Waterfalls Walk in Ystradfellte

As we set out for South Wales early on Saturday morning, nothing suggested that we might have a good day ahead of us; the sky was dark grey, it was raining ‘cats and dogs’, and we were all lacking at least two hours of sleep. However, the closer we got to Ystradfellte, the more hopeful we were becoming as the sky gradually changed from grey to clear blue. 

When we finally got to Ystradfellte after a long drive, the weather was beautiful and we all couldn’t wait to start walking!  The friendly sheep who met us as we arrived also made us feel that Ystradfellte was happy to see us. After a short walk we reached our first waterfall and in true Badminton style, decided to stop and have lunch in this truly picturesque setting. Next, fuelled up with energy, we set off to the most spectacular waterfall of the day. We had to carefully descend for 10 minutes on muddy steps until we finally reached it. This was definitely the best part of the whole trip – we got to walk behind the waterfall! We gathered on the slippery rocks behind the raging stream of water and took a moment to appreciate the power of nature. 

During the day we saw several more waterfalls and each of them was somehow different from the previous one, each filled with its own beauty. After a day filled with funny moments from impromptu renditions of songs and people gracefully slipping into the mud, we had a filling meal at McDonald’s.  After walking several kilometres through the mountains, our repast felt almost like a dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant. Happy after such a great meal we continued our journey back to School initially singing and laughing, but as we got closer to School most of us only had just enough energy to keep our eyes open. Everybody was quiet and it seemed to me that we were all thinking: “What an amazing day we just had!”

Anastasia (Year 12)