Newsletter - Fan Fawr walk - Saturday 30th September

On Saturday, that temptress Laura lures us on a Beacons walk. We had a cracking walk last Saturday (even if I say so myself!) and you can expect the walk on Saturday to be the same.

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Back to Nature and on to Fforest Fawr

Imposing crags and rolling moorland with great views as we climb from a couple of miles north of the Storey Arms to Fan Frynych, taking in the impressive Craig Cerrig-gleisiad Cliffs and to the Summit of Fan Fawr. Eyes peeled for peregrine falcons, before heading back to base and on to Libanus for a well earned pint.
Please contact Laura for more info - 07968109145.

Distance 8-9 Miles

Meet Point County Hall at 9:30 or Lay-by about a mile and a half further on from Storey Arms 10:30

Dogs Of course dogs are allowed, but as usual, the owner must take full responsibility for them and ensure they are under proper control.

Equipment Rain gear, good footwear food and drink. Check the website for a full list, remember, this is a hill walk in a remote area.

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Weekend in Pembrokeshire - 24th to 26th November


Don't forget to reserve your place and send a deposit of £10 to me (Rob). Cheques are now made payable to Tawe Trekkers.

Cheques to be posted to:

Rob Lewis
89 Gellifawr Road
Morriston
Swansea
SA6 7PW

Total cost as yet unconfirmed, but as I say, if we fill the hostel it will be £8.35 per night/£16.70 for two.

In a bad case scenario and we only get, say 10 people from both groups coming (unlikely), then it will still only be £15 per night.

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Hikefest

If you want to travel further afield than the Beacons, then this may be of ineterest.

Just a quick note to remind you that Hikefest, the annual "Big Event" weekend takes place this coming weekend at Llangollen in North Wales. As usual, a limited number of last minute places are available, so if you fancy a great weekend of walks and socialising with members from across the UK come and join us. Full details of the event can be found at www.ramblers.org.uk/info/events/hikefest06.html along with a downloadable booking form.

The cost for the Full Weekend Package is £70 which includes Friday & Saturday night B&B at the hostel, the Saturday night party inc. entertainment, mexican theme buffet, mulled wine, bar, plus fresh sandwiches on Saturday & Sunday and free tea & coffee all weekend.

In addition, there are several other special late booking options available:

Non-Accommodation Option (£45) For those preferring to stay elsewhere, this includes the above except for overnight accommodation & breakfast.

One Night Stand (£43) For those only requiring Saturday accommodation this includes the party (buffet, bar), Saturday night B&B and Sunday sandwiches.

Saturday Night Party (£15) Includes entertainment & buffet only. (you can attend the walks of course!)

Members wishing to come along for our Saturday walks are welcome to do so. Meet at thw Llangollen YHA Centre at 9.00am and join the leader for your chosen walk.

To reserve your place tel: 0115 878 9830

Booking forms should be send by post with a cheque payable to The Ramblers Association to Hikefest, 44 The Downs, Silverdale, Nottingham, NG11 7DY

Please feel free to circulate these details to other members, but hurry as bookings close on Thursday 28th September at 9.00pm.

Newsletter - Black Mountain walk and other stuff

This Saturday, we are heading out into the depths of the Black Mountain to explore the central region of this mysterious wilderness. In the meantime, Doug has been exercising himself organising the Pembroke weekend, more about that later. First things first though.

Cwn Twrch - Black Mountains walk.

This is a hill walk, but since we start quite high up from Ystradowen, there are not many long steep climbs to be concerned about. The main challenge will be the terrain as paths are not clear and the navigation skills of the leader will be required. The walk start and ends in Ystradowen (GR 752125), from a small car park next to a playground. From there we head in a generally northerly direction to the west of the Twrch river, heading towards some territory that would be familiar to you from one of Doug's walks last year. We then wander east where we may be challenged by a stream. When the walk was reccied, this was a challenge as we had heavy rain just prior to the walk, so the steam was flowing and we had to paddle across holding our boots! We then turn South, this time t the East of the Twrch making our way back to Ystradowen.

Distance 12 Miles

Meet Point County Hall at 9:30 or Ystradowen at 10:15.

Dogs Of course dogs are allowed, but as usual, the owner must take full responsibility for them and ensure they are under proper control.

Equipment Rain gear, good footwear food and drink. Check the website for a full list, remember, this is a hill walk in a remote area.

Entertainment We can go to the Pontardawe in afterwards to a refreshment if desired.

Contact You can contact me on 07790807510 or email r.h.lewis@ntlworld.com for more info

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Weekend in Pembrokeshire - 24th to 26th November

We are now getting a list of people together to go on the Pembrokeshire/St. Davids Weekend! We'll be going up on the afternoon and evening of Friday 24th November, and coming back on the Sunday 26th. Walks haven't been planned properly at this stage but I can say there'll be nothing too strenuous, we're thinking of a five mile walk on one day and a nine mile walk on the other as a guide.

An 18-bed hostel, part of St. Davids YHA has been booked and if we can fill it, it will work out at £8.35 per night!
If we get less than 18 it will cost slightly more, but I'm anticipating a full house as the Black Country Group are also joining us! We're allocating 9 places to each group, but if we have more than a total of 18 going then those who haven't reserved their place in time have the option to arrange their own accommodation in the various guesthouses of St. Davids.

If you want to find out more about the trip then please call me (Doug) on 0766652837, or Rob L on 07990807510.
I am going away for a long holiday from 25th September to 3rd Oct, so Rob's your man to contact then.

To reserve your place send a deposit of £10 to Rob. Cheques are now made payable to Tawe Trekkers, as we now have our own bank account, wey hey!

Cheques to be posted to:

Rob Lewis
89 Gellifawr Road
Morriston
Swansea
SA6 7PW

Total cost as yet unconfirmed, but as I say, if we fill the hostel it will be £8.35 per night/£16.70 for two.

In a bad case scenario and we only get, say 10 people from both groups coming (unlikely), then it will still only be £15 per night.

Anyway, hope this tickles your fancy, and I will be back from distant shores in time to sort out final arrangements.

Cheers,

Doug

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Sustrans Route 8 Lon Las Cymru slideshow

As some of you are aware, Doug, Laura and me, along with our friend Sue from the Swansea Outdoor Group had a momentary loss of reason and we cycled from Holyhead to Swansea using the Sustrans Route 8 for the most part.

We had a great week, and Sue, Laura and myself are doing a slideshow on it (and hopefully encouraging others to attempt to 'challenge the dragon') in the environment centre on starting at 7:30 pm on Wednesday 27th September.

Entry is free and it may inspire one or two others to something similar, or just to laugh at pictures of Doug and me in our silly cycle shorts!

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Brunswick Week

Don't forget, there is a Brunswick night on Thursday 20th September if you want to meet up down there starting at 8:00pm

Newsletter - Rhossili Walk and Nav Skills Course

Here's this weeks installment from the Tawe Trekkers with announcements from Jo on her Rhossili Walk on Saturday, and Lindsey on a Navigational Skills Training Course on 15th October - you'll have to pre-book with Lindsey soon so please get in touch with her if you're interested in this course!

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Rhossili Walk - Saturday 16th September

Contrary to programme information, this walk actually starts at Rhossili, and climbs up onto Rhossili Downs, for superb views over the whole of Gower from the highest point in the region, a whopping 193m. We then walk along the length of the Downs and make our way down into the village of Llangennith where we will RESIST the pub (unless the weather's awful, of course), and then heading toward the sea, walk through the sand dunes back onto the beach, and walk back along the beach. Bring your paddling feet, and some nibbles for when we get to the beach. A hike back up the hill will then be rewarded by an optional visit to the pub, which has amazing views over the bay.

MEET: Meet at County Hall ready to leave at 9.30am. There is likely to be a charge for parking there as it's a Saturday. It may be possible to drop excess cars off in the Brynmill area on the way, if people want to. Alternatively, meet at Rhossili carpark at 10am.(GR 416880). It costs £2.50p to park there. Meet at the entrance to the carpark, you may want to let me know in advance if you'll be there so we don't miss anyone, as my ancient mobile phone doesn't work in such out of the way places.

GRADE: This walk is basically easy but you must be aware there are two short steep climbs, at the start and end of the walk, which can be taken at your own pace. It is about 8 miles, takes up to 4 hours at a leisurely pace.

OTHER: This area can be quite exposed and windy so come prepared even if the weather looks good.

See you on Saturday!

Jo

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Navigation Skills Training - Brecon Beacons - 15th October

Hi all!

I know many of you are interested in leading a walk but may lack the confidence due to a lack of navigational skills.

The Brecon Beacons run a day course in Navigational skills with an emphais on map reading and compass skills.

Here are the details: -

Date: Oct 15th Meet: National Park Visitor Centre, Libanus.Brecon Beacons. Time: 945am-5pm. Cost: £20 Bring lunch, map, compass and adequate equipment for the weather. For more details call 01874 623366

There are a maximum of 12 people on each course. At present there are 10 places available for the above date. I have been advised to book at least 2 weeks in advance due to the course being popular.

Any Trekkers that want to go; could you please forward me payment by 27th of September.

Address for cheques is :-

Lindsey Woosnam, 38 Ernald Place, The Uplands, Swansea, SA2 0HN

Mob: 07731440554

Newsletter - Proms in the Park, Sat 9th Sept

A bit of culture hits Swansea!

Just to remind you - Proms in the Park hits Singleton Park in Swansea on Sat 9th of September. This is a very popular event and showcases talented classical singers such as MichaelBall and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.There will also befireworks and it will be broadcast live across the whole of Britain,with emphasis on audience participation (it may be your chance to get 15 mins of fame!)
Meeting Time: the show starts at 730pm, but due tothe event being very busy, I propose that we meet at the gates of thePark at 630pm.
As it is an outdoor event, bring suitable clothing,deckchairs etc.
Cost: £7.50 in advance or £10 on the gate (Trekkers toarrange purchasing their own tickets which can be purchased from SwanseaGrand Theatre - check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/pitp/swansea.shtmlfor more details)
It should be a magical night! Hope to see you all there. Any queries contact me on 07731440554 Lindz xx

Looking Forward

We had a successful Programme Meeting on Thursday and the Autumn Programme should be coming our way shortly!
Highlights to keep in mind include a day's navigation training in the Brecon Beacons (provisional date - 15th Oct - more details to follow - call Lindsey on 07731440554 for details).
Plus a weekend in St. Davids, Pembrokeshire (24 - 26th Nov, call Doug on 07766652837 for details).