Bannau Brycheiniog National Park: The Myth-Soaked Moors that Birthed Wales

At the heart of Bannau Brycheiniog lies the dramatic sandstone escarpments and lofty ridges of the Central Brecon, home to the national park’s tallest summit, Pen Y Fan, and some of its most fertile human history, concealing within its midsts some twenty Iron Age hillforts, ruinous Gothic castles such as Castell Carreg Cennen, and life-drunk tourist towns like Merthyr Tydil and Brecon.

For a touch of outdoor exploration, the Horseshoe Ridge Trail is an epic, six-hour upland hike that takes willing adventurers 886 meters (2,907ft) into the sky to the summit of Pen Y Fan, from which views of the Bristol Channel, Swansea Bay, the Black Mountains, and Brecon can be seen. Usk Valley Walk is a gentler but just-as-scenic amble up the River Usk, crossing rolling meadows, hidden-gem towns (Abergavenny is a local foodie mecca; the seafood at the Michelin-starred Walnut Tree Inn is to die for), and an ancient Roman baths, while the historic Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, once the lifeblood of the Welsh coal and iron industries, now offers 35 miles of peaceful waterside strolls, complete with six locks and various weathered relics from its industrial other-life. The route also passes right through medieval Brecon, the region’s unofficial capital, which is well worth spending a day or two to explore. Visit the 11th-century Brecon Cathedral, which conceals within its humble sandstone facade some of the finest stained-glass windows in the country; indulge the mind at the spectacular Y Gaer Museum, Art Gallery, and Library, which features works from Josef Herman, Augustus John, and Thomas Gainsborough; or follow the fascinating story of the Royal Welch Fusiliers at the Royal Welsh Regimental Museum.

Then, take to the waters of Llangorse Lake, the largest natural lake in South Wales and home of the award-winning Llangorse Multi Activity Centre. Established in 1958, the establishment is one of Wales’ leading outdoors centres and offers everything from horse rides to rock climbing to zip lining, as well as both camping and B\&B accommodation. Activities are offered for people of all abilities and ages at a range of prices, so you’re sure to find an experience perfect for you.

Lastly, if you want to see the Central Beacons from a different perspective, hop aboard the gorgeous heritage steam trains of the Brecon Mountain Railway and soak in the majestic panoramas offered along its 5km (8 miles) of mountain-edge track. Originally opened in 1859 as a passenger line, the twenty-five minute journey begins in Pant on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, a town once known as the ‘Iron Capital of the World’, before climbing northward along the entire length of the iridescent Pontsticill Reservoir - a popular sailing spot - and past adjoining Pentwyn Reservoir until you ramble up to Torpantau, the summit of the original line high in the Brecon Mountains. Along the way the train stops at Pontsticill, where the Lakeside Café offers snacks, coffees, and ice creams with sweeping lakefront views, or you can pick up a souvenir at the Pant gift shop alongside a bite of afternoon tea in the Tearooms. Tickets go from £19.75; book your journey online here. 

The ominously-named Black Mountains, not to be confused with Black Mountain to the west, are a cluster of mountains and hills straddling the English-Welsh border in the east of Bannau Brycheiniog. They are roughly defined as the hills falling within the triangle made by the towns of Abergavenny in the southeast, Hay-on-Wye in the north, and the Llangorse village in the west and are composed predominantly of that almost extraterrestrial landscapes so characteristic of Bannau Brycheiniog. Its tallest peak, Waun Fach, plateaus at its 811m (2,661ft) summit, giving breathtaking views of the Grwyne Fechan valley and reservoir below.

Enclosed in the Black Mountains are some of the national park’s most tantalising human-history sites. In the secluded Vale of Ewyas, chiselled from rock by mighty ice some thousand of years ago, the spectacular ruins of Llanthony Priory linger. Founded in the early 12th century as a monastery for Augustinian monks, it is one of the oldest such canons in the entire country. Its population, however, was met with hostility from locals upon the order’s establishment, and, by the time of Henry VIII’s suppression of Britain’s monasteries in the 16th century, the grounds were largely already derelict and hollow. The plaintive Gothic ruins became muses for Romantics in the centuries following, most notably in the paintings of J. M. W. Turner, and the site is still a favourite among explorers centuries later. To spend a night or two in the sepulchral shadows of the monument, book in at the historic Llanthony Priory Hotel, a small country inn built within the ruins themselves. Its vaulted Cellar Bar offers a mouthwatering selection of local ales and homemade meals around a homely open log fire and is an ideal end-of-day hideaway.

Meanwhile, at the mouth of the Vale and in the shadows of the monumental Skirrid mountain (or Ysgyryd Fawr in Welsh, and known locally as Sacred Hill due its allegedly supernatural fecundity) is the Skirrid Mountain Inn, which claims to be the oldest public house in the UK. Oldest, and the most haunted! Dating to the early 12th century, the inn was established as a stoppage point on the pilgrimage trail to aforementioned Llanthony Priory and has been burdened by a storied and bloodied history ever since: Owain Glyndŵr is alleged to have rallied local supporters here during the 15th-century Glyndŵr Risings against English rule, while the building’s first floor is rumoured to have once been a Court of Law where some 180 prisoners sentenced to be hung from the oak beam above the inn’s staircase. A hangman’s rope still hangs in the spot today (non-functional!). The inn has three ensuite rooms for those unafraid of the additional guests you may end up staying with: keep an eye for Fanny, a former innkeep who is still seen watching over her beloved property, and be sure to mind your head while you’re eating as the spirits have been known to throw glasses at unwitting guests!

Other points of interest in the Black Mountains are Hay-on-Wye, the UK’s first “book town” which declared itself an independent republic in the 1970s; the Offa’s Dyke National Trail which, in parts, was carved by King Offa and his men in the 8th century to demarcate his Kingdom of Mercia from enemy grounds; and Sugar Loaf Mountain, a sloping wooded forest that is renowned as one of the best places in the UK for stargazing (in fact, the entirety of Bannau Brycheiniog is a designated International Dark Sky Reserve).

Although called Fforest Fawr, or ‘Great Forest’ in English, Fforest Fawr comprises mostly of moorland, the name coming from the Middle-Ages definition of “forest” as an area of land used for hunting. It also makes up the majority of the Fforest Fawr Geopark, a 300 square mile (777 sq km) expanse of land designated a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2015 for its “international geological significance”. It is one of around 150 such sites worldwide and one of seven in the UK, as well as being Wales’ first (others include Devon’s English Riviera, the North Pennines, and Scotland’s North-west Highlands).

Unsurprisingly, then, the area has some of Bannau Brycheiniog’s most arresting geology and natural landscapes. Its tallest peak is Fan Fawr at 734m (2,408 ft) high, composed of the vibrant Old Red Sandstone so iconic of the region. It is a moderately difficult summit with sweeping views of the surrounding area. To absorb more of Fforest Fawr’s craggily statuesque scenery, traipse the 5.25km (3.25 mi) Cribath Geotrail, a journey through “quarries and crags, folds and fractures.” Or, head underground into the National Showcaves Centre for Wales at Dan-yr-Ogof which comprises ten attractions, ranging from the spectacular underground waterfalls of Cathedral Cave and the macabre mysteries of Bone Cave - so named due to the 42 neolithic human skeletons excavated at the site - to the adorable animals of its Shire Horse Centre.

Fforest Fawr also contains Bannau Brycheiniog’s ‘Waterfall Country’, where the rivers Mellte, Hepste, Pyrddin, and Nedd-fechan all meander and rush through melodramatic, emerald-green gorges before converging to form the singular River Neath. There are several walks that allow you to sample some of the region’s most spectacular offerings such as the Gunpowder Trail, so called because it begins from the former gunpowder town of Pontneddfechan. Or, pick and mix your favourite falls for one-off stops: Henrhyd Falls is the tallest waterfall in South Wales at 90ft (27m) and notably starred in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy as the location of the Bat Cave, while Melincourt Falls in an underrated 80ft (24m) to the park’s south.

Round off your visit with a trip to idyllic Craig-y-nos Country Park, a 40-acre Victorian park on the grounds of historic Craig-y-nos Castle, a magnificent Scots baronial-style country home once home to Welsh opera single Adelina Patti. The sumptuous gardens, once the pinnacle of Victorian decadence, are a tantalising mosaic of shady woodland, lazy meadows, secretive lakes, and whirling rivers in the heart of the fertile Swansea Valley. Spend the day lotus-eating in the landscaped wonderland, or use the site as your departure point along the epic Penwyllt Geotrail, which will take you 7.2km (4.5 mi) through the surrounding industrial valleys to Penwyllt, a former quarrying village surrounded by an almost surreal moorland.

Last but not least is the Black Mountain, again not to be confused with the aforementioned Black Mountains in the park’s southeast. Black Mountain, rather, is a mountain range that forms the westernmost ridge of Bannau Brycheiniog and is notable for its rich archaeological heritage, various prehistoric and Roman traces decorating the foothills and massifs of the region. Vestigial menhirs, round barrows, and small circles from the Neolithic area haunt the landscape as echoes of another time, while evidence of a small Roman settlement and Roman roads have been found vivisecting the ancient moorlands. The region was voted the UK’s number one Hidden Gem spot in a 2020 BBC poll.

To wander this spectral landscape, we recommend the Black Mountain route which takes walkers from the historic village of Trecastle along the cliffs of Bannau Sir Gaer and towards the summit of Fan Brycheiniog. The tallest mountain populating the range, its apex is 802 metres (2,631ft) above sea level and provides expansive moorland views. Fan Brycheiniog is the region’s premier attraction and is a favourite bird watchers' spot, with residents including red kites, common buzzards, kestrel, and skylarks. 

Along the ascent are two other notable natural features, Llyn y Fan Fach (‘lake of the small peak’) and Llyn y Fan Fawr (‘lake of the large peak’), two scintillating glacial lakes in Fan Brychneiniog’s shadow. Undertake the 15km (9 mi) circular walk encompassing both bodies, framed perfectly by the amphitheatre-like escarpments surrounding them, along which you will encounter prehistoric cairns, derelict stone huts, and babbling waterfalls, and then indulge in some local mythology by learning the tragic legend of the Lady of the Lake, a supernaturally attractive woman who is said to have once occupied the waters of Llyn y Fan Fach and brought otherworldly powers of healing to our mortal realm. The legend is connected to the Welsh tradition of Gwyragedd Annwn, or ‘Wives of the Lower World’, beautiful fairy folk said to populate Wales’ lakes and rivers.