Christopher Somerville

The Nant Bwrefwr came sparkling down from the heights of Craig y Fan Ddu, chuckling over its gleaming black and red rocks as though at the folly of walkers who’d bust a sweat climbing the Brecon Beacons on a glorious summer morning as hot and sunny as this.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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Wild thyme and tiny white flowers of heath bedstraw jewelled the sedgy grass as we went slowly up towards the ridge. Up there a wonderfully welcome breeze was blowing from the precipitous valley of the Afon Caerfanell. We circled the rim to where the infant river tipped over the edge and cascaded down through a clutter of dry boulders. Bog cotton trembled like trapped swansdown over the surface of a pool framed in sphagnum moss as green and cool as a freshly cut lime.

The flat high heads of Fan y Big and Cribyn looked over the moorland to the north-west. We went on along the cliffs, past shaggy hill ponies and newly shorn sheep, to the far side of the valley. Here two jumbles of weather-pitted aluminium and a memorial cairn marked the site of a wartime aeroplane crash. Five Canadian airmen – Sergeants Beatty, Hayes, Mittle and Yuill, and their skipper, Flight-Sergeant JB Kemp – died on 6 July 1942 when their Wellington bomber lost direction on a training flight in low cloud and slammed into this hillside. It couldn’t be a more peaceful place, looking south through the jaws of the cleft to the blue ridges of the South Wales valleys, one behind another till they merge into the sky.

From the cairn at the end of the ridge we dropped steeply off the promontory, making across a grassy upland to descend beside the Afon Caerfanell. Following it down the valley and back to the car in clear hot sunlight we found orchids in the bogs, brilliant blue butterwort under the rocks, and a whole rake of families splashing and swimming and making the most of the cold waterfalls of the hastening, beautiful Caerfanell.

Start: Upper Blaen-y-glyn car park, near Pontstycill, Powys CF48 2UT approx. (OS ref SO 056176)

Getting there: From Merthyr Tydfil (A465, A470), follow ‘Pontstycill’ and ‘Talybont-on-Usk’. After 7 miles, just beyond road summit, left (signed) into car park.

Walk (5½ miles, moderate/hard, OS Explorer OL12. NB: online map, more walks at christophersomerville.co.uk): Return across cattle grid, immediately right on stepped path, steeply up to ridge (054183). Where path flattens, bear right; follow rim of valley clockwise for 1½ miles to saddle at head of valley where Blaen y Glyn cleft descends (057206). Right on path to aeroplane crash memorial (062200). Steep path ascends on left of stream gully; right along top of Cwar y Gigfran crags to cairn (067192) Bear half right, steeply down; on across upland plateau to wall; right down to Afon Caerfanell (062183). Left over stile; follow riverside path. In ½ mile, just before valley bends left (east), turn right by footpath fingerpost across footbridge (061174). On through kissing gate; in 50m, left at junction; in another 50m, just before concrete footbridge, right up steep path between 2 streams. At top, where trees open to left, turn left on wider track, which bends right to car park.

Conditions: Several steep climbs and descents; boggy path by Afon Caerfanell.

Lunch: Red Cow, Pontstycill (01685-384828). Several pubs/tearoom in Talybont-on-Usk. Nearest tearoom (March-Oct): Old Barn, Ystradgynwyn (01685-363358), 1½ miles south of car park on Merthyr Tydfil road.

Info: Brecon Beacons National Park (01874-623366; breconbeacons.org)

visitwales.com; ramblers.org.uk; theaa.com/walks;
www.satmap.com; www.LogMyTrip.co.uk

A warm, muggy Hampshire afternoon, and harvest time in the downland fields around Tichborne.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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Red and yellow monsters roared in the chalky fields, gobbling corn and peas off the stalks, vomiting the precious grains and globules into trailers and breathing out a musk of dust-clouds that drifted across the hedges. Bales of straw were excreted, ready-wrapped and stacked; the trailers rumbled through rutted gateways onto the lanes and jolted away to the silos, while the monsters swung round and attacked another strip of land.

In the lane we followed out of Tichborne and down to the Itchen valley, docks and nettle flowers hung sun-dried to a crisp. Bees busied themselves among sky-blue scabious flowers and sprigs of sharp-scented marjoram. The sun hid behind leaden milky clouds that leached the contrast out of the landscape colours, reducing all to pale ochres and olives. We turned south through Tichborne Park, a field away from the subdividing and reconnecting channels of the infant River Itchen, and came to the gates of Tichborne House, seat of the estate that once engendered a classic cause célèbre.

In the north chapel of Tichborne’s church lie generations of the Tichborne family. Some died full of years and honours; others fell victim as children to disease or accident. But the most famous Tichborne of all is absent – Roger Tichborne, 11th heir to the baronetcy, who drowned at sea in 1854. All Victorian England was scandalised and thrilled at the long-drawn-out trial of Arthur Orton, an Australian scallywag who laid claim to the Tichborne baronetcy by pretending to be the long-lost Roger. Orton ended up in jail and died a bitter man; his notoriety as the ‘Tichborne Claimant’ long outlived him.

I thought of the drowned heir and the Aussie chancer as we crossed the watercress banks and gravelly bed of the clear-running Itchen. Field edges and downland tracks led up towards Gander Down, along shady woodland paths, then out between wide cornfields where the harvesting monsters prowled. A snaky lane brought us back down to Tichborne with honeysuckle and bryony twined in the hedges, the woods in midsummer black along the ridges, the steamy sky heavy overhead and full of gathering flights of swallows. There was a feeling of stillness, a sense of all nature taking a deep breath before the great autumn movements of birds and the scurry of mammals and insects to fatten on hedgerow fruits before the onset of hungry old winter.

Start: Tichborne Arms, Tichborne, near Alresford, Hants SO24 0NA (OS ref SU 571304)

Getting there: Rail (thetrainline.com; railcard.co.uk) to New Alresford
Bus 67 (Winchester-Petersfield) to New Alresford.
Road – Tichborne is signed off A31 at New Alresford

Walk (6 miles, easy, OS Explorer 132): From Tichborne Arms, left up street. At left bend, right along track. In 500m, right at T-junction (567309) into valley. Cross road (572310); up track (‘Bridleway’); in 150m, right (573312; permissive bridleway, unmarked) along field edges, following ‘Itchen Way’. At gates of Tichborne House, cross stile (575305) and on along 3 field edges (yellow arrows/YA) to hedge gap onto road (580298). Right for 100m; right (‘Tichborne Arms’) across River Itchen. In 100m on right bend, left (579296, fingerpost) past Cheriton Mill (‘Wayfarers Walk’); on through fields for ⅔ mile to lane (581286). Right to Hill Houses (577284); fork right (‘Hill House’) along Restricted Byway. In ½ mile at barn, keep ahead (570284, ‘Bridleway’); in 150m, on next left bend, bear right through hedge (blue arrow) along path in woodland.

In 300m, leave woodland (565284); aim half right across open field for corner of hedge beyond dip (560283). Right here with hedge on left, through gate (561285); on along lane. In ½ mile pass big barn on left (564293); in 30m, left through hedge (stile, YA). Across field, through hedge; right along field edge (564296, ‘Restricted Byway’) for ½ mile to meet tarmac path (569302). Left past Old School House and stile into churchyard; follow hedged path to gravel track (570303); right to road, left to Tichborne Arms.

Lunch: Tichborne Arms, Tichborne (01962-733760; tichbornearms.co.uk)

Information: Winchester TIC (01962-840500; visit-hampshire.co.uk)
www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk visitengland.com

Well lathered in Avon Skin-So-Soft (kind to your skin, but also a proven defence against the bluidy midgies), Jane and I set out from Glen Nevis Visitor Centre on one of those West of Scotland mornings when the high tops have shawled themselves up in misty cloud after days of stair-rod rain, and only a fool, or a walker with X-ray Spex, is headed for the summits.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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Ben Nevis would have been a temptation in any other conditions, but what’s the point of getting all the way up there if you can’t see your hand in front of your face, let alone the view from the highest point in the British Isles?

Luckily for us there was a tasty alternative at hand, a low-level circuit of the glen where the River Nevis pours seaward at the feet of the mighty Ben Nevis range from the mountainous heart of Lochaber. The river ran dimpling over pebbly shallows and round bushy islets in a tunnel of alder, sycamore and ash. Sandpipers darted upriver with silvery calls and a flash of white rump.

On our left hand the flank of Ben Nevis rose into smoking grey cloud, great purple buttresses cut with gullies where white strings of rain-swollen torrents came tumbling – Red Burn, Five Finger Gully, Surgeon’s Gully. The forward view showed the river winding from its gorge under twin rugged peaks streaked with pale quartzite – Sgùrr a’ Mhàim and Stob Bàn. This must be one of Scotland’s greatest low-level prospects.

We passed an ancient graveyard, a square of immaculate sward inside mossy walls, guarded by wonderful old beech trees, silent and peaceful. The squelchy path dipped past Highland cattle with ferocious horns and mild manners.

We crossed the roaring Lower Falls of the River Nevis and hit the homeward stretch – a forest track running north, its verges thick with heath bedstraw, crimson and emerald sphagnum, and lime-green rosettes of insectivorous butterwort, the royal blue flowers nodding above on hair-like stalks. Good smells of wet rock, water, earth and pine resin followed us back up the glen, as sunlight broke through across the northern hills and Ben Nevis shrugged its high shoulders free of the clinging cloud shawl at last.

Start & finish: Glen Nevis Visitor Centre, Glen Nevis, near Fort William, PH33 6ST (OS ref NN 123730) – NB car park £3 in pound coins

Getting there: Rail (thetrainline.com) to Fort William (1½ miles). Bus 41 from Fort William (summer). Road: A82 to Fort William; follow ‘Glen Nevis’ signs.

Walk (8 miles, easy, OS Explorer 392): NB: online map, more walks: christophersomerville.co.uk): From Visitor Centre follow river downstream to cross suspension bridge (123731). Right upstream along left bank of river. In 1 mile pass bridge to youth hostel (128718); keep on by river for 2½ miles to pass cottages at Polldubh (142687). In 350m pass sheep pens; bear right to road. Right to cross Lower Falls (145684); along road for 300m; left by bus stop opposite cottages (143684) on broad forest track. Follow it for 2¾ miles to pass West Highlands Way/WHW spur descending on right (122717). In 350m join main WHW route (121721; thistle symbols). Follow it to road; left, then right to Glen Nevis Visitor Centre.

Conditions: Riverside path is rocky, stumbly and muddy in places. Many streams to ford.

Lunch: Snacks in Visitor Centre; Ben Nevis Inn (01397-701227, ben-nevis-inn.co.uk – above Achintee House, across river)

Accommodation: Glentower Lower Observatory, Achintore Road, Fort William PH33 6RQ (01379-704007, glentower.com)

Information: Glen Nevis Visitor Centre (01397-705922, ben-nevis.com/visitor-center); visitscotland.com
www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk visitengland.com

The slit opening in the cliff face above La Val de Rock lay half hidden behind a curtain of creepers.
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Inside, a chilly tunnel led into blackness – just one of hundreds of half-forgotten bunkers and towers that bear witness to the occupation of Guernsey by the German military during the Second World War. Hitler intended the Channel Islands to be an impregnable bastion against Allied invasion, and the concrete fortifications of his Atlantic Wall still stand stark and massive round the island’s coastline.

We followed the undulating path along the south-western cliffs where a line of German observation towers stood looking out over a jade-green sea. Bedded on dark gold Guernsey granite among pink drifts of thrift, their flat-topped and futuristic profiles stared out blankly, Easter Island heads re-imagined by a Bauhaus architect.

A path through neatly drilled potato fields and a tangle of narrow flowery lanes brought us down to the broad stretch of Rocquaine Bay, where dark bars of rock and pebbles intersected the pale sands. Halfway up the beach we ducked into the Shipwreck Museum in the Martello tower of Fort Grey – tableaux, memorabilia, wreck salvage and stories heroic, tragic and hilarious from dozens of Guernsey shipwrecks down the centuries.

Out on L’Erée Headland, guide Gill Gerard was waiting for the tide to ebb far enough to usher a score of clients across the causeway onto Lihou Island. This tiny green strip of islet is the westernmost point of the Channel Islands, a beautiful but rugged world apart. Fishermen in rubber boots, ormering hooks at the ready, were searching the receding tide-line for the large, elusive shellfish called ormers that are a proper Guernsey delicacy.

We splashed and skidded across the weed-strewn causeway and made a circuit of Lihou under Gill’s expert guidance – the ancient ruin of St Mary’s Priory, sea beet and samphire, murders and wrecks, herring gulls on their nests and tales of seaweed-munching sheep. And at the westerly tip of the Lihou, a view to sum up the reality of island life – harsh shores, bare grazing, a lonely lighthouse warning off shipping, and a hungry sea eating inexorably into the granite rocks.

Start: Imperial Hotel, Rocquaine Bay, Torteval GY8 0PS (Perry’s Guernsey map guide – widely available locally – p.32, D2)

Getting there: Aurigny (aurigny.com), Flybe (flybe.com) or Blue Islands (blueislands.com) to Guernsey. Bus service 11, 91, 92, 93 (buses.gg) to Portelet Bay.
Road – follow ‘Pleinmont’ signs from Rue des Landes, adjacent to Guernsey airport. Park near Imperial Hotel.

Walk (8½ miles, moderate; Perry’s Guernsey map guide pp.32, 26, 20, 12. NB: Online map, more walks at christophersomerville.co.uk): Pass public WC; follow road to Fort Pezeries (B1). Follow coast path, climbing between outcrops. At top, right to German tower (B2). Cross grass to coast path; follow it to pass another German tower (C4). Halfway between this tower and Watch House seen ahead, turn left off coast path (D5) along wide gravel field track to reach Rue de la Trigale (D4). Right to Route du Crolier; left; in 200m, fork right past Rocque à l’Or house (C3). Pass La Seigneurie; fork right downhill (D3) to Imperial Hotel. North along beach past Fort Grey shipwreck museum (P26, A1) to turn left off Les Sablons (‘Lihou Island’; P20, B1) along La Rue du Brave to parking place opposite Lihou Island (P12, A5). Explore L’Erée Headland, then cross causeway (see below) to explore Lihou Island. Return to bus stop on Les Sablons (P20, B1); Bus 11, 91, 92, 93 to Imperial Hotel car park.

Conditions: Lihou causeway is only open at LOW TIDE for variable lengths of time. Please check first! – tel 01481-717200; gov.gg; local radio, press; notices at causeway.

Lunch: Guernsey Pearl Café opposite Fort Grey (01481-266404)

Accommodation: Bella Luce Hotel, La Fosse, St Martin’s GY4 6EB (01481-238764, bellalucehotel.com) – really comfortable, friendly and stylish.

Guide: Gill Girard (07781-104094; gillgirardtourguide.com)

Fort Grey Shipwreck Museum (01481-265036): Mon-Fri, April-Oct, 10-4.30
Pleinmont Observation Tower (01481-238205): Wed and Sun, April-Oct, 2-5

Info: visitguernsey.com; 01481-72352
www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk

Walk: Follow roadway past public WC, west to Fort Pezeries, then cliff path (marked) for 1½ miles past two German observation towers. Midway between second tower and Watch House ahead, left on gravel field track to Rue de la Trigale. Follow lanes down to Imperial Hotel. North up beach for 1½ miles to L’Erée Headland. Cross causeway to Lihou Island; back to main road; bus to Imperial Hotel car park.

Heavy cloud hung over Belfast. After a couple of days sightseeing in the city we were itching to get up high and cram some hilltop air into our lungs.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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To the west of Belfast the cloud had cut the city’s heights off at the knees, but when we set off from the National Trust’s visit centre on Divis Mountain, the murk was already drifting clear of the tops.

NT Warden Dermot McCann filled us in on the network of walks the Trust has established up here, where all Belfast comes when it wants a good blow-through. ‘From Divis on a good day you can see, well … Cumbria and the Scottish coast across the sea, Belfast Lough, the Mourne Mountains, Donegal – and of course the whole of Belfast city laid out below.’

Divis is a wild place, amazingly so when you consider how close to the city it is. Moorland and blanket bog, bright with flowers in season, stretch off in all directions. The shoulder of Black Mountain shut Belfast away as we made our way up the hillside towards the summit masts on Divis Mountain. Meadow pipits flitted, crying chee-chee-chippit! Skylarks sprang up from sedgy clumps to climb their aerial staircases, tiny shapes fluttering frantically in a grey sky filled with their sweet continuous song.

From the summit of Divis the view was still a green-grey blur, but down at the trig pillar on the crown of Black Mountain we sat and took in the clearing prospect – Belfast Lough narrowing to push inland past the docks towards the crowded maze of the city centre, Cave Hill a dark ominous bulk hanging over the northern sector; a faint hint of the Ards Peninsula hills out west; and twenty miles away in the south the hunched back of Slieve Croob with the dramatic cones of the Mourne Mountains looking over its shoulder, palest grey against a white horizon. Of all the features in the city below us, the great yellow shipbuilding cranes Samson and Goliath and the silver ships’-prow shape of the Titanic Belfast museum stood clearest, picked out together in one concentrated beam of intense sunlight.

We followed the Ridge Trail southwest with Belfast on our left shoulder; then the whole city vanished like a dream once more as we turned for home across the boggy mountain under celestial lark song that had never let up the whole walk through.

Start: National Trust visitor centre, Divis Lodge, near Hannahstown, BT17 0NG (OS ref J273744)

Getting there: M1 south from Belfast, Jct 2. A55 past Andersonstown; in 1½ miles, left on B38 (‘Upper Springfield Road’). Just past Hannahstown, right (‘Divis & Black Mountain’); in ½ a mile, right opposite Long Barn car park (free parking) to NT visitor centre car park (moderate charge – coins).

Walk (6 miles, moderate, OSNI Discoverer 15; walk maps downloadable at nationaltrust.org.uk or walkni.com. NB: online map, more walks at christophersomerville.co.uk): Right along road through gate; left (‘Summit & Heath Trails’) up track. In ½ a mile at fork, follow ‘Summit Trail’. Just before circular butt (276755) right up rock-studded trail to Divis summit trig pillar (281755). Follow access road down to road (285749). Left; before masts, right (‘Ridge Trail’) up boardwalk, then gravel path to Black Mountain summit trig pillar (294748). On south-west along Ridge Trail (gravel, boardwalk, flagstones) for 2½ miles back to road (275745); left to NT centre.

Lunch: Picnic, or snacks at NT centre café.

Information: NT Visitor Centre, Divis Lodge (028-9082-5434; nationaltrust.org.uk/divis-and-black-mountain);
discovernorthernireland.com; walksireland.com