The Blorenge is a
mountainA mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them...
in
MonmouthshireMonmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a larger area.-Historic county:...
, south east
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
. It is high and overlooks the valley of the
River UskThe River Usk rises in the Carmarthen Fans mountains or Fan Brycheiniog of mid-Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park then flows south-east through Brecon , Crickhowell, Abergavenny and the eponymous town of Usk past the Roman legionary fortress of Caerleon, through...
to the southern flanks of the
Black Mountains, WalesThe Black Mountains are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales , and extending across the national border into Herefordshire, England . They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons National Park, and are...
, also in the Brecon Beacons National Park.
The Blorenge overlooks the
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of
AbergavennyAbergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales.It is located 24 km west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 10 km from the English border within the Welsh Marches...
and the village of
LlanfoistLlanfoist is a village in Monmouthshire, Wales at , very near Abergavenny.The name of the village derives from St. Fwyst, an early Christian Welsh Saint.- Attractions :...
in the Usk Valley to the north. It is situated within both the Brecon Beacons National Park and the
BlaenavonBlaenavon is a town and World Heritage Site in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Llwyd north of Pontypool, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. The town lies high on a hillside and has a population of 6,349 people.-History:...
Industrial Landscape
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
. At the foot of the mountain lies the
Monmouthshire & Brecon CanalThe Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park, and its present rural character and tranquillity belies its original purpose as an industrial corridor for coal and iron, which were brought to the...
.
The Blorenge is composed in layer-cake fashion of a number of different rock types.
The Blorenge is a
mountainA mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them...
in
MonmouthshireMonmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a larger area.-Historic county:...
, south east
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
. It is high and overlooks the valley of the
River UskThe River Usk rises in the Carmarthen Fans mountains or Fan Brycheiniog of mid-Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park then flows south-east through Brecon , Crickhowell, Abergavenny and the eponymous town of Usk past the Roman legionary fortress of Caerleon, through...
to the southern flanks of the
Black Mountains, WalesThe Black Mountains are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales , and extending across the national border into Herefordshire, England . They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons National Park, and are...
, also in the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Location
The Blorenge overlooks the
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of
AbergavennyAbergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales.It is located 24 km west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 10 km from the English border within the Welsh Marches...
and the village of
LlanfoistLlanfoist is a village in Monmouthshire, Wales at , very near Abergavenny.The name of the village derives from St. Fwyst, an early Christian Welsh Saint.- Attractions :...
in the Usk Valley to the north. It is situated within both the Brecon Beacons National Park and the
BlaenavonBlaenavon is a town and World Heritage Site in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Llwyd north of Pontypool, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. The town lies high on a hillside and has a population of 6,349 people.-History:...
Industrial Landscape
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
. At the foot of the mountain lies the
Monmouthshire & Brecon CanalThe Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park, and its present rural character and tranquillity belies its original purpose as an industrial corridor for coal and iron, which were brought to the...
.
Geology
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 SandstoneThe Old Red Sandstone is a British rock formation of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, 'ORS' is often used in literature on the subject.-Sedimentology:...
. Its higher reaches are formed from a suite of mudstones, limestones and sandstones of
CarboniferousThe Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Ma , to the beginning of the Permian period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Ma ....
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 CoalfieldThe South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits.- The coalfield area :The South Wales Coalfield lies in parts of the unitary authorities of Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Vale of Glamorgan, Merthyr Tydfil,...
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 .
Protected areas
The Blorenge has been designated a
Site of Special Scientific InterestA Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based...
principally for its heather moorland which is important for breeding
Red GrouseThe Red Grouse is a medium sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland...
.
A glacial hollow on the southeast flank of the mountain, the Punchbowl Nature Reserve, is owned and managed by the Woodland Trust.
Hang Gliding Mecca
The SE Wales
Hang GlidingHang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider.Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite-framed fabric wing...
&
ParaglidingParagliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport. A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing.- History :In...
Club's members regularly take off from the summit.
The rare name is notable for being one of few words in the
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
that rhymes with the word
orangeOrange is both a noun and an adjective in the English language. In both cases, it refers primarily to the orange fruit and the colour orange, but has many other derivative meanings....
. It is sometimes referred to as 'the Blancmange', as viewed from Abergavenny
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/84043 - it does look as if it has been tipped from a huge jelly mould.
Harry LlewellynSir Harry Morton Llewellyn, 3rd Baronet, CBE was a British equestrian champion. He was born in Aberdare, South Wales, the son of a colliery owner, Sir David Llewellyn, 1st Baronet.- Background :...
's famous showjumping
horseThe horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
,
FoxhunterFoxhunter was a champion show jumping horse ridden by Harry Llewellyn, best known for their part in securing Great Britain's only gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics ....
which won Britain's only
Gold medalA gold medal is typically the highest medal awarded for achievement in a non-military field. The concept comes from the military, initially with a simple recognition of military rank, and later decorations for admission to military orders dating back to medieval times.Since the eighteenth century,...
in the
1952 Summer OlympicsThe 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952...
is buried near to the
BlaenavonBlaenavon is a town and World Heritage Site in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Llwyd north of Pontypool, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. The town lies high on a hillside and has a population of 6,349 people.-History:...
to
LlanoverLlanover is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom.- Location :Llanover is located four miles south of Abergavenny just off the A4042 road to Pontypool.- History & Amenities :...
road on the Blorenge with a car park sited here in his honour.
Access
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
hillwalkingIn Britain, the term hillwalking or fellwalking is normally used to describe the recreational practice of walking in hilly or mountainous terrain, generally with the intention of visiting the tops of hills and mountains....
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 UskThe River Usk rises in the Carmarthen Fans mountains or Fan Brycheiniog of mid-Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park then flows south-east through Brecon , Crickhowell, Abergavenny and the eponymous town of Usk past the Roman legionary fortress of Caerleon, through...
to
AbergavennyAbergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales.It is located 24 km west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 10 km from the English border within the Welsh Marches...
and the
Black Mountains, WalesThe Black Mountains are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales , and extending across the national border into Herefordshire, England . They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons National Park, and are...
. Easier access both to the summit and the northern edge of the plateau can be had from the Foxhunter car park.
External links