Walking Around Rhayader and Elan Valley Guidebook

by: Martin Wright
The busy, friendly market town of Rhayader offers an eastern gateway to the Cambrian Mountains. Well served by a range of shops, pubs, hotels and cafes, the town lies within a sublime landscape which unfolds into hills and moorland from the basin of the Wye Valley. The high land to the west, increasing known by its ancient name of Elenydd is one of the loneliest and wildest spaces south of the Scottish border.

Over millennia mankind has played a decisive role in the development of the landscape we see today, chiefly through sheep farming. The Cistercian monks profitable managed sheep-walks in the medieval period, and a section of their ancient road between the abbeys of Cwm Hir and Strato Florida provides on of the most striking routes in this book. More recently the great Victorian engineers transformed the local landscape by creating vast sheets of water held back by the Gothic architecture of their monolithic dams. These impressive reservoir constructions add a powerful theme to walks in the Elan Valley.

The 20 walks in this guide vary in length from 3 to over 10 miles, offering a range suitable for all abilities. Each walk has an introductory description describing its features, which is followed by detailed route finding instructions supported by a sketch map.

The walk locations are:
Wye Valley south from Rhayader - 5 miles
Castle Hill - 2.75 miles
Maen Serth and Wye Valley north from Rhayader - 9.5 miles
Llanwrthwl - 3 miles
Abbey-cwm-Hir and Camlo Hill - 5.5 miles
Garreg Lwyd, Bryn Titli windfarm and Wye Valley - 7.5 miles
Crugyn Ci - 6 miles
Cwm Elan Mine and Moelfryn - 4.5 miles
Caban Coch Reservoir - 7 miles
Garreg Ddu Reservoir - 6 miles
Pen y Garreg Reservoir, Crugyn Ci and The Roman Camp - 7.5 miles
Nant Madog - 5.5 miles
Carn Gafallt - 8 miles
Llanwrthwl skyline - 8 miles
Claerwen and Elan - 11 miles
Y Gamriw - 11 miles
Drygarn Fawr - 8.5 miles
Llyn Carw - 7.5 miles
The Monk's Trod - 9 miles
Gwyn LLyn - 5 miles

ISBN 9781902302591 Pages 40 (2013) 148mm x 210mm