STICK no.12

The stick was originally given to my daughter Helen and her friend Sarah at the Eisteddfod in Cardiff. Helen decided to pass it on to me because she knows I do a lot of walking. Actually, I think it was a bit of a peace offering because she’d been going to come and see us but got waylaid in a pub instead and didn’t make it!

Anyway, I’d had the stick for a few weeks, but because of all the rain in August and early September I hadn’t got round to going for a walk in the hills. I had intended to leave it on the summit of Sugar Loaf on 6th September, but the road to Abergavenny was closed because of flooding, so the stick and I didn’t make it to that walk.

But the sun came out at last, and last Sunday I joined a Brecon Beacons Park Society guided walk from Llanfrynach, east of Brecon. We were so lucky with the weather, dry and sunny all day, with just a bit of a breeze and fluffy white couds. It was a beautiful walk too, starting with a fairly steep climb up onto Bryn, then around the escarpment to Fan y Big; the views were superb.

Several people had asked me about the stick I was carrying, so at coffee break on Bryn I told the group about the Walk With Me project, which generated considerable interest and approval.

I had decided to leave it at the top of Fan y Big, next to the Beacons Way Art Trail installation which is placed on a low rock there. I felt quite sad to leave it behind, and a bit anxious, hoping that whoever found it would appreciate it and take care of it. I needn’t have worried; as we were descending Cefn Cyff I realised that one of our party was carrying it. She had decided that she didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands and had picked it up. I shall watch the website with interest to find out where she takes it next.

We finished the walk by descending into Cwm Oergwm to ford the stream and return to Llanfrynach through pretty woodland, altogether a delightful day out.

The Brecon Beacons Park Society puts on three guided walks every weekend throughout the year. Most of the walks are for experienced walkers. If you would like to find out more about our Guided Walks take a look at our website: www.breconbeaconsparksociety.org .

Also on the website are links to the Beacons Way and the Beacons Way Art Trail.

Anne