Taith Brenig

After the unwelcome bout of Covid, it was a huge relief to be able to join the traditional pre-Christmas run. We downscaled our original plan (the entire Brenig Way route in a day), partly because of the Covid but also because the weather wasn't great, with low cloud and drizzle all day. This route is perfect in that kind of weather, however, because it is sheltered and the conditions lent a special atmosphere to the forests and hidden valleys. We started from Cyffylliog along the river bank of a tiny Clywedog tributary. The route then becomes a little tenuous and hard to follow until a long section through Clocaenog, dank, misty and atmospheric in these conditions. There was a huge amount of storm damage from Arwen in November - hundreds of trees down - and this set the tone for the day, crawling under trunks, climbing through branches. The small valleys leading down to Melin y Wig and Betws Gwerfil Goch are a delight, draped with mist. We popped out in Maerdy after a very pleasant few hours jogging, a nice way to recover.