Skirrid Sky

The Fruit & Veg shop in Llanyravon, Cwmbran rang this morning saying they'd just had fresh raspberries delivered. On Wednesday it was fresh english strawberries, of which we had a case (20 large punnets). So we went again this morning and collected 60 punnets of strawberries and raspberries. It's either going to keep me healthy, turn my skin red, and if I'm unlucky I'll be spending some time in the bathroom!

After collecting this lot, with the car stinking of fresh fruit, we headed for The Skirrid Mountain,  off B4251 just outside of Abergavenny. The Skirrid mountain may sound like something out of the Famous Five and indeed it does have an air of mystery about it. There was once an Iron age fort on the top and later a Roman Catholic church dedicated to St. Michael, and faint remains of both can be seen to this day. There are even stories of angels and demons about it, and it is also called the 'Holy Mountain'.
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The mountain is 1595 feet above sea level. It is at the southern edge of the Black Mountains, which lie in the East of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

The Skirrid looks different from every angle, which has intrigued artists and photographers as well as geologists and the walkers for many years. This is partly due to it being a long ridge and partly because there are two separated 'lumps' that separated from the mountain top during the Ice Age. One of the stories about the northern 'tump' is that the devil tried to seduce St Michael into evil ways, but when the saint refused, Satan stamped on the mountain, causing the lump of rock to slip down from the top.

We did the long and hard route, walking around it and up the back which is at a very steep angle for several hundred metres. In some parts you are on your knees! Mrs BB is extremely fit and I was sweating the all-inclusive meals off from our recent Turkey holiday. I think that was her plan!

On getting back to the car we partook of a couple of punnets which were extremely tasty - not the normal supermarket fayre.

The Blip photo is of some grass at the top of the Skirrid with the dark sky behind. It was warm but overcast. Luckily for us the rain stayed away. It's been a better day than forecast.

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