The Western Black Mountains: Sunshine, Gales, and Hail

Friday 12 September 2025

Vince and I had planned another weekend of hillwalking in Wales, and for the first time since 2022, Jack was joining us again, having now finished his studies. After the hottest UK summer on record, we somehow managed to pick a weekend with heavy rain and gales in the forecast. The Met Office had issued yellow wind warnings – but we were mildly reassured that it wasn’t quite bad enough to be named the first storm of autumn.

We left Wantage in Vince’s car early in the afternoon, bound for our guest house in Abergavenny. True to form, our journey wasn’t without delays. We hit a hold-up on the M4 after a collision between a lorry and a small truck. The truck was transporting a McLaren F1, and someone’s very expensive car looked rather poorly.

Upon arrival, the owner of the Park House Guest House welcomed us, and we sorted out times for breakfast. Anticipating the weather ahead, he also mentioned a drying room we’d be free to use - a detail that would prove invaluable.

After settling in (Vince and I sharing a twin room and Jack having his own), we made tea and began discussing route options. We had a few Nuttall routes in mind: 13.4 Fan Fawr, 13.2 Waun Rydd, or the remaining three peaks from 12.2 The Western Black Mountains, which we’d partially completed back in March 2024. After poring over the maps and weighing up the forecast, we agreed on the Western Black Mountains.

With plans made, we walked into town for dinner at Wetherspoons, which would become our regular evening spot for all three nights. Vince and I tried a guest ale - Rutland Beast from The Grainstore Brewery in Leicestershire – which remained our drink of choice for the weekend.

Saturday 13 September 2025

After a 7:30 breakfast, we stopped by at the Morrison’s Daily for lunch supplies. Jack’s choice of a baguette struck me as a brave one; would it survive intact in his rucksack? (Spoiler - it did!).

The 10-mile drive to the Mynydd Du Picnic Area car park at Blaen-y-cwm took only about 30 minutes. As we arrived and began to pull on our boots, the first drops of rain began to fall. Vince and Jack wisely donned their waterproof over-trousers straight away, while I decided to rely on my Mountain Equipment Ibex trousers.

We set off at 9:20, walking about 900 metres along the road beside the Grwyne Fawr stream. It looked perfect for dippers, and sure enough, we soon spotted one - a great start to the day. At the end of the road, we crossed a stile and forded the river. The mapped path was hard to spot at first, but Vince soon found it hidden in the bracken, while I was distracted watching the dipper that had followed us upstream.

The track climbed steeply through the bracken before opening onto the hillside, with Mynydd Du Forest on our left. The rain eased off, and Jack decided it was safe to take off his over-trousers.

By 10:30 we reached our first summit, Pen y Gadair Fawr - a broad, low heap of stones marking the top. Although the summit was clear, the wind was fierce, making it difficult to take our usual summit photos.

A well-made gravel path led us onwards to our next peak, Waun Fach. The wind continued to batter us, but patches of blue sky began to break through the clouds. I stopped to pull on an extra fleece as the chill set in. A couple of other walkers were at the top when we arrived, but they soon left, leaving us the summit to ourselves for a quick banana break..

We retraced our steps back to Pen y Gadair Fawr, which was now much clearer. The cloud base had lifted, revealing views all around, and we managed some far better summit photos the second time around. From there, a grassy path led us south-east toward our final peak of the day, Pen Twyn Mawr. Along the way, a herd of wild Welsh ponies watched us curiously. The sun was out and the sky dotted with white clouds, but the wind refused to ease. As with the other summits, a modest pile of stones marked the top.

With our three objectives complete, we continued along the grassy path, deciding that we would stop for lunch at the cairn where our trail met the footpath that would lead us down through the forest. Just as we located the cairn, it started to rain, and within moments, it turned into a hailstorm. The stinging hail sent us dashing for the cover of the forest. We scrambled over a stile and descended about 100 metres until we reached a forest road. We ate our lunch under the cover of the trees. By the time we finished, the hail and rain had stopped.

We continued our descent through the forest on paths and forestry roads, briefly losing our way before retracing a few steps to get back on track. Eventually, we emerged onto the same road we had driven in on earlier, leaving a final 1.5 km walk back to the car.

I suggested making use of the picnic table at the car park for a coffee and a slice of lemon drizzle cake, but as soon as we sat down, the rain started up again. We dashed for cover in the car and enjoyed our cake there instead - a familiar end to a day of ever-changing Welsh weather.

Summit	Height (m)	Status
Pen y Gadair Fawr	800	Hewitt, Nuttall
Waun Fach	811	Hewitt, Nuttall, Marilyn
Pen Twyn Mawr	658	Nuttall

All the weekend photos can be seen here