Cilgerran, Boncath, Abercych and Llechryd.     Saturday 30 October 2021

There had been a weather warning and torrential rain in the days leading up to the walk. The Afon Teifi at the riverside car park in Cilgerran was ominously high and fast flowing. However the weather forecast was for improving, with sunny spells throughout the day.

13 walkers had booked on this 13.5 mile walk.

We walked along the river before climbing steeply to pass the castle, then on through Cilgerran and onto St Llawdog's Church with its Ogham Stone. We left Cilgerran and headed south to Penrallt Fach where we headed east through woods and a series of pretty and undulating fields. A brief early coffee stop took advantage of the warm morning sun before we turned south once again down through the wooded valley that headed towards Rhosygilwen. A section of the woods were large mature pine trees, the sun was shining through them and picking out the water droplets. All very pretty and serene.

Past Rhosygilwen, we negotiated the muddy tracks (and a collapsed bridge over a stream) around Goitre and headed through the woods. The Afon Morgenau, normally a trickle, was in spate. There was support on offer to those who dared the mossy tree crossing or those who decided to try the leap. All crossed unscathed. The path up through the woods, like most paths we encountered, had turned into a muddy stream. At the top of the path we stopped to look at the ruinous Llanfihangel Penbedw Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanfihangel_Penbedw before crossing the old and long disused Whitland – Cardigan railway and heading up the lane and over the highest point of this walk, to Cilwendeg Mansion.

Cilwendeg Mansion, formerly a PCC old peoples home, is now an exclusive luxury mansion which can be hired for events. Permission was received in order to walk down the driveway to connect to a right of way through the estate. We stopped briefly to look at the back of the Shell House, only now open to the public on Thursday afternoons. The older estate buildings are in various states of repair and are fascinating. The track continues into the woods and numerous pheasant entertain as we walked by.

We reached the village of Newchapel and had lunch sitting outside the sadly closed Fyonne Arms, being the only dry spot anywhere on this walk. Following lunch we headed along the village paths, passed the school and along a long farm track into the next valley above Abercych. Heading back uphill through pine forests we walked past Pentre Mansion and its attendant farm, an equally spectacular sprawl of buildings as Cilwendeg. Pentre Mansion was supposed to be the last ascent of the day. This proved not to be. It was an easy stroll down to the lane and then down the track to Fynnon Oer, where new gates, path markers and wood clearance made the going much easier than in the past. The exit to the wood was through a small field with two attentive donkeys and a mule.

In the fields above the Teifi valley we stopped for an afternoon break. Shortly after this, on the descent to Manordeifi, we saw for the first time the result of all the recent heavy rain. The whole of the valley bottom to the east of Llechrhyd had turned into one vast lake.

Out of the fields we turned into the ancient graveyard at Manordeifi church. The church does contain a coracle for parishioners to use at times of flood. I assumed that this was just an interesting aside for any visiting tourist, however, the flooded area had reached into the grave yard and was outside the front of the church and a very real concern. Fortunately, by using some old scaffolding, we were able to get to higher ground further up the lane and remained dry.

The reminder of the planned walk however was brought to an abrupt halt. The plan was to cross the fields and come out at Llechrhyd Bridge and then walk the last 1.8 miles of riverside path back to Cilgerran. The newly formed lake prevented this.

A quick check of the map showed that we could use lanes to get back to Cilgerran about 2.5 miles to the north. Not as picturesque as walking alongside the river, but much drier and safer. It did mean a further climb up before the long descent into the village.

There was some concern about the car park being flooded by the still rising river, but there was some reassurance from locals that the cars were safe. All walkers safely back to the cars by 5:35pm.

Extent of the flooding, before and after Llechrhyd Bridge. The church at Manordeifi is bottom right where the lanes intersect.

https://riverlevels.uk/flood-warning-river-teifi-at-llechryd#.YX6J7RynyUk