Representing providers of Outdoor Adventurous Activities in South Wales and the Brecon Beacons
Further to yesterday’s message (repeated below), DCWW has advised us that it was human error that resulted in SWOAPG not being alerted as usual to the planned release yesterday. They are investigating internally how this happened and will be putting in place measures to ensure it cannot happen again. They have also explained that the … Read more
Dwr Cymru Welsh Water usually warn us in advance when they are releasing water from Ystradfellte reservoir, so that we can warn cave and gorge users. Today there was a release that we had not been told about, which caught out a number of groups and could have led to very serious consequences, potentially even … Read more
Further to our earlier messages (below), NRW has advised us that the rockface inspection has now been completed and the exclusion zone (shown by the orange oval on the attached map) has now been lifted BUT the ‘New additional fragile zone – keep out’ area (which was added some time back) does still remain in … Read more
Further to our earlier message (below), NRW has now advised us that the rope access inspection of the rockface situated along former footpath 86 has now been scheduled for a period of 5 days starting Monday 1st December and finishing Friday 5th December so no gorge-walking activity is permitted in the vicinity of Sgwd Isaf … Read more
Further to our earlier message (below), NRW has now advised us that the rope access inspection of the rockface situated along former footpath 86 has now been scheduled for a period of 5 days starting Monday 1st December and finishing Friday 5th December so no gorge-walking activity is permitted in the vicinity of Sgwd Isaf … Read more
We have received the following message from NRW and will provide an update once we know the exact dates: “Following a site visit with the contractor, we anticipate a rope access inspection of the rockface situated along former footpath 86 to be undertaken in November 2025, duration 2-3 days. In the interests of safety we … Read more
A litter picking session is being arranged for gorge instructors (etc.) in the Upper Mellte on Sunday 21 September; meeting at Clun Gwyn bunkhouse at 1000. Parking will be free. !! NB this is a ‘peer’ event and all participants take part at their own risk !! SWOAPG is merely passing on the message and … Read more
The current requirement for non-AALA providers wishing to use the Upper Mellte gorge is that they “have been observed using the site in an appropriate and safe manner by an independent Technical Advisor selected by NRW (Natural Resources Wales) and BBNPA – the majority landowners”. In practice, NRW had in recent years delegated to SWOAPG … Read more
NRW has alerted us to an unstable column of rock on former footpath 86 above the Upper Mellte gorge and has issued the attached amendment to the Concordat access map with the addition of a new ‘fragile – no go zone’ area and request that users should stay river-right immediately above Sgwd Clun Gwyn Isaf.
Several SWOAPG Members have, quite understandably, been asking for updates on the access situation with Loonies’ Leap and the Wye from Glasbury-Hay. Sadly we don’t have anything positive to report just yet, however: BBNPA has received an engineer’s report for loonies’ Leap and will advise us as soon as possible on whether the site can … Read more