The Brecon Beacons National Park covers a stunningly diverse area of 1344 sq. kilometres stretching from Abergavenny in the east across the heads of the South Wales valleys to Llandeilo in the west. The Park comprises four separate mountain ranges, each with its own distinctive landscape and atmosphere. In the east are the Black Mountains (plural) with their massive rounded summits and stark expanses of open peaty moor-land. The ground then descends into the picturesque lush valley of the river Usk with it’s rolling fields and farmland, before rising steeply again to the high mountains of the Central Brecon Beacons. Here at the heart of the National Park tower Pen-y-Fan, Corn Du and Cribyn, the highest peaks in Southern Britain. Pen-y-Fan the highest at 886 metres. Further west the mountains of Fforest Fawr give way to the spectacular waterfalls and woodland of the Mellte and Nedd valleys (Ralph’s favourite place). The wild landscape of Myndd Du with it’s steep escarpments and spectacular limestone outcrops, largely untouched by man, forms the western boundary of the park. While below ground the Brecon Beacons is the home of one of the most important and extensive cave complexes in Europe.
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Map Out your Stay at Canal Barn Bunkhouse!The diverse terrain of the Brecon Beacons makes it an outstanding setting for a wide range of outdoor activities. Walking, cycling, mountain biking and pony trekking are the mainstream activities, but the National Park is also a major centre for canoeing, caving, rock climbing and abseiling, and other perhaps more unusual activities such as hang gliding, gorge walking, rafting, quad biking, and paintball. The lake at Llangorse is ideal for all types of water sport, including sailing, wind surfing and water skiing. |
Dotted around the Brecon Beacons are small market towns and villages that have grown up to service the farming community. These towns and villages are full of character and are the location of many excellent pubs and restaurants that serve a wide variety of food, utilising the superb local produce. The picturesque scenery and rich Celtic heritage of the Brecon Beacons has over the years been a magnet to artists and craftsman working in wood, clay, ceramics, fabrics and other local materials. Some of the best examples of their work can be found at
Beacons Crafts
, a shop in Bethel Square in the centre of Brecon dedecated to selling work by local crafts people. To the east of park is Hay-on-Wye, the second hand book capital of the world and home of the famous Literary Festival. At the centre is Brecon Town with it's renowned
Jazz Festival. While to the west is Llanwrtyd Wells, claimed to be Britain's smallest town, which specialises in putting on some of the more extraordinary events such as the ‘Man Verses Horse Race’ and the one and only ‘World Bog Snorkelling Championships’.
The south of the National Park has an industrial past, as exemplified by the ‘world heritage site’ status of Bleanavon that includes the
Big Pit deep mine museum.
Set within the Brecon Beacons National Park is Fforest Fawr Geopark. It comprises the western half of the National Park, stretching from Llandovery in the north to the edge of Merthyr Tydfil in the south, from Llandeilo in the west to Brecon in the east. Fforest Fawr (the name translates as 'Great Forest' in English) is a swathe of upland country that lies at the heart of the Geopark, although the Geopark extends beyond these uplands to include much of the surrounding countryside. In fact Fforest Fawr Geopark's 300 square miles / 763 km2 include mountain and moorland, woods and meadows, towns and villages, lakes and rivers and a great deal more besides. There's a wealth of things to see and do, you'll meet rocks of all sorts of course but there's a lot more to
Fforest Fawr Geopark than that.
While exploring the Geopark visit
Craig-y-Nos Castle for afternoon tea or a meal.
Further information together with details of other attractions and events in the Brecon Beacons can be found at:
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