Up Sugar Loaf Mountain!
Sitting high above the Welsh town of Abergavenny is the southernmost peak of the Black Mountains. Called The Sugarloaf because people thought it looked like a sugarloaf, which is how you used to get sugar until the late 19th century when granulated and cubed sugar became available.
History lesson aside, we decide to climb said mountain because the weather looked lovely and why wouldn’t you?
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The Start
So today we have come out into the beautiful countryside, into the lovely lovely sunshine. We’ve come out to climb the Sugarloaf which is a mountain. It’s part of the Black Mountains. It’s 596 meters above sea level and because of its volcanic shape t is e myth is that it’s an extinct volcano but it’s completely not it’s just made out of red sandstone and the shape of a volcano. So now it’s a nice strollette up a hillside. Off we go. Onwards and upwards. This is us climbing a big hill. It’s fascinating stuff. As you can see, pretty views behind us. Over hill over Dale, something something, whatnot thing. So we’ve got a walk of about five miles ahead of us. Something like that and it’s all gonna be lovely and nice and splendid.
What about the Sugar Loaf?
I don’t really know what to say about the Sugarloaf other than that it sounds delicious. I quite like the idea of you know sweet bready things. So this is the start point. The actual start point of the walk And according to the OS map it has an amazing panoramic view. And yeah, it does. It’s a bit hazy. I’m pretty sure on other days you can see further The further away we get from the towns and the roads and what-have-you the more peaceful it gets. Well, apart from the constant stream of people who are wandering up and down the sugar loaf, and their jangly dogs. But, you know, you can’t have everything in life. Can you?
Up the hill
So, up the hill we go. Jo: We’re on a flat now. Ian: We are on a flat. It’s well, this is a very slight gentle incline. But theoretically, we’re taking a nice sedate route up that which is kinda what you want really. I don’t want to be all buffed out because I want to be enjoying the view. From this distance the Sugarloaf looks like it’s got two paths up. One looks steeper than the other. I think we’ll probably take the longer path, gentler slope. We have just reached another one of these junctiony things which means… See you’ve got the road off there and a little road off there. So now I have to look at the map, which is of course on a phone.
Where we’re going
Our route will take is done this one she’s nice and flat as opposed to that one which is a bit steeper. There’s Joey walking past me. There she goes. I wonder if she’s gonna take the right route. And I was right. Off we go. It looked nice and flat. It’s getting steeper. If it’s all up, pretty soon I’ll be all in. You see what I did there? oh, I’m so proud of that one. Ian talks about being unfit but… the secret is… pacing. Small ploddy steps, gradually get you to the top. Fast racy steps…. get you puffed out….. and….. lamenting about your fitness. Always got to stop and take in the beautiful views. if you don’t stop and take in the beautiful views then…. what’s the point in going for a walk? We’re now not that far from the top, which errrr….. is kind of a goal of the thing. Isn’t it really? You get to the top. You go “Oooo isn’t the view pretty?” Have a drink of water. Traditional, and er and then you come back down again. It’s tall this thing. I like it.
It’s steep.
We’ve got to the steepest bit so far. but it looks like there’s a crest. So perhaps over the top it flattens out and then you’ve got the last crest before the next hill. So that gives you an idea looking at the level of just how steep it is which, I think if I do that though it’s far more impressive. See that, or maybe even this, this is, this is, if I do that, that looks even more impressive. there you go that’s what we’re climbing. This episode is of course sponsored by, by a t-shirt. Because why wouldn’t it be? Er, by, er, by a t-shirt you can find out www.somethingvloggy.uk/shop and there you can find a variety of fabulous t-shirts but this episode is specifically sponsored by the “onwards and upwards and possibly downwards” t-shirt. Anyway if you, er, if you would like such a fabulous shirt please do feel free to, to er pop on over to the shop and, er, give it a gander, and by buying t-shirts and that sort of thing you support us so that we can continue making these these daft films. I’m gonna continue climbing this thing now because if I don’t I’ll never get to the top. And then where will we be? Well, still here I suppose.
At the top.
It’s a shame really there is all so hazy today, because then we could have given you a better view, but… This is the steepest bit I’ve done so far and there’s part of me that wants to be, wants to be running up it. You know? The idiot part that should never be listened to. That part. We have arrived at the top. And the view is quite stunning. You can see the quite some way. Apparently this is a rarity. especially this time of year that you can see this far. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that it’s been raining and mizzling and it’s knocked all the particulates out of the air. So it means that you can see for a long way. but if you can’t get all out of that view. That’s not bad, is it really? It’s well worth climbing. If you’re feeling the urge to head up to somewhere high. This is a good place to come. So we made it to the top and the visibility is great. We were talking to somebody and we thought oh it’s a bit hazy, but they were saying that this is pretty good for up here. And considering we’re really high it’s not very windy at all. It’s absolutely stunning, really warm as well. Just gotta head back down but we’re gonna get a few nice shots to show you. So if you want to see more of our antics about climbing mountains and things don’t forget to subscribe. You can also like and share and you can get the “onwards and upwards and possibly downwards” t-shirt, sweater, mug etc. to help us keep on climbing up mountains and going oooo how pretty.