Â鶹Éç

Goytre Wharf to Myndd Garn Wen

Chris Barber and Derek

  • Location: Goytre Wharf to Myndd Garn Wen.
  • Distance: 5.5 miles
  • Time: Approx 3 hrs
  • Walking guide: Chris Barber, South Wales Editor of 'Walking Wales' magazine.

In order to see this content you need to have both enabled and installed. Visit for full instructions

Walk description

Goytre to Mynydd Garn Wen is a walk blessed with variety, atmospheric medieval pathways, wonderful views and abundance of ancient and recent history.

This moderately energetic walk starts at Goytre Wharf, ending at St Illtyd's church in Mamilhad.

  • Share your experiences of this and other walks in

Highlights of this walk

The discovery of the hidden valley - Cwm Lasgarn, which literally translates as 'the valley of the pile of blue stones'. On the day of the visit though, no stones were evident?

Things of interest

Nestled in the banks of a shady brook lies the site of a Holy Well - Ffynnon Angaeron.

The well is set back into ground like a stone fireplace with a small brass bell in place of the fire.

In 1890, Thomas Thomas of Cdf noted that the well, contained pins, nails, pencils and buttons indicating that it was probably used as a wishing well at some point.

Geology on this walk

After an arduous climb, Derek arrived at the trig point marking the summit of Mynydd Garn Wen - one of the highest peaks in Monmouthshire and part of a ridge that traverses the length of the county towards Abergavenny.

At 1394' or 425 m the OS trig point is rather distinctive due to the numerous outcrops of quart conglomerate or 'pudding stone' made from white chunks of quartz (1 - 2 cm in size) set in a finer silicate or sandy matrix.

History on this walk

Adjacent to the trig point is the site of World War Two air crash, where the 'Bristol Blenheim' bomber crashed in 1940, killing its crew.

After passing the Pontypool Folly - a 38 feet tall octagonal tower, the route descends along the site of an ancient, enclosed track way - thought to be Roman. A Roman coin from the 3rd Century AD was found at the bottom of the path.

Care should be taken on this section particularly during wet weather as the original cobbled top surface is weathered smooth, and broken in places.

  • Read a detailed version of this walk on .

Bookmark this page:

Nature and outdoors blog

Discover all sorts of things to see and do around Wales' great outdoors, with wildlife and walks to the latest weather updates.

Derek Brockway

Last week most of Wales enjoyed a taste of summer. At the ...

By:

Radio Wales

Select a walk from 2009 and click the play button.

Your current UK location is Cardiff

Multiple locations have been found.

Please refine your location by choosing a place name from the list.

Sorry, no results were found. Please try again.

Weather for Cardiff
Sunday Monday Tuesday
Conditions sunny

sunny

cloudy

cloudy

sunny intervals

sunny intervals

Max Temperature Max: 16°C Max: 13°C Max: 13°C
Min Temparature Min: 10°C Min: 8°C Min: 6°C

Five-day forecast

Breathing Places

Find breathing places near you:

Â鶹Éç iD

Â鶹Éç navigation

Â鶹Éç © 2014 The Â鶹Éç is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.