The Cat's Back

Another month; another mountain! In truth, this one only qualifies as a big hill, but a bilingual information board at the bottom welcomes visitors to the Black Mountains and that's good enough for me. Bilingual? – a touching courtesy for our neighbours, no doubt, which I hope they appreciate since The Cat's Back is in England. Croeso i Loegr!

I'm indebted to my rambling and uke-playing friends Lyn and Geoff for telling me about this one, which features in none of my walk books or magazine cuttings. It starts with a short, steep climb from the car park, followed by a much more gentle ascent along the narrow Cat's Back ridge, with splendid views back down the broad valley towards Abergavenny. To the east we could make out the Malvern Hills, some 40 miles away.

After the ridge, the walk continues to the summit of Black Hill. The views from here are not so great, so here's another photo of me, looking rather pleased with myself.

By now the sky had turned cloudy and a cool breeze had developed to gently blow us on our way – perfect walking weather; not too hot, not too cold. So rather than plotting a course back to the car from here, we decided to turn our walk into a 'good 9-miler' and press on to Hay Bluff.

I'll spare you the anguish of another pic of me, pirouetting next to a trig point. Instead, here's the view looking west over the flat expanse of Hay Bluff, with clear evidence that we had now crossed the border into Wales.

It really was time now to turn south and head back to our car.  We could have retraced our steps along The Cat's Back but instead joined the Offa's Dyke footpath, which more-or-less follows the England-Wales border.

Those horses are just in England. To take the photo, I'm proud to say that I had my left foot in England and my right in Wales. As I'm half English and half (Celtic) Cornish, it felt kind-of appropriate.

This spot is marked on the OS map as Pile of Stones. I wonder why?

Nearby, lying on its side, was this old way stone, pointing to the Olchon Valley (left) and Capel-y-ffin (straight on). It marked the point at which our route left the Offa's Dyke path.

Capel-y-finn looks interesting and is another destination recommended by Lyn and Geoff.  A problem for us is that this area, 1¾ hours travelling from our home, is on the limit of what can easily be enjoyed on a day trip.  Yet I feel drawn to exploring it more, so perhaps a night or two in a guest house is in prospect for the not-too-distant future. Or perhaps I'll buy an old camper van. Yes, that might be fun.  Ah... 'tis nice to dream.

Finally, here's a view of The Cat's Back from the opposite side of the Olchon Valley, just after we'd left Offa's Dyke and turned east. It looks rather tame from this side, don't you think?