Casgliadau Arlein

South Wales Group of the Gay Outdoor Club 20th anniversary walk to Sugar Loaf, Abergavenny.

“Twenty years ago, the newly formed South Wales Group of the Gay Outdoor Club, tentatively stepped out on their first walk - to climb Sugar Loaf hill, which dominates the Abergavenny skyline - and to mark the occasion, Peter Kingsbury, the original walk leader, led a defiant 13 members on an 8 mile walk to the summit, which is just under 2,000 feet high, in January 2020. The forecast was spot on - it rained and rained, and as we approached the summit, after walking through beautiful open moorland with extensive views and sheltered wooded valleys, the weather was as bad as it had been all morning. Undeterred however, we cut a celebration cake and we drank Prosecco, kindly provided by Peter, and we toasted the group and its members. As we had come that far, we braved the summit, just as, miraculously, the clouds parted and the sun came out as we took photographs at the trig point. It was nice to see that all the coordinators over the twenty years were on this walk, and here's to the next twenty years!” Alan Dack, Group Coordinator, South Wales Group, Gay Outdoor Club.