Images of Wales

Allt-yr-Esgair is a narrow wooded ridge that overlooks the Usk valley to the south-west, and Llangors Lake to the north. It is situated off the A40 trunk road between Brecon and Crickhowell. There are extensive views from the 393-metre (1287-foot) summit which is the site of a prehistoric fort, probably dating from the Iron Age. The lower slopes of the ridge are clothed in attractive woodland in which are hidden the ruins of an early 19th century hunting lodge identified on maps as 'Paragon Tower'.
Allt-yr-Esgair seemed an ideal photographic subject for an Images of Wales feature, so I set out to explore the area accompanied by my friends Adrian and Siân and her dog Rosie. The photographic record of our walk is set out below, while Paragon Tower is described on the two following pages.

Above: The western aspect of Allt-yr-Esgair viewed from near the village of Pennorth, the starting point of our walk.

We followed a public bridleway from Pennorth village to the summit of Allt-yr-Esgair. The bridleway traces part of the route of a 65-mile-long Roman Road which once linked Moridunum (Carmarthen) in the west, with Gobannium (Abergavenny) in the east.

Above: This flock of sheep kindly posed for a group photograph on the bridleway.

Above: Bridleway			Above: Old ash tree
We stopped to explore an ancient ash tree. The hollow centre of the trunk was clearly dead, but new spring growth from the branches above proved the outer parts of the trunk were still alive. Beyond the tree, to the right, is a glimpse of Llangors Lake.

Above: Llangors Lake to the north of Allt-yr-Esgair, with the Black Mountains beyond

Llangors is an ancient lake originally formed from the melting of snow and ice during the last Ice Age. About 2½ miles in length and half a mile wide, it is the largest natural lake in South Wales.

The lake has an important place in Welsh history and mythology. The small man-made island, or crannog, was constructed as a fortified palace by Brychan, king of Brycheiniog, during the late 9th century AD and destroyed, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, in AD 916. A local legend recounts how the lake covers the remains of a city ruled by a cruel and greedy princess who agreed to marry a poor suitor only if he brought her great wealth. The man murdered a rich merchant to gain the princess's hand, but in revenge, the merchant's ghost raised a terrible storm which drowned the kingdom. It is not known when the legend originated, but it predates the first archaeological excavation of the crannog in 1850 and is an interesting and perceptive folk memory. More plausibly, as a major royal and ecclesiastical centre in Brycheiniog, the crannog could have a claim to have been the locus scribendi of the early Welsh stanzas, Canu Llywarch Hen, probably written between the 8th and mid 10th centuries AD, when Llangors and the Brycheiniog dynasty were in their heyday. The remains of this artificial island were fully revealed by excavation during the early 1990s. Llangors is the only crannog known in Wales.

Easily identifiable is the river Usk, known to the Romans as Isca, which meanders down the valley from distant Brecon. The Brecon Beacons mountain range is visible through low cloud on the left. In the near distance is Newton Farm, birthplace of the famed 17^th century poet Henry Vaughan, while in the foreground is the yellow blossom of a patch of gorse.

		Henry Vaughan (1621-1695) was nephew to Charles Vaughan, owner of the nearby Tretower Court. Henry liked to style himself 'Henry Vaughan, Silurist', a reference to the former occupation of this part of Wales by the ancient British tribe of the Silures.
		Left and below: Henry lies buried in St Bridgit's Churchyard at Llansanffraid, the parish in which the Newton estate is situated (grave photographed 12 Aug 2003)

Fifty years before his death, Henry composed a poem 'To the river Isca' in which he wrote prophetically:

When I am layd to rest by thy streams,
And my sun sets, where first it sprang in beams
I'le leave behind me such a large, kind light
As shall redeem thee from oblivious night.

Above: The view southwards from the summit of Allt-yr-Esgair

The River Usk flows right to left at the bottom of the wooded slopes of Allt-yr-Esgair. In the middle distance is the village of Talybont-on-Usk, and beyond are the north-eastern foothills of the Brecon Beacons. Llansanffraid parish church is obscured by the rocks in the left foreground.