Beacons Way

The Beacons Way is a waymarked long distance footpath in the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales, United Kingdom.

The large landslip at the north end of the Skirrid

Distance

It is a linear route which runs for 152 km / 95 miles east to west through the National Park, and passes many of the most important landmarks and mountain peaks in the mountain range. It also includes many of the towns in the park as well as popular attractions such as Carreg Cennen Castle near Llandeilo at the western end of the path.

The route

Black Mountains

Llanthony Priory tower and nave

The Beacons Way as originally conceived started in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, at the eastern end of the National Park and headed northeast to Ysgyryd Fawr. It was later changed so that it started on the B4521 road immediately south of the hill at coordinates (51°50′32″N 2°58′33″W / 51.8422°N 2.9758°W / 51.8422; -2.9758 (Beacons Way, eastern trailhead)) though the connection with Abergavenny has since been reinstated, albeit on a slightly different route: it now starts at Abergavenny railway station. Beyond Ysgyryd Fawr the route drops down to Llanfihangel Crucorney, passing The Skirrid Mountain Inn before joining the Offa's Dyke Path to climb Hatterrall Hill. It then runs along the Welsh–English border for a few miles before descending into the Vale of Ewyas at Llanthony beside Llanthony Priory.

From Llanthony the route climbs to the ridge below Bal Mawr, follows this south and then makes for the village of Partrishow and over the slopes of Crug Mawr before dropping into the valley of the Grwyne Fechan to the north of Llanbedr. It climbs again to the spectacular Iron Age hillfort of Crug Hywel and then descends to the small town of Crickhowell.

Crug Hywel just north of Crickhowell

Pen y Fan

The summit of Pen y Fan

From Crickhowell the Beacons Way skirts the mass of Pen Cerrig-calch to reach Cwmdu in the Rhiangoll valley then heads up onto the southern ridge of Mynydd Llangorse which it then follows southwards to the village of Bwlch. The Way crosses the River Usk to enter Llangynidr and heads up around Tor y Foel making for the head of Glyn Collwn above Talybont Reservoir. The route then crosses the highest peaks in the central Beacons : Pen y Fan and Corn Du. In good weather, the peaks are usually crowded with visitors.

After dropping down to the Storey Arms on the A470 road, it heads northwest to the summit of Craig Cerrig-gleisiad in Fforest Fawr, and then continues southwest over Fan Dringarth and Fan Llia to cross the Afon Llia at Blaen Llia.

The Black Mountain Range

Llyn y Fan Fach lake below Picws Du

The route then follows a section of the Roman road known as Sarn Helen before cutting off west through the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu national nature reserve to Penwyllt. The Beacons Way passes by Craig-y-Nos Castle, once home to Adelina Patti, and up along Fan Hir and Fan Brycheiniog, significant eastern peaks of the Black Mountain rising above Llyn y Fan Fawr, before entering Carmarthenshire. It traverses the three main summits of the Carmarthen Fans, these being Fan Foel, Picws Du and Waun Lefrith, passing above Llyn y Fan Fach before dropping down to Llanddeusant.

A low level alternative runs beneath the Black Mountain escarpment, east of Llyn y Fan Fawr and north of Llyn y Fan Fach. In the west, the route climbs to Carreg Cennen Castle and Garn Goch. The route originally finished at the railway station at Llangadog but was later modified to stop at the village of Bethlehem (51°54′35″N 3°54′48″W / 51.9098°N 3.9132°W / 51.9098; -3.9132 (Beacons Way, western trailhead)). The original finish has since been reinstated.

Completing the walk

It is a strenuous walk with plenty of ascents and descents. Parts of the route across open moorland can be difficult to navigate in poor weather - this and the isolation of these sections can make following parts of the route hazardous. The Beacons Way can be walked in its entirety in about 8 days but could easily take twice as long as there is so much to explore and enjoy en route. There are numerous camping sites along the route, and accommodation is available in the towns and villages on the route.

Development of the route

The Beacons Way was conceived by the Brecon Beacons Park Society and local walkers, particularly the Society's Secretary John Sansom , Arwel Michael and Chris Barber and was developed as recently as 2005. The alignment has been modified on several occasions, the most recent (as of December 2016) being put in place in spring 2016. The path crosses several peat bogs, where stone pavements have been laid to protect the vegetation and assist walkers.

References

External links

Long-distance footpaths and National Trails in Wales

Coastal footpaths & trails	Anglesey Coastal Path Ceredigion Coast Path Gower and Swansea Bay Coast Path Llŷn Coastal Path North Wales Path Pembrokeshire Coast Path South Wales Coast and Severn Estuary Coastal Path Wales Coast Path

Non-coastal footpaths & trails	The Beacons Way Cambrian Way Celtic Way Cistercian Way Clwydian Way Dyfi Valley Way Glyndŵr's Way Landsker Borderlands Trail Marches Way The Maelor Way Monnow Valley Walk Offa's Dyke Path Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk Taff Trail Usk Valley Walk Valeways Millennium Heritage Trail Wye Valley Walk

Long-distance footpaths in the United Kingdom

National Trails (England and Wales)	Cleveland Way Cotswold Way England Coast Path Glyndŵr's Way Hadrian's Wall Path North Downs Way Norfolk Coast Path Offa's Dyke Path Peddars Way Pembrokeshire Coast Path Pennine Bridleway Pennine Way The Ridgeway South Downs Way South West Coast Path Thames Path Yorkshire Wolds Way Wales Coast Path

Long distance routes (Scotland)	Great Glen Way Southern Upland Way Speyside Way West Highland Way

Long distance path (Northern Ireland)	Ulster Way

Transport in Powys

Cambrian Line	Caersws Dovey Junction Machynlleth Newtown (Powys) Welshpool

Heart of Wales Line	Builth Road Cilmeri Dolau Garth (Powys) Knucklas Llanbister Road Llandrindod Llangammarch Llangynllo Llanwrtyd Pen-y-Bont Sugar Loaf

Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway	Castle Caereinion Cyfronydd Heniarth Llanfair Caereinion Sylfaen Welshpool Raven Square

Coordinates: 51°52′27″N 3°25′02″W / 51.8743°N 3.4173°W / 51.8743; -3.4173

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.