Cilfrew Edge
BOLTING POLICY
Natural Sandstone.
No bolts, unless it's quarried.
PREAMBLE
Cilfrew is a delightful natural outcrop situated in a sheltered woodland park on the western side of the Neath Valley. The cliff generally faces south-east but sunshine or shade is easily found.
The rock is an attractively weathered Pennant Sandstone which hosts a variety of climbing styles; overhangs, walls, slabs, cracks, arêtes, chimneys, the lot.
It is a great winter crag, as when the leaves drop it receives plenty of sunshine and dries very quickly. Conversely, in the summer (end of May to start of September), the canopy can make it humid and midgy, so best to visit on a windy day.
The woodland setting does mean that leaf litter can accumulate and a brush may be helpful to clear ledges and top outs (which have been well cleaned by the first ascentionists) prior to that big lead.
Climbs are predominantly cam protected (blue, green, yellow totem cam sizes on everthing), but a set of wires and hexes are useful too. Who knows, maybe Cilfrew will turn out to be a haven for soloists one day.
There is also some Bouldering at Cilfrew which are best described separately.
ACCESS
The crag lies above the main car park in Craig Gwladys Country Park, Aberdulais. It's a stones throw from Swansea and is less than 40 mins to the car park from Cardiff, M4 J32.
Directions from M4 J43 (Llandarcy)
- Follow the A465 north for 4 miles.
- Take the Severn Sisters/Aberdulais exit.
- At the roundabout, take the first exit, signposted 'Cilfrew' and A4230.
- Pass under the railway bridge (200 m), then take a sharp right turn, signposted 'Cilfrew' & 'Penscynor'.
- Continue for 500 m and navigate a few speed bumps. At the crest of the rise, turn left at the poorly marked (brown) signpost for "Craig Gwladys".
Parking
Pass through the steel barrier to a T-Junction. Head left, uphill, to the last car park (200 m). As of May 2024 there is a new barrier system, it is always possible to exit the barrier via one-way blockers (Gator Teeth style). The inbound gate is locked at varying times, which so far haven't been confirmed, it's assumed to be 6pm, and possibly earlier in the Winter (~3:15pm?). If the barrier is locked/you plan to stay late into the evening, you can dump your bags at the car park/barrier and go back down to park on the correct side of the barrier in one of the streets, please ensure to park sensibly.
CRAG LAYOUT
Crag layout map coming soon...
Pages in category ‘Cilfrew Edge’
The following 3 pages are in this category, out of 3 total.
