Waterfall Country....

It hasn't been the greatest of starts to the school summer holiday with all the rain that we've recently had, however if your planning on taking a stroll to Waterfall Country this is no bad thing.

This is one of my favourite areas for a walk as it seems so secluded even though its only 20 mins from home. In Waterfall Country there are around 7 different walks, all starting from a few different locations within the Brecon Beacon National Park.

                    (Map Courtesy of Brecon Beacons National Park)

For Oscar and I this was just a short walk along the Elidir Trail classed on the Brecon Beacons National Park website as a very moderate to moderate walk. Myself and Oscar only walked around half of it on this occasion to Sgwd Gwladus and then back to the Angel Pub and car park. This is around a 1.5 mile walk to the waterfall and back to the car or pub...

The walk begins just to the right hand side of the Angel pub, through a swing gate and overhanging trees. The path follows the river Neath allowing you to take in the sights smell and sounds of the various smaller waterfalls along the path. With all the flowing water thundering down the valley, it gave me a chance to practice with the shutter speeds on the camera to get the water to blur. Some shots it worked brilliantly some not so well. but practice makes perfect.

All of the above shots were taken in the first 30 secs of the walk as there are various little points along the path that allow you to get down to river level and feel the power of the river.

The above photo shows the path and the proximity of the river to you. At all points the river is never more than 3 meters from the path, with the trees overhanging the path most of the time,the atmosphere along this walk is electric especially when the river is in full flow as it was this time. Walking along the path at this sort of proximity gives you a real sense of the power of the river. 

Oscar has recently taken to the water like a duck, given the state of the muddy path I was more than happy for him to take a little swim. Rather him than me as it was freezing. I kept him on the lead while he was in the river as given the strength and speed it was flowing at I didn't fancy chasing him down the path to launch a rescue effort.

As the path moves along the river it does start to climb and descend at  a few points, however at these points there are steps to assist and prevent walkers scrambling up the hills. You can certainly get people of all abilities on this walk, even if you have a little one in a pram. as where the path does get narrower, there are small places for people to tuck in and let others pass. 

 When the path comes out at Sgwd Gwladus you emerge into a massive open area that has been hollowed out over many years with the waterfall nestled into the north eastern corner. I took this photo from the western side of the path however just before you come out into the opening you can cross a bridge to swap sides of the valley. If you choose to do this you are able to walk behind the waterfall after scrambling across some of the rocks. I didn't do it on this occasion ( I have done this on previous occasions and I would recommend it I've included a photo below for you to see) as Oscar was a bit over keen on running everywhere and I didn't really want to end up in the river...

On the way back to the car I crossed the river at the bridge I mentioned above, and headed back down the river ever so slightly as at this point the river Neath meets the Afon Pyrddin. This is also the way to continue the walk further as Sgwd Gwladus is a dead end.

Oscar still managed to get dirty again so on the way back to the car we stopped off for him to have another swim/ bath. He was more than happy to jump in.

I honestly don't believe my words do this place justice, it has to be visited. I can't recommend it enough.
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think. Until next time....