Journey 5
Gerald of Wales
The Black Mountains
Why did Gerald take the hardest route?
Historians have long debated where Gerald went from here. His account claims the ‘rugged pass’ of Coed Grwyne,
and Nick identifies two possible ‘Grwyne’ valleys on his map.
But they’re both 1800ft up in the mountains, whilst down below ran a perfectly usable Roman road alongside the River Usk – now the A40. Why did Gerald choose the hard way, when his only aim was to reach Abergavenny and carry on preaching?
As Nick follows in Gerald’s footsteps, the hard slog of the climb becomes even more apparent. But in trying to track down identifiable landmarks, Nick passes close to Llanthony Priory and comes up with a theory.
He believes Gerald’s party set off into the mountains with the intention of calling in at Llanthony. But the climb was harder and more time-consuming than they’d expected, and visiting the Priory abandoned in favour of pressing onto Abergavenny before nightfall.