot. It also acquired the name Keeper’s Pond because the gamekeeper of the grouse moors lived in a cottage nearby.
To start the walk we turn left out of the car park and follow the main road for a short while, until we get to another lane turning off to the left. The road is quite fast but you can stay on a path that runs alongside. The single track lane on the left takes us up to the second option for car parking, known as Foxhunter’s Car Park. You can’t really miss it as there are two prominent WT station masts right next door!
Off we go…
Foxhunter’s Car Park
Never thought I’d be writing a history bit on a car park, but here we are! The car park is named in memory of… a horse! In 1952, Sir Harry Llewelyn rode Foxhunter to take Britain’s only Gold medal in the Helsinki Olympics (in the Team Jumping Equestrian event.) They had previously taken Bronze at the 1948 London Olympics.
Foxhunter and Sir Harry at the 1952 Olympics.
Foxhunter (formerly named Eelskin) was a bay, 16.3hh thoroughbred gelding who was bought by Llewelyn in 1947 after an unusual search. Sir Harry had been a top amateur jockey who had finished second and fourth in the Grand National before embarking on a distinguished military career. He changed sports after WW2 and found Foxhunter after a painstaking search of the records of every horse registered with the British Showjumping Association. He persuaded Norman Holmes (who had bought him as an unbroken 4 year old for £60) to part with the gelding at the end of his sixth year for £1,500 (about £63,000 today!)
It was an inspired choice as from the start the pair couldn’t stop winning. In a short international career that only lasted until 1956, among their major achievements was when Foxhunter entered the record books as the first and only horse to win three King George V Gold Cups. The pair combined showjumping and hunting until 1956. At Dublin that year, Foxhunter won the first and last classes at the show, after which he was immediately retired. “He went out at the top” said Harry at the time.
He died on 28th November 1959 at age 19. Such was his fame that his death was reported in a Pathe newsreel. “He had a ruptured artery to his kidneys and died very quickly,” explained Harry. “Shortly afterwards we decided on his burial. I owned some land on Blorenge mountain and right at the top are some rocks. Here, we found a cavity into which we put a stainless steel casket. In this was placed a book I had written, Foxhunter in Pictures, and his hide.” His skeleton was preserved and donated to the Royal Veterinary College, where it was put on permanent display in the college’s Anatomy Museum. When Sir Harry died in 1999 his ashes were scattered around the horse’s memorial.
Memorial to Foxhunter.
(We didn’t actually find the memorial ourselves - next time!)
Can’t resist some posing at the car park.
Gorgeous views, even from the car park.
2. After entering the car park keep left and you’ll easily spot the path leading to the summit of Blorenge. It’s an easy and gradual climb to reach the summit. Apparently the memorial to Foxhunter isn’t far along the path from the car park.
Some rocks to climb on!
Nice, easy track with the masts behind us.
Far reaching views on the way to the summit. We could see the Bristol Channel.
3. At the summit we stopped for a few minutes to take pictures by the trig point and to enjoy the view.
The Blorenge.
Blorenge is a prominent hill overlooking the valley of the River Usk near Y Fenni in southeast Cymru. It is situated in the southeastern corner of Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog and also within the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape, a World Heritage Site. The summit plateau reaches a height of 1,841 feet (561m). Much of the hill has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest principally for it’s heather moorland which is important for breeding red grouse.
It has been suggested that the mountain’s name may derive from the Welsh “plor” (pimple) and relating to the Middle English “blure” (blister), or else from “blawr ais” (grey ribbed). Blorenge is one of the very few words in the English language which is a perfect rhyme for orange.
Blorenge is believed to be a source of inspiration for Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander’s hymn “All Things Bright And Beautiful”. The fourth verse starts “The purple headed mountain, the river running by.” The mountain is believed to be Blorenge and the river is the Usk below.
By the trig point at the summit of Blorenge is a very large pile of rocks! According to Cadw, The monument comprises the remains of a burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c. 2300-800 BC). It is 15m in diameter and 2m high. A stone cist within the cairn is 1.4m long, 0.7m wide and 1m deep, formed of vertically set slabs. The capstone has been moved to one side.
A rare family photo!
Anti Elen ac Wncl Ali!
Regretting climbing up onto the cairn. She had to be rescued!
Poser!
After reaching the top we had fully intended to return the same way, but looking at my Strava app showed that just past the cairn was a path taking us down to a track which would lead back to Keeper’s Pond. A bit of a look in that direction showed that the path was pretty obvious and didn’t look too difficult or steep. Elen and Ali hadn’t done this route before - they usually do the short there-and-back or a much longer and more challenging circular walk. When given the choice of a circuit over a there-and-back… there’s really only one option for me! The trickiest bit was picking our way around the cairn. It wasn’t too hard though- I mean a 3 year old managed with some help! As soon as you get to the other side of the cairn to the trig point turn left down the hill.
Picking over the cairn.
Follow the path down.
Follow the path.
Once we get to the track at the bottom we turn left and it takes us straight back to the Keeper’s Pond. This track was once a horse-drawn tramroad which was used to transport limestone from quarries higher up the mountain. Nearby Blaenavon was a leading producer of iron and limestone which was distributed all over the world. A tramroad was built to connect Blaenavon to Llanfoist Wharf, which then connected to the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal for further distribution (our next walk will take us along the canal!) This tramroad passed around and through Blorens mountain.
Hill’s Tramroad.
In response to a surge in demand for iron during the Napoleonic wars the manager of the Blaenavon Ironworks, Thomas Hill II, built what became Hill’s Tramroad from Pwll Du to the Llanfoist Wharf around 1815. It connected Blaenavon to limestone quarries at Pwll Du and Tyla, then ran for 3 miles north-east from Pwll Du round the Blorenge Hill to Llanfoist Wharf. The tramroad passed through the Garnddyrys site in a tunnel.
The plans to build the forge in Cwm Llanwenarth on the west branch of the Blorenge included replacing a steeply sloped section of the tramroad from Blaenavon by a shallow gradient tramroad along the Pwll Du Tunnel, an extension of an earlier mine tunnel through the hill to Pwll Du. Hill’s Tramroad, a 2 feet gauge plateway, was opened from end to end by 1821. It carried limestone from the Tyla Quarries to the Blaenavon Ironworks, and carried cast iron from the ironworks to Garnddyrys Forge. From the forge it carried wrought iron to the Llanfoist Wharf. It also carried coal and limestone from Pwll Du to the coal yard and lime kilns at Llanfoist.
In 1860, the Garnddyrys works were closed, the forge was relocated to Forgeside, Blaenavon, and the northern branch of the tunnel at Pwll Du was closed. The tunnel continued to be used to carry limestone to Blaenavon. The limestone quarries closed after the General Strike of 1926, and the tunnel was no longer used.
Following the track alongside the mountain.
Anwen is a mini-Elen!
Just below you along this section, on the other side of the road, is the site of the Garnddyrys Forge. Built in 1816-1817, little remains today, but it was once a busy industrial site with a population of around 450 in the 1840s. At this point we were getting a little bit of whinging that little legs were hurting - a bit of cajoling kept us all going though. I’m really proud of Anwen… this was her longest walk yet and she did so well.
Keeper’s Pond comes into view.
Once you get to the pond, cross the bridge and walk alongside the water until you get back to the car park.
Looking down at the road.
View from the bridge.
Looking back along the pond.
I loved this walk. It’s pretty easy and there’s lot of interesting views and history. I definitely want to come back and explore more of this area in the future.
Sources.
https://www.visitmonmouthshire.com/things-to-do/keepers-pond-p1644591
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxhunter
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/plus/features-plus/legendary-showjumper-foxhunter-728915
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blorenge
https://ancientmonuments.uk/128509-cairn-on-the-blorenge-llanfoist-fawr
https://www.wanderingwelshgirl.com/blorenge-mountain-walks/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill%27s_Tramroad
https://www.visitblaenavon.co.uk/assets/documents/walk-and-explore/Treasure-Trail-Heather-and-Heritage.pdf
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