The Fforest Fawr and the Brecon Beacons

Wednesday 18th September 2002

Continuing with my holiday from 2002 spent in the Breacon Beacons National Park I am still plagued by a lack of details. I didn’t write up an account of these walks at the time and so much time has passed that I am having difficulty remembering what walk I did on those days. My memory is notoriously faulty so I am reliant on a sketchy comment made in my diary at the time that was more concerned with problems that I was having with my ankle than with any actual description of the walk. The best I can find is a comment to say that I was in agony trying to walk up a hill at the start of the day. Based on this feeble description I have guessed that this was the day that I did my first walk around the Fforest Fawr. Although the national park is called Brecon Beacons the actual Brecon Beacons occupies only a small portion of the whole park. On the extreme west lies the vast area of the Black Mountain, while on the eastern edge lies the Black Mountains (no connection). In the middle of the park is the Brecon Beacons and just to the west of them is the Fforest Fawr.

Fforest Fawr translates as ‘Great Forest’ referring to its historic use as a royal hunting ground that is now an extensive upland area at the centre of Wales’ first Geopark due to its outstanding geological heritage. This designation had not taken place when I walked there over ten years ago and in fact the area is probably the least visited in the whole national park. I parked on the A4067 at the top of Bwlch Bryn-rhudd and immediately began walking up the steep hillside to the south of the road up to the top of Fan Gyhirych. As already mentioned the steepness of this hill aggravated my ankle, but I don’t remember any specific problems with my ankle, though I do remember that this climb was very steep and fortunately it wasn’t very prolonged as I was soon able to enjoy the sunshine at the top.

Setting off along a path that was sometimes muddy, I walked east briefly walking along clear tracks before crossing Bwlch y Duwynt and climbing to the trig point at the top of Fan Nedd. I descended the steep slopes on the other side and briefly joined a road before walking along the Sarn Helen Roman road through a wood and down to a ford across the Nedd Fechan where a large walking group were congregated. Shortly after the ford I left the crowds behind as I took the route of the Beacons Way through a delightful area that is marked on maps more recent to the one I was using at the time as the Ogaf-Ffynon-Ddu Pant Mawr National Nature Reserve. Cutting a corner near the now disused Penwyllt Stone Quarry I joined the track of an old railway that took me back to my car. After my agonies at the start of the walk my ankle eased during the day to let me to finish a good walk in remote upland country.

Thursday 19th September 2002

Despite managing to complete the previous day's walk, I was now seriously considering returning home and I thought I would not be able to do any more walking. However, the next day my ankle seemed better and as the weather was even better than the day before I couldn’t resist going for a walk over the Brecon Beacons. Despite the problems I’d had with my ankle, this walk ended up being the most strenuous of the week, and certainly the best. Unfortunately that is all the description of the walk my diary has given me except for a mention of a dam at the end of the walk, which I had thought was a reference to Talybont Reservoir, but I believe that walk was the following year and wasn’t over the Brecon Beacons. I think this walk is one that I have done several times before and in both directions, but this was the first time.

I parked at a car park on the edge of the Talybont Forest at the top of the pass between Talybont and Pontsticill. I remember my old car struggling to get up the steep road from the reservoir to the car park, but my present car on subsequent visits has had no such problem. I set off north to climb a fabulous ravine formed by the Nant Bwrefwr and around the edge of Craig y Fan Ddu and Graig Fan Las. At the pass of Bwlch y Ddwyalt I turned left and walked along the top of the northern edges of the Brecon Beacons around the top of the valleys that create such a dramatic picture of the beacons. My route took me around the top of Cwm Oergwm to Fan y Big, Cwm Cynwyn to Cribyn and Cwm Sere to the top of the biggest beacon, Pen y Fan. I was now really enjoying the sunny weather and was walking stripped down to my t-shirt while earlier in the week I'd had to wear both my fleece and my jumper.

From Pen y Fan I walked over Corn Du and along the top of Craig Gwaun Taf and Graig Fan Ddu until I reached the trig point on Twyn Mwyalchod. From there I turned east and dropped steeply down to the dam for Lower Neuadd Reservoir. On my last visit to this area the reservoir was full, but on this occasion and on all but the most recent maps this reservoir has been empty. I believe that it was on this dam that my ankle finally gave up and I had hobble along a track through the Taf Fechan Forest onto the road and all the way back to my car. This walk was easily the highlight of a good week's holiday spent walking in the Brecon Beacons. This national park covers a wide variety of terrains, but the highlight is the hills that lend the park its name. In good weather the Brecon Beacons is always a fabulous walk.