Tuesday 15th June 2010 – Talybont on Usk

We wanted to stay at Talybont on Usk and had been recommended a site by one of our fellow campers at Rosebush. We stopped at the Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre near Libanus just off the A470. There was plenty of information and lovely views over the Brecons, including the highest peak of Pen y Fan. There are also walks from the centre over relatively flat land giving people more opportunity to admire the views.
Talybont Farm is in the centre of the small village and we booked in before pitching at the edge of a large field. Two other small fields are dedicated to the many groups that stay such as schools and Duke of Edinburgh Award groups. Electric hook-up and water are provided at the pitch but the single toilet and shower are a long walk away at the farmhouse. This will all change in August (hopefully) when the new shower block, currently being built, will be ready. This will provide much better toilet, shower and washing up facilities. Being self contained in our motorhome, the Spartan facilities are not a problem.
We set off to investigate the village and found the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal just 50 metres from the farm entrance. This is a very short canal with no connections to other canals but is very popular for canal boat hire as the views are lovely. We found a lifting bridge that takes a minor road over the canal and it has to be lifted every time that a canal boat needs to pass. A boat was approaching but they had to wait for 45 minutes as a sign on the bridge said that it shouldn't be lifted between 15:30 and 16:30. The village school is on the other side of the bridge from the village and the road probably sees more traffic during the morning and afternoon school rush than the whole of the remaining day.
The village has an impressive well-stocked local shop that is also a post office and café. More importantly, there are two pubs within a very short walk of the campsite. The closest pub, The Star Inn, has a CAMRA award and therefore serves good real ales. We went for an early pint and discovered that they also had free WiFi – what an excellent pub. I walked back to get the laptop and we were able to catch up on emails.
Photos: The peaks of Pen y Fan and Corn Du as seen from the Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre near Libanus; The incredibly narrow buildings next to the canal bank in Tallybont on Usk; Waiting to use the lifting bridge.