Recently on a Herefordshire walking page on Facebook, I saw a comment that suggested there were hidden waterfalls in the Olchon Valley in the west of the county. The person posting didn't want to tell anyone exactly where to find them though. I worked out a rough location based on the path of the brook in the valley. It's pretty amazing out there anyway so I thought I'd go find a waterfall and name it after my baby daughter Molly. I planned a circular route up "Cat's Back" to Crib Y Garth (Black Hill) and then down the other side into the Olchon Valley and back round.
To turn this into a bit more of an adventure, I camped the night before in a scenic and remote field on my wife's parent's farm on the Welsh border. I picked the best spot I could find, which had an absolutely glorious view of the Black Mountains. It was just me and a couple of intrigued looking horses in the neighbouring field. I set up the tent and my little camp chair and watched the sunset.
I got up at around 5:30am to head off and do the walk. I'd been up Black Hill before and at 640m I thought it was the highest point in England south of the Yorkshire Dales. It turns out that the highest point is actually Black Mountain on the Offa's Dyke Path the other side of the valley which sits at 703m. I'd been reading a Bill Bryson book called A Walk in the Woods about him and a friend walking the Appalachian Trail in the United States. Way, way, waaaay back in the day before the continents formed, the Appalachian Mountains were in the Central Pangean Range along with the Highlands, the Black Mountains, and other ranges in Europe and North Africa. The Offa's Dyke Path is now part of the International Appalachian Trail which includes hiking routes in the places that used to form Central Pangea. I'd decided to extend my circular route to incorporate a bit of the Offa's Dyke Path and walk a prehistoric section of the Appalachian Trail I had been reading about. I also wanted to go to the highest point in Herefordshire and southern England because I thought I'd ticked that off already and it would have properly wound me up if I didn't do it.
The first part of the walk up Black Hill is pretty steep and a real thigh wrecker. I was blowing. The good thing about it is that you get up high quite quickly and the remainder of the walk is relatively easy. I passed various wild campers and wild ponies. The wild campers were tucked away off the path as you'd expect but the ponies were right in the middle of it. I don't like getting too near to ponies or horses due to irrational fears of getting kicked in the face, but it was lovely to see them. It's a fantastic setting and the views are incredible. I'm fairly sure if it wasn't in the arse end of nowhere with a diabolical road leading to a tiny and inadequate car park, it would be busy, but as it happened I would only see two other people during the whole of my 8 mile walk.
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| The start of the walk up Cat's Back. Looks alright in the photo. It's not alright. |
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| Wild ponies on the Cat's Back Ridge |
I walked along the ridge which apparently resembles the backbone of a cat about to pounce. You slowly make your way up to a flat, boggy area where you find the summit Black Hill. From there you carry on along the path and can either swerve left down into the valley or carry on up to the Offa's Dyke Path. I carried on towards the trail as planned to reach Black Mountain and the highest point in the southern half of England.
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| Cat's Back |
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| Breakfast. A porridge pot and a coffee. I boiled the kettle with a little military fuel block stove. Idyllic setting. Shite breakfast. |
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| Black Hill (640m) |
It's around a mile from Black Hill to the Offa's Dyke Path. When you eventually reach the top, it's a mixture of good and not very good. It's hilly enough that you get a great view of the solid trail winding through the borderlands, but as it's very wide and high up, you can't see anything of the glorious surrounding area. I had to check on my phone to see when I'd reached the "summit" of Black Mountain, because there is nothing there to mark it. Bittersweet really because it was a decent feeling reaching it but a bit of a let down that it seemed an unrecognised and insignificant place. If it didn't already have a name I'd be claiming that on Google Maps as well.
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| The Offa's Dyke Path between Black Mountain and Hay Bluff |
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| I had to check the location of Black Mountain as it was unmarked |
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| Black Mountain (704m) |
From Black Mountain I had to go back the way I'd came to rejoin the circular walk. My AllTrails app had shown that there might be a different way to get to the entrance of the valley, but my Ordnance Survey map didn't show that. I opted to go with OS. After walking back on the route that I'd already walked, I saw where the mystery path would have apparently ended. It looked like brambly, tick infested mess that, at best, would have scratched my legs to bits and at worst, I'd have got Lyme disease. OS maps are the way forward, or in this case, the way back to where you were before.
I then walked down into Olchon Valley where I was hoping to find me a waterfall to claim. The scenery is unreal and there wasn't another soul in sight. It's really sad, but the Jurassic Park theme tune came into my head as I saw more of more of this incredible place. That then reminded me of a video I saw from a chap with a garden gate that squeaked the first three notes of Jurassic Park perfectly. I started chuckling to myself, then momentarily wondered if I was losing my mind.
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| Olchon Valley |
As I gradually entered the valley, the waterfall hunt started. I knew it was on the Olchon Brook and under some trees towards the end of the valley I was in. Unfortunately the mile and a half or so of brook in the valley is generally under some trees. The logical plan was to find the brook, walk along near it and listen out for louder sounds of running water. Luckily I heard what sounded like a waterfall relatively quickly, but unfortunately it was down a steep, rocky bank. After nearly breaking my ankles scrambling down there, I found the waterfall. It was a beautiful place, much better than I was expecting. I thought I'd probably find a glorified trickle of sheep piss over a small pile of rocks to be honest, but it was about 10ft high and just magical. In wetter months it would be amazing. I sat by the newly named waterfall for a while and logged the location so I could stick it on Google Maps. I actually felt a bit emotional. Job done.
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| The secret waterfall near Black Hill |
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| The view of the waterfall through the trees |
On leaving the waterfall found a far easier route to get to it, which was really, really annoying but good to know in the future. I then finished the walk through the valley along a dark country lane past derelict old farm houses, still not another soul around.
This was another rewarding little local adventure and I loved every minute. I'd go as far to say that's the best walk I've ever done. I've been up a lot of hills and mountains, but for a combination of natural beauty and feeling like you were properly away from it all, this was amazing.
If you do find yourself in this neck of the woods (you should because it's beautiful), please do the Black Hill circular walk and visit the waterfall. It is now confirmed on Google Maps which has completed my little expedition. Molly is incredibly precious to us after 12 years of failed IVF treatments and some heartbreaking scans. This was likely to be our last go and it finally worked. Hopefully the name stays and I have somewhere special to take Molly when she is old enough to walk up Black Hill. I'm definitely not carrying her up there though mate.
Update on this. It appears someone didn't like me adding the waterfall to Google Maps and it was removed. The waterfall is on common land so there are no issues there. I can only assume they are against the naming of it or just want to keep it a secret. I sort of understand the name issue even though it didn't have a name in the first place, but I'm against keeping nice things in nature a secret. I've put it back on Google Maps and will continue do so as long as it lets me. It's a nice name and I think a nice story behind it.
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