The Blorenge
| The Blorenge | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Elevation | 561 m (1,841 ft) |
| Prominence | c. 134 m |
| Parent peak | Coity Mountain |
| Listing | Dewey |
| Location | |
| Location | Monmouthshire, Wales |
| Range | Brecon Beacons |
| OS grid | SO269118 |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 161 |
The Blorenge or simply Blorenge (pron.: /ˈblɒrɨndʒ/; Welsh: Blorens) is a prominent hill which overlooks the valley of the River Usk in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is situated in the southeastern corner of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The summit plateau reaches a height of 1,841 feet (561 m).
Contents |
Geography [edit]
Blorenge overlooks the market town of Abergavenny and the villages of Llanfoist and Govilon in the Usk Valley to the north. At the foot of the mountain lies the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. It drops away steeply to the northwest into Cwm Llanwenarth. To the south, gentler slopes fall away to Blaenavon at the head of the Lwyd valley.
Geology [edit]
The Blorenge is composed in layer-cake fashion of a number of different rock types. Its lower slopes are formed from the sandstones and mudstones deposited during the Devonian period and known collectively as the Old Red Sandstone. Its higher reaches are formed from a suite of mudstones, limestones and sandstones of Carboniferous age. The summit plateau is formed from coarse sandstones that lie at the boundary of the Millstone Grit and the Coal Measures. All of these beds tilt south-westwards into the South Wales Coalfield basin.
The shape of the hill was modified during the ice ages as the Usk Valley glacier flowed past it to its north. A small glacier nourished by windblown snow from the plateau excavated the hollow on the eastern side of Blorenge which is known as The Punchbowl. Cwm Craf on the hill's north-eastern slopes has a cirque-like form though probably never harboured a full-grown glacier.[1]
Protected areas [edit]
Blorenge is situated within both the Brecon Beacons National Park and the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site. Much of the hill has also been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest principally for its heather moorland which is important for breeding Red Grouse. The Punchbowl is owned and managed by the Woodland Trust as a nature reserve.
Access [edit]
Most of the hill is open access for walkers and there are a number of footpaths and bridleways which run to and over it. There is a hillwalking trail that runs around Blorenge and is a very popular destination for tourists and walkers alike. The ascent on foot to the summit from Llanfoist / Abergavenny via Cwm Craf is very steep but the effort is repaid by the panoramic views from the summit across the valley of the River Usk to Abergavenny and the Black Mountains, Wales. Easier access both to the summit and the northern edge of the plateau can be had from the Foxhunter car park.
Recreation [edit]
Most visitors are walkers and sightseers. Some come to see Harry Llewellyn's famous showjumping horse, Foxhunter which won Britain's only Gold medal in the 1952 Summer Olympics is buried near to the Blaenavon to Llanover road on Blorenge with a car park sited here in his honour.
The SE Wales Hang Gliding & Paragliding Club's members regularly take off from the summit which is now owned by the club. Paragliders performing 'top to bottom' flights land in Castle Meadows beside the River Usk at Abergavenny.
Every November a Category A Fell Race takes place on the mountain starting and finishing at St Faith's Church at Llanfoist. The race route passes under the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.
There is also a Great Taste Great Taste Awards Award winning pale ale named after this hill and produced in the local brewery in Abergavenny.
Industrial heritage [edit]
The remains of a tramway, built about 1796, linking a limestone quarry on the north side of the mountain with the ironworks at Blaenavon can be seen near 51°48′25″N 3°03′36″W / 51.807°N 3.060°W.[2] Hill's Tramroad extends around the western flanks of the hill and drops steeply down to Llanfoist by means of a series of inclines beneath Cwm Craf. There are extensive abandoned workings for limestone around the northern and eastern rim of Blorenge.
Etymology [edit]
The name is problematic. It has been suggested that it may derive from the Welsh 'plor' ('pimple') and relating to Middle English 'blure' ('blister') or else from 'blawr ais' (meaning'grey ribbed') but neither explanation is wholly satisfactory.[3]
Blorenge in popular culture [edit]
The Blorenge was mentioned in the TV panel show QI (which aired on 8 October 2004) as the only word in the English language rhyming with 'orange'. In a play on words, it has sometimes jocularly been referred to as 'the Blancmange', since, when viewed from Abergavenny [1] - it looks to some as if it had been tipped from a huge jelly mould.
References [edit]
- ^ British Geological Survey 50K Map sheet 232 'Abergavenny' & accompanying memoir
- ^ "Blorenge Tramroad". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
- ^ Owen, H.W. & Morgan, R. 2007 Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales, Gomer Press, Ceredigion
