Borders Thinking

Radnor Forest

Today I finally got round to walking the three main Radnor Forest peaks: Bache Hill, Black Mixen and Great Rhos – about 10 miles in all.

It starts with a steep walk out of New Radnor and through the woods to Bache Hill. The summit is hard to find and I needed to backtrack to a gate lower down the hill to get access but there are good views across the Shropshire Hills and back to the Black Mountains. Approaching Black Mixen the showers of sleet and snow started to bite and for a moment I thought of turning back to the start as it was pretty bleak on the boggy moor around the summit. The confidence that a summer’s walking had provided bolstered resolution and the reward was more sunshine – among lighter showers – as I made my way across to Great Rhos.

The walk round from Black Mixen is attractive but Great Rhos itself lacks features and easy to go off the track going to and from the peak. A mistake at the foot of the valley meant I wasted time lost in the heather before returning to take the bridle way that skirts the fence barring access to Harley Dingle. Coming down this was you can see why people have lamented the loss of access to the valley (which is used for munitions testing)  – a series of bluffs running below Great Rhos and Black Mixen with the Whimble also standing distinctly to the east and with a pretty stream meandering down the valley.

Today was also the annual RSPB garden birdwatch. All the usual suspects showed up – including nuthatch and woodpecker – but also had four long-tailed tits, first time we’ve seen them in the garden in a group.