A trip to Sirhowy Park

With it being another beautiful weekend it was time to head out again. So this Saturday we headed out to a place called Sirhowy park. This park isn't to far from our home compared to some places that we go to and was only around 40 mins. Also with that being said it was very easy to get to as it was just off the main road without going on to some of the very narrow winding roads that you usually get the more closer to Brecon Becons.

So coming off the main A road into the park it was only a few hundred yards away. As we came in there was a small car park just out side of the main entrance. So we parked here and collected our water and bits into a a ruck sack and made our way in. We followed the road along for about 200 yards and came to the toilets and just after that was a winding path all the way down to the river. From the top we could see the river was not very deep at all so we stopped before going down and decided that it was prob best to put our wellies on so we can walk in the river.

My partner went and got the car and brought it to us just inside the main gate and parked on a verge on the side of the road there (this was going to be a mistake for us in at the end). We put wellies on and headed down the path. The park at the start was really nice. There was that main road on the way through with a path going up the side to the left that leads you up the hill and the one we went down. Everywhere was covered by lovely greenery, with big trees.

Once at the bottom of the path it opened out across the water as the river was of a nice size with the path that we were going to follow along the side of it. Along this path we walked through the trees, over little bridges and such. Also stopping to stay along side the river when we could to go in and also get some nice photos.

Then the path came to an end along the river and headed straight back up the hill to the road that went through the park. This was because we came to a large bridge that passed over the river blocking the way. We headed back up to the top and followed the path for a couple of hundred yards and came to an opening to our left and seen a rock face. Being a little interested we headed through the opening to it and seen it was a large rock face and it was fairly high. We seen some people who had just finished climbing the wall. So we walked through along a little path in the woods with more rock faces and people happily climbing away.

After walking a around another mile we came to road that went to the left. Now i took out the printable map I had for the park and decided that this was the best short cut way to get to the top. So we followed it round, past a lovely looking bridge and headed up a steep hill to what was an adventure center. It seemed to be closed and there was meant to be a path around the side of it to another path on the way to the top. The bad news was it was really over grown and no way through. Without wanting to go back down where we came up we seen another path and headed along that which took us along the side of the adventure center through the woods. After about a quarter of a mile we came to a small opening into another woods that instead of being all green with small trees, long grass and such it was really high trees with the woods looking red. The floor was dead as these trees really blocked the light.

We headed in and soon lost any sight of a path. Thinking of turning back or heading down we continued straight across for a bit to see if we can pick up another path. After a bit of walking we finally came to the what was a path that people had used before heading up the hill to the left.

After following this path we came to a narrow road. This road lead back the way we came and down the hill. There was also another path leading through the woods up the hill to the right. After looking at the map we had, it was clear we were not sure where we were and knowing we had walked a fair few miles one way and were heading away from the car all the time we decided it was best to follow the road that lead back the way we came but it did go up the hill.

After walking for a short while along this road my wife suddenly stopped and said what is the time. I looked at my phone and said 4:30 pm. With a horror look on her face she said what about the car. Because when we first drove into the park we seen a sign saying the main park gates close at 5:00 pm. But at first we parked in the car park on the outside as we had arrived out a little later than usual and didn't want to get locked in. But when we got the wellies my partner drove the car inside the barriers. Now we thinking how can we get back in such a short time to get to the car and get it out. As we were not close to home at all.

So the march was on and we headed along this road hoping it was the right way. As we walked along we realized where we were, as we came to a farm that was on the map and on top of that the path that lead us up to the top for the views. Sadly taking the path up for the views that we wanted to see was out of the question now, so we carried on along this way.

Now I will say we felt like we were walking far and getting nowhere. I then looked at the clock again and there it was the time. It was now 5:10 pm and we were late and on top of that we knew we were not that close. We seen two people on the way back and the first guy I asked as he said he was local "if the gate is locked at main entrance can we drive through and get out another way" with which he replied there was no other exit even though there was little roads in the park.

The second guy we seen I asked how close we were and he said not far but he gave us hope by saying he sure they won't lock the gates. So carried on the last bit of our journey, with my daughter being really good as we were walking fast and it was warm.

We came down to the bottom of the path and realized it was the route that started at our car. I quickly ran to the bottom and seen the gate was still open. Thanking our lucky stars as a dog walker who came past said they normally shut them on time. As by now it was 5:55 pm

We got in the car and made our way home. The walk was really nice even though we kind of raced our way back and missed the view from the top because of the car we still had a nice time and clocked seven and a half miles