Three Peaks Trial 2020 Donation

Many thanks from Cardiff Outdoor Group to the very many walkers who showed tremendous generosity and very kindly donated their 2020 entry fees for Longtown Mountain Rescue Team. A cheque for £7,441 has now been handed over to the team.

CORONAVIRUS/COVID 19 UPDATE - EVENT CANCELLED

Update 24/03/2020: Refunds will be issued later this week. An email will go out prior to the issue of the refund to ask if anyone would prefer to donate their entry fee to Longtown Mountain Rescue Team.

Following Government advice, also the LDWA and Ramblers advise the same (https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ and https://www.ramblers.org.uk/volunteer-zone/coronavirus.aspx), this year's THREE PEAKS TRIAL IS CANCELLED.  Also due to the current uncertainty with how long the pandemic is going to last  we will be unable to re-schedule the walk this year but it will return on Saturday 27th March 2021 when we hope you can make it then. We'll sort refunds over the coming days. 

We appreciate that people will be disappointed the event won't be rescheduled. So, as it looks like many organized events won't return for some time, we're currently looking at the feasibility of an 'anytime' Three Peaks Trial Club challenge, preliminary details are shown on http://threepeakstrial.co.uk/club.htm and we'll email details once this event is confirmed.

Glangrwyney Road Closed - Major Diversion

!!!!!River Bridge Closed!!!!!

A long stretch of Glangrwyney Road has partially collapsed, caused by the flooding which occurred during Storm Dennis. This road is the approach road to the only river bridge for miles. Walkers must use the diversion, Click Here For Details and Click Here For Diversion Route Note that the diversion adds about 1 mile to the total length of the route.

For photos of the collapse CLICK HERE.


For a more detailed, marked up map using the Ordnance Survey OSMaps website  CLICK HERE Please note:

• When you look at the route on the OSMaps site, its best to click the 'Leisure' button bottom right of the screen to get the 1:25000 map.
• You'll probably have to register with OSMaps to see it.

Platinum, Gold & Silver Routes are Now FULL!!!

Platinum, Gold & Silver Routes now now full. Thanks to all those who've entered. If you'd like to go on the entry waiting list enter your details on Fabian4.

Outdoor education teacher Richard John Hill from Llanfoist has at one time or another climbed all 252 mountains in Wales. He has also completed the Three Peaks Trial 19 times - coming first three times and second twice.

“The difference in the weather conditions you can experience is incredible. Sometimes it’s freezing cold with the peaks covered in snow, other times it’s so warm you can wear shorts!” he said.

“People come from all over the UK to take part. I was in Dawlish once and met a man who said he was off to Abergavenny for the Three Peaks!”.

In 2017 Richard spoke to the Abergavenny Chronicle about the event. Click here to read the article.

Three Peaks Trial Links to the JRR Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'

Lord of the Rings - Map of Middle Earth

If you click on this link https://youtu.be/9zxXgJN-sSs you'll have an extract from Derek Brockway's Weatherman Walking series on BBC Wales in which Emma Harrison, who runs the Star Inn in Bwlch, tells Derek about the links between the Black Mountains and how it's believed it inspired Tolkien's vision of the landscape in his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien stayed in the village of Talybont-on-Usk in the 1940s, while working on parts of The Lord of The Rings and whilst in Talybont-on-Usk he walked the local hills and would have seen the conical topped Sugar Loaf which is very similar to his 'Lonely Mountain'. He named the hobbit settlement of Crickhollow after Crickhowell, nine miles from Talybont. Also in The Lord of the Rings, Buckland was a colony of hobbits between the Old Forest and the Brandywine River. Tolkien is thought to have based this part of Middle-earth on the Buckland Estate, whose ancient, protected woodlands stand beside the River Usk. It's also believed Merthyr was the inspiration for Mordor.

The drawing of the Lonely Mountain and the photo of Sugar Loaf do seem to support the theory. The ridges at the base of the Lonely Mountain also have a similarity with the Llanwenarth, Rholben and Deri ridges which come off Sugar Loaf.

Glangrwyney Bridge Checkpoint Is Moving

Please note that Glangrwyney Bridge Checkpoint will be moved for this year’s Three Peaks Trial from Glangrwyney Bridge at Grid Ref. 239 162 to about 0.5km further south on Glangrwyney Road to Grid Ref. 246 154 shown on the map extract below and on the link - Click Here. 

The location is also where the charity cake stall set up by the charity fundraisers, ‘The Delivery Girls’ who this year will be raising money for the charity Mind

Charity Cakes For Sale at Checkpoint 2 (Glangrwyney Road)

Last couple of years many walkers commented on how much they enjoyed the charity cake stall provided by the group of midwives, 'The Delivery Girls' who have kindly returned this year raising money for the Mind charity. They serve tea, coffee, hot chocolate and soup, filled rolls and homemade cakes. All proceeds go to Mind.You'll find them on the Gold and Silver Routes at Checkpoint 2, Glangrwyney Road, at Lower Common about halfway along Glangrwyney Road between The Corn Exchange and Glangrwyney bridge. It's a property on the left (look out for the signs). They also have a Facebook fundraising page called 'The Delivery Girls'.

All Routes Now FULL

All Routes are now full. 

Thanks to all those who've entered.

Walker Raising Funds For Maggies Centres

Sarah Merrall, from Nottingham, is raising sponsorship from the event to support Maggie's Cancer Centres which provide free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their family and friends, following the ideas about cancer care originally laid out by Maggie Keswick Jencks.

Sarah said "On 30th March I’m doing the South Wales Three Peaks Challenge in memory of my sister Emma your sponsorship for this great cause will spur me on for the 20 mile circular walk with 1525 metres of ascent from Abergavenny crossing the 3 dominant peaks of Blorenge, Sugar Loaf & Skirrid."

To sponsor Sarah Click Here

£8,083 Raised in 2018

Three Peaks Trial Bronze Route - The Movie!

Whilst completing the Bronze Route Paul Manser (who also has a website http://www.paulmanser.com/) kindly made a short film of the walk which can be seen at Click Here.

Charity Cakes For Sale Just Before Cpt 2 in Gilwern

Last year many walkers commented on how much they enjoyed the charity cake stall provided by the group of midwives, 'The Delivery Girls' who have kindly returned this year raising money for Breast Cancer Care, Ovarian Cancer Action and Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust. They serve tea, coffee, hot chocolate and soup, filled rolls and homemade cakes. All proceeds go to the charities.You'll find them on the Gold and Silver Routes just before Checkpoint 2 in Glangrwyney, at Lower Common about halfway along Glangrwyney road between The Corn Exchange and Glangrwyney bridge. It's a property on the left (look out for the signs). They also have a Facebook fundraising page called 'The Delivery Girls'.

Walk Planner Website

Walker Jamie Knap has suggested a useful walk planner website. "It is a walk planner people can use to create walks over an Ordnance Survey map for free. It provides key information such as distance and elevation. People can also print out the walk and download a GPX file for use with GPS devices if wanted (so there is no excuse for getting lost!) You can see it here https://www.hikideas.co.uk/

All Routes Now FULL!

All Routes are now full. 

Thanks to all those who've entered.

Event History - Margaret Manley & Crickhowell Youth Hostel

 Bob Manley, who first did the Three Peaks Trial in 1964, looks back at when the event started and was based at the now closed Crickhowell Youth Hostel. The Youth Hostel was also run by his Mum, Margaret Manley

 

 For the full newspaper article (from 1972)  CLICK HERE

BOB MANLEY WRITES: I was for a while the youngest person ever to do the Three Peaks Trial. I was twelve in 1964, when it all started from Crickhowell Youth Hostel, where my mum was the warden. 

I joined a party of scouts from Birmingham that stayed in the hostel. The leader was quite laid back, and we started quite late. We climbed Sugar Loaf, and then the Skirrid, then back into Abergavenny where the leader decided to take us all into Quo Vardis Fish and chip shop for tea. We were probably in there for up to an hour, so we didn’t start to climb the Blorenge till after 5pm. 

We never did find the trig point on the top, as by this time it was getting dark. We made the rough descent from the top down to the Blaenavon road, where Chris Barber (the event founder) who was out looking for us picked me up in his car and returned me to Crickhowell. The rest of the scouts carried on walking, and arrived back about 8.30. Happy days....

The article above is from The Abergavenny Chronicle when mum was about to retire from the hostel. N.B. I get a mention in the article, although I’m christened Robert, mum always called me Robin but am now known as Bob.

THANK YOU TO THE 797 WHO TOOK PART IN THE 2017 EVENT!!!!!!!!

Many thanks to the 797 walkers who took part in this year’s Three Peaks Trial! Another huge turnout!

Cardiff Outdoor Group would particularly like to thank:

• Longtown Mountain Rescue Team – LMRT for marshalling all the mountain top checkpoints.
• St David’s Hospice Foundation and Elenydd Wilderness Trust who helped marshall the event.
• Councillor Nick Tatum of Abergavenny Town Council who helped in a number of roles.throughout the day.
•  The team of midwives, 'The Delivery Girls', who were fundraising for Breast Cancer Care, Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust and Ovarian Cancer Action who had a charity cake stall just before Checkpoint 2 in Glangrwyney.

The Charities and Fundraisers who supported the event:

• St David’s Hospice Foundation;
• The Vine Trust (a charity who supply volunteers to the poorest parts of the Third World). Jonathan Prestage, aged 16, from Kent is raising funds on the Three Peaks Trial for this charity and he's written a piece on the 3PT blog

 We hope to see you all again at the 2018 event!

The numbers on each route were:

Platinum 124; Gold 523; Silver 118; Bronze 32; (Total = 797)The first walkers back on each route were:

Platinum:  Richard O'Shea (59) from Cwmbran returned in 3 hours 34 minutes after the bus dropped them at Llanthony at 8:30.


Gold: William Fox (55) from Chepstow got back in 4 hours 7 minutes after leaving Abergavenny at 8am.


Silver: David Brunsdon from Cwmbran was first back at 11:26 after leaving Abergavenny at about 8am.


Bronze: Philip George (59) from Gloucester was first back in 2 hours 2 minutes. Oldest/Youngest on Routes:

On Platinum Route the oldest was Clive Cochrane (74) from Abergavenny who got back at 16:35 and the youngest entrant was Elliott Booth (15) from Amersham, Buckinghamshire who returned at 18:05.

On Gold Route the oldest was Mike Laurence (74) from Chepstow who got back at 15:22. Thirteen teenagers also did the walk the youngest being Edryd Lewis (13) from Cardiff who returned at 18:44 whilst the fastest was 17 year old Bethan Lewis from Bridgend who got back at 14:45.

The oldest back on Silver Route was Roger Williams (70) from Newport who got back at 16:14. The youngest entrant was Olivia Taphouse (13) from Oxfordshire who returned at 17:16.

On Bronze Route the oldest were Owen and Lyn Rook, both 65 and from Cardiff who returned at 15:25.The walker who came from the furthest away to do the event was James Matthews who lives in Paris.
Non-Finishers
 
Of those who failed to finish there were:
 
Platinum = 3; Gold = 33; Silver = 9; Bronze = 0

The weatherman on friday said "If you've planned an outdoor event this weekend you won't be disappointed" and for once he was right! Sunshine all day.

Walker Raising Funds for the Vine Trust

Jonathan Prestage, aged 16, from Kent, hopes to raise sponsorship from the event to support the Vine Trust, a volunteering charity which aims to make a real difference for some of the poorest children and communities in the world.

He is planning go on a volunteering trip to Peru in July, with around 30 other students from his school. The purpose of the trip will be be to build and maintain homes for children who have been living on the streets, thus rescuing them from a dangerous and distressing situation. Sponsorship from the event will contribute to the costs of the trip.

Jonathan has taken part in the South Wales 3 Peaks Trial three times before, completing the Bronze Route in 2014 and the Silver Route, twice, in 2015 and 2016.

Jonathan's fundraising page can be found at http://www.vinetrust.org/fundraise/peru3

Charity Cakes For Sale Just Before Cpt 2 in Gilwern

Some friends of participants on the Gold and Silver Routes have a charity cake stall just before Checkpoint 2 in Glangrwyney, at Lower Common about halfway along Glangrwyney road between The Corn Exchange and Glangrwyney bridge. It's a property on the left (look out for the signs). They have a Facebook page called 'The Delivery Girls' and are raising money for Breast Cancer Care, Ovarian Cancer Action and Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust. They serve tea, coffee, hot chocolate and soup, filled rolls and homemade cakes. All proceeds go to the charities.

All Routes Now FULL!

 

All Routes are now full. 

Thanks to all those who've entered.