27th July 2017 The Sugar Loaf Abergavenny

Sometimes the most spontaneous of ideas can be the best. This walk was no exception. As it was our 8^th anniversary this week we thought we would go to a town and have some food and do some shopping. As we hate shopping we decided to add a short walk to reduce shopping time. We decided on Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. Upon unfolding the map we saw it is a treasure trove of hilltop walks. We abandoned the shopping idea and set out for Sugar Loaf Mountain.

The initial climb up to the Sugar Loaf

 The walk begins half way up the hill already which wasn’t really cheating as we planned to go all the way down to Abergavenny and climb back to the car. The car park is free and has a rather spectacular view already. The weather was slightly oppressive but thankfully there was only the threat of rain. The initial climb was fairly steep but offered some varied and interesting terrain. Annoyingly there were lots of sheep around so Chuck had to spend a lot of time on the lead. He had a good stick chase first though so he was glad of the rest.

Triumphal pose. Admittedly not quite at the top.

The top of the Sugar Loaf was a rather rocky feature and was peeping at us from various points leading up to it. It was surprisingly busy up there which is good to see. Plenty of families and groups up there. The views are spectacular and it appears to be the highest peak for quite some distance. Pen-y-Fan can just be made out in the distance. This is the highest point in South Wales, I think.

The camera doesn't do justice to the views from the top.

The route down started through an enormous field of ferns before dropping into a gully with a large variety of trees. Every couple of hundred yards revealed a completely different tree-scape. We came out on a small road down to the town. There were the carcasses of thousands of Hazelnuts on the road. Unfortunately any edible ones had been literally squirreled away. Shame. A little further down the road was a vineyard and wine tasting centre. We didn’t go in but it’s certainly somewhere we might revisit.

The Sugar Loaf in all it's glory. It's a popular walk as you can see.

Abergavenny is a rather nice old fashioned market town. It was very busy and had lots of independent shops which is nice to see. We stopped in a pub called the Hen and Chickens which was great. A review will follow. As the sky was blackening we didn’t hang around too long. About 45 minutes later we were back at the car. All in all it had been a rather wonderful day. Not what we’d planned but much better.

The vineyard. Maybe next time.

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