The village of New Radnor sits at the Southern end of the Radnor Forest, which constitutes 3000 acres of wild upland if we consider its definition of 1461.Things may have moved on but it's still made up of the same steep gullies and plateaus the highest of which is Great Rhos and Black Mixen. To the West marking its boundary is an 8 KM run of steep slopes that follow the Ithon Valley the river of which is a left bank tributary of the Wye. Fed by numerous Westerly channels such as the Mithil and Cwm Ffrwd brooks the Wye is supported, in addition, by the Aran, which begins on the slopes of Pool Hill the source of the Wyes main tributray the Lugg. Eventually the Aran flows into the Ithon and after it's fed by the aformentioned brook systems the water continues on its way through Llandridnod Wells and into the Wye near Builth.

The Lugg flows around the forests Northen limits and is boosted in volume by a series of pools and the Summergil, Hindwell and Knobley brooks to name a few. Presently we are in the Walton Basin or Radnor Valley, which you can no doubt tell by now is criss-crossed with a host of channels coming in off the Forests Easterly slopes. It's interesting to note that two of the Wyes main tributaries namely the Lugg and Ithon flow in opposite directions to join the Wye some 60 miles apart in Wales and England. A watershed and river is a myriad of ways.

During the second world war the forest was used as a live range by the military and is still in service today although with a reduced armed service it's fallen into longer durations of silence in recent times, which is a joy to the serious hill walkers who come from miles around to enjoy the forests heather covered hills that also support Lichens, bilberry fruits and bog mosses.

The Radnor Forest in Radnorshire Mid Wales is in the least populated county/district in the UK outside of the Outer Hebrides. The forest itself was a medieval hunting ground characterised by steep gullies and escarpments that rise to 650 meter tops. Water abounds everywhere as it flows off the heather moorland and peat bogs. Home to wild dear and Short Eared owls welcome to the Radnor Forest a major contributor of fresh water to the River Wye.

Radnor Forest - Distant Waters Video