Author Topic: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells  (Read 6736 times)

mike knipe

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Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« on: 10:46:35, 10/06/08 »
...bit of a poblem with my home phone line just now, so I'm posting this from the library..
Pics of this will be added as soon as the phone line is fixed.
This trip was a visit to the annual marilyn baggers bash in Builth Werlls - next years is at Strontian.
A bunch of us camped at a community centre and tasted the fleshpots of Builth Wells, including a barby and a dinner at the Greyhound. In between all of these jollifications, I managed to bag  a little hill called Garth, just overlooking the town (Friday).
On saturday, me and Colin - another TGO chaallenger - went off to the slightly bigger hills to the west to bag Drygarn fawr - a gentle bit of moorland with two enormous and quite classy cairns on the top - plus Gorlwynn - a mile or so away over more grassy moors. This is a cracking area for anybody who really wants a bit of space.  We covered about ten miles.
Sunday, I went into a bagging frenzy and colected carneddau - a Howgill-like hill just South of Builth, Gwuanceste Hill where there was a mountain bike race on - with one poor bloke nursing a broken arm - Glascwm Hill - and then The Begwyns - some way to the South with fab views of the Black Mountain and Breckon Beacons.
This is an odd hill - quite gentle and grassy but with the summit inside a large circular enclosure called "the roundabout" - inside which there was a large birthday party going on.
On Gwuanceste and the Begwyns, I also met Dorothy - another  mad bagger and TGO challenger. Both Dorothy and Colin are into four fiigures for the number of Marilyns bagged - we are just not worthy...!
10 miles and 210 feet of climbing and a camp at Pen y Bont... then home up the M6...
Pics later - but I'm running out of library time

A couple of pics now attached...
« Last Edit: 11:37:03, 01/07/08 by mike knipe »
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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al

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Re: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« Reply #1 on: 13:00:50, 06/09/08 »
Hi Mike
        I am of on holiday to Builth Wells in a couple of weeks time.I am not very good at map reading.I was wondering if the walks you did were well marked .What OS maps did you use.I am there for two weeks so i want to get plenty of walking done.
  Would appreciate all the help i can get .On my own and will never see 17 again  ::)just a wee bit cautious in a new place.
                                                            Thanks AL         

mike knipe

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Re: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« Reply #2 on: 13:57:35, 06/09/08 »
Hello Al

The two maps I mainly used were OL188 Builth Wells/Llanfair-ym-Muallt and OL200 Llandidrod Wells & Elan Valley.

The walks weren't in a guide book or on a website and, mainly, they were very short - except the one on Drygarn Fawr, which was the only one which might have difficult navigation in poor weather. This one started at the head of Caban coch reservoir and has a fair amount of fairly featureless moorland and plenty of opportunity for not finishing up where you might have planned to finish up (!)

The other walks were very short - eg the Garth trip is straight out from Builth Wells and is a pleasant hour or so stroll on a green hill with cracking views. Similarly, the Begwns/Roundabout walk is a pussycat done from the minor road just South of Painscastle - lots of opportunities for even further hazard-free explorations on this friendly hill (see? I'm encouraging you to have a walk on this one!)

The Carneddau is just East of BW and is a bit more like hillwalking, but is pretty easy - the main problem seems to be finding parking on the main road, - but a lay by on the A481 near Lower Pentre seems as good a place as anywhere to park (although it was officially closed when I went there). From the map, there seems to be more opportunities to walk on the nearby Castle Bank hill just a bit North-East from Carneddau to make a fuller expedition of this hill. Good hill, though - no difficulties with it...

The Gwaunceste Hill walk was a quick bag from Three Wells near Gascwm. This is mainly heather moorland with tracks and bridleways. Nothing specially difficult about the area, although I found the overal geography of how the area fits together a bit difficult to understand..

In general terms, the hills around BW are relatively small and isolated or in small groups - such that the opportunities for getting properly lost are restricted and there's nothing much to fall off.  I dare say there'll be guidebooks available in the local shops which will have somewhat better routes than my quick and dirty bagging walks...

I'm not much of an authority on the area, though as I've only been the once.....
« Last Edit: 14:01:50, 06/09/08 by mike knipe »
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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ukmase

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Re: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« Reply #3 on: 23:42:41, 06/09/08 »
Hey Mike, long time since i posted but this caughy my eye. What are people of the Marrilyn group like, i really enjoy reading the yearly news letter etc. Heard someone finally climbed that sea stack we talked about before.

mike knipe

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Re: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« Reply #4 on: 00:14:27, 07/09/08 »
Eyyup Mr Mase... how's your junior bagger doing?

As for the Marilyn baggers -    Mostly, they're reasonable, friendly and welcoming etc........... Whilst I do bag a few Marilyns, I'm not really very active at all in the group itself-  ;)


 
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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ukmase

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Re: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« Reply #5 on: 00:15:36, 07/09/08 »
He's not doing too bad, last seen on the summit of Barrow in the lakes.

ukmase

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Re: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« Reply #6 on: 00:18:21, 07/09/08 »
Quote
Whilst I do bag a few Marilyns

Bit of an under statement if i ever seen one  ;D

mike knipe

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Re: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« Reply #7 on: 15:52:34, 07/09/08 »
Bit of an under statement if i ever seen one  ;D

24 new Marilyns bagged so far this year, bringing me up to a total of 436.  For non-Marilyn baggers this may seem a reasonable tally , but in reality , its not really in the same league as the majority of  yer "proper" Marilyn baggers, some of whom will have racked up 100+ new ticks by comparison.  So, whilst I'm under no illusion about being in the Conference league, the fact that I'm not too bothered about it probably explains why I haven't done more.

However - I'm hoping to bag a couple at Wanlockhead, maybe next week, maybe with an overnight at Sanquhar....  and Ive got a fortnight's hols booked in a cottage in North Wales in October which ought to deliver a bit more wear to my ticking pencil. I'll be struggling to hit 450 this year, though, cos my nearest unticked English hill is in Lincolnshire, or near Thornhill in Dumfrieshire in Scotland.
Cracking area around Wanlockhead by the way......
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

See the blog!  www.northernpies.blogspot.com

al

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Re: Mad Baggers bash Builth Wells
« Reply #8 on: 12:58:45, 13/09/08 »
Thanks Mike for the info.All i need now is some decent weather to go with it .
                                                                                                                Al

 

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