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Writer's pictureBen Mellor

The Rosko Chapters - EP7 - The Great Rhos

So this week we have a little lad that’s as bright as a button with only the remnants of a cold left. So another walk is on the cards! Last week we had a lot of attention from walkers that we past which was motivational but it’s not my cup of tea at all. So this week we’re going back into the wilderness and checking out some wilder settings. While looking through the nuttalls hill lists I noticed a small area consisting of just 3 hills that I’ve never been near before. This really appealed to me. The first few times I’ve gone off by myself to a different range that I hadn’t been before were great memories. Up until now I’ve tried to stick to areas that I know with Rosko on my back. With the weather forecast showing decent outlook I thought it would be a great time to get onto ground that I haven’t trodden before. So off we go to the Great Rhos.

The route above wasn’t the longest route that I’ve ever planned. There’s 3 Nuttalls within this range and I thought it would be a shame if I did all three in one go. Then I wouldn’t have any reason to re-visit with there still being 150 on the list I need to cover. So I planned to get up Bache Hill and Black Mixen only which I think I made the right call on, as I soon found out that the area is absolutely beautiful to walk around!


I was late to get up but nevertheless we got down passed Knighton and landed at the bottom of New Radnor at 11am. I was impressively organised this morning so much so I had time to take some cute photos of Rosko while he waited 😊.

And off we go again! We started off bushwhacking up through a bridal path. Safe to say no horses had been up there for a while. We then curved around to a wild woodland and popped up onto some logging roads. The going was steep for the first hour until a little break came at the foot of the summit hills. These areas were quite exposed to the elements now we were out of the fell line. I batted on but got quite worried about Roskos warmth. I pushed up the steep grassy slope which was awful to walk on. I started to feel a bit shakey as the first trig point of Bache Hill came into view. Brilliant! We’ve bagged another Nuttal in great speed and all was well!!


With the day still being quite young we sat down, put some layers on, had some snacks and read a book. Reading a book on the hills is a new thing but something I’m going to continue. I felt absolute solitude during these moments and an unwavering sense of happiness.

While Rosko flicked around with his book I took a look at the route. Most of the elevation was checked off so the plan was to just meander our way over to black Mixen. I packed up our food and books and loaded Rosko onto my back. I let him hold the Bluetooth speaker and started playing some music. He held it in the air for the next half an hour and found it very amusing. Again, similar to the book this was a great idea. I sometimes worry about him being bored in the backpack so this really made me happy to see. We skipped along the path listening to some old school garage tunes. A slight hill was upon us which I made light work on then voila! Our 2nd Nuttal of the day. Black Mixen was in view. I turned the speaker off at this point as he looked like he was about to nod off and I was proved right. Rosko nodded off just as I got to the trig point. The summit wasn’t the most aesthetic summit if ever been on with a very large telecoms tower on it which was howling in the breeze. I took a quick photo then carried on my way.

I was on a circular route so after the short descent off the summit hill we diverted into a valley which wound between a few of the hills in the area. It was a seriously picturesque place to be and I. Ade the most of it and walked slowly. Eventually I put the backpack down and set up my ground blanket and we had lunch. We pumped a few more tunes and Rosko had a good walkabout. True to form, the first time we had any company from hill walkers happened to be when I was changing Roskos nappy! How typical!

We meandered off the Great Rhos and down to the motor in New Radnor. Mission complete and what an absolute cracker it was! Nothing but a fair bit of exercise, funny moments and great time spent together in absolute beautiful views. So glad I didn’t do a ll three as I can’t wait to go back. Onto the next one!!!


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