Brecon Beacons

The Brecon Beacons (Welsh: Bannau Brycheiniog, [ˈbanai̯ brəˈχəi̯njɔɡ] (listen)) is a mountain range in South Wales.[1] In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of Old Red Sandstone peaks which lie to the south of Brecon. Sometimes referred to as 'the central Beacons' they include South Wales' highest mountain, Pen y Fan.[2] The range forms the central section of the Brecon Beacons National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog), a designation which also encompasses ranges both to the east and the west of 'the central Beacons'. This much wider area is also commonly referred to as 'the Brecon Beacons', and it includes the Black Mountains to the east as well as the similarly named but quite distinct Black Mountain to the west. The highest peaks include Fan Brycheiniog to the west and Pen y Fan in the central part. They share the same basic geology as the central range, and so exhibit many similar features, such as the north-facing escarpment and glacial features such as lakes and cwms (cirques).

For other uses, see Brecon Beacons (disambiguation).

Brecon Beacons
Welsh: Bannau Brycheiniog
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Part of the Brecon Beacons, looking from the highest point Pen y Fan, 886 m (2907 ft), to Cribyn, 795 m (2608 ft)
LocationPowys, Wales (Brecon Beacons National Park)

Etymology

The name Bannau Brycheiniog is first attested in the sixteenth century, while Brecknock Beacons first occurs in the eighteenth century. Brecon Beacons is first attested in the nineteenth century.[3]

Bannau Brycheiniog derives from the Welsh bannau (the plural of ban 'a peak') and Brycheiniog (the name of a kingdom and later the Welsh name of the Lordship of Brecknock).[4] The first known instance comes from the Itinerary of John Leland (1536–9) who, writing in English, refers to 'the Banne Hilles' and 'the greate hilles caullid Banne Brekeniauc'.[5] In this he is referring specifically to Pen y Fan and the adjacent peaks. He uses 'Blak Montayne' (i.e. 'Black Mountain', corresponding to the Welsh Mynydd Du) to refer to a much wider area of high land that stretches from the Carmarthen area to within four or five miles of Monmouth. He describes this area as a single mountain made up of smaller parts with sundry names.[6]

The name Brecknock Beacons is found in the eighteenth century (Brecknock is an anglicised from of Brycheiniog). Brecknock Beacons refers to a specific area around Pen y Fan, since Pen y Fan itself was sometimes called the '(Brecknock) Beacon'. For instance, Emanuel Bowen's A New and accurate map of South Wales (1729) refers to 'The Vann or Brecknock Beacon'.[7] In the General View of the Agriculture of the County of Brecknock (1794), John Clark of Builth (steward to Viscount Hereford) refers to 'the VANN, or Brecknock Beacon, the undisputed sovereign of all the mountains in South Wales'.[8] On the tithe map for Cantref parish (1839), the peak of Pen y Fan is called 'Beacon'.[9]

The Breconshire historian Theophilus Jones wrote in 1809 that 'of the lofty summits of the Brecknock Beacons, that most southwards is the lowest, and the other two nearly of a height, they are sometimes called Cader Arthur or Arthur's chair'.[10] This implies that Brecknock Beacons referred to only three summits, of which Pen y Fan and Corn Du (the peaks known together as Cadair Arthur) were the highest. He also refers to the 'distant view of the towering Brecon beacons', as seen from Glasbury.[10]

Over time, Brecknock was replaced by Brecon (another derivative of Brycheiniog) and, especially since the establishment of the National Park, the name Brecon Beacons came to be used for a wider area.[4] There is little evidence that the Brecon Beacons were named after the ancient practice of lighting signal fires (beacons) to warn of attacks by invaders.

In 2023, the National Park announced it would use the Welsh name only in the future.[11]

Geography
A part of the Brecon Beacons National Park, seen from the south
Pen y Fan seen from Cribyn
Fan Brycheiniog, the highest peak on the Black Mountain

The Brecon Beacons range, in its narrower sense comprises six main peaks: from west to east these are: Corn Du, 873 metres (2,864 ft), Pen y Fan, the highest peak, 886 metres (2,907 ft), Cribyn, 795 metres (2,608 ft), Fan y Bîg, 719 metres (2,359 ft), Bwlch y Ddwyallt, 754 metres (2,474 ft), and Waun Rydd 769 metres (2,523 ft). These summits form a long ridge, and the sections joining the first four form a horseshoe shape around the head of the Taf Fechan, which flows away to the southeast. To the northeast of the ridge, interspersed with long parallel spurs, are four cwms, four round-headed valleys or cirques; from west to east these are Cwm Sere, Cwm Cynwyn, Cwm Oergwm and Cwm Cwareli.

The round of the Taf Fechan skyline forms a ridge walk commonly known as the Beacons Horseshoe.

Geology
Main article: Geology of Brecon Beacons National Park

The majority of the mountains are formed from Old Red Sandstone which dates from the late Silurian and Devonian periods.

History

The area was inhabited during the Neolithic and the succeeding Bronze Age, the most obvious legacy of the latter being the numerous burial cairns which adorn the hills of the centre and west of the National Park. There are especially good examples of round barrows on Fan Brycheiniog, Pen y Fan and Corn Du. The former was excavated in 2002–4 and the ashes in the central cist dated to about 2000 BCE using radiocarbon dating. A wreath of meadowsweet was likely placed in the burial.

Over twenty hillforts were established in the area during the Iron Age. The largest, and indeed the largest in South Wales, were the pair of forts atop y Garn Goch near Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire – y Gaer Fawr and y Gaer Fach – literally "the big fort" and "the little fort". The forts are thought to have once been trading and political centres.

When the Romans came to Wales in 43 CE, they stationed more than 600 soldiers in the area. Y Gaer, near the town of Brecon was their main base. During the Norman Conquest many castles were erected throughout the park. One of the most famous is Carreg Cennen Castle but there are many more. Brecon Castle is of Norman origin.

There are many old tracks which were used over the centuries by drovers to take their cattle and geese to market in England. The drovers brought back gorse seed, which they sowed to provide food for their sheep.[12]

The area played a significant role during the Industrial Revolution as various raw materials including limestone, silica sand and ironstone were quarried for transport southwards to the furnaces of the industrialising South Wales Valleys.

A Welsh Mountain Pony

Brecon Beacons National Park
Main article: Brecon Beacons National Park

The Brecon Beacons are one of four ranges of mountains and hills in South Wales which make up Brecon Beacons National Park. The National Park was established in 1957, the third of the three Welsh parks after Snowdonia in 1951 and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in 1952. The national park was officially renamed Bannau Brycheiniog National Park in 2023.[13][14]

Brecon Mountain Railway

A railway with narrow gauge trains is run by the Brecon Mountain Railway. The railway is a 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in (603 mm) narrow gauge tourist railway on the south side of the Brecon Beacons. It climbs northwards from Pant along the full length of the Pontsticill Reservoir (also called 'Taf Fechan' reservoir by Welsh Water) and continues past the adjoining Pentwyn Reservoir to Torpantau railway station. The railway's starting point at Pant is located two miles (3 km) north of Merthyr Tydfil town centre.

Mountain rescue
The Beacons in winter

Mountain rescue in south Wales is provided by five volunteer groups, with the police having overall command. In serious situations they are aided by Royal Navy or Royal Air Force helicopters from RM Chivenor or RAF Valley. The five groups are:

  • CBMRT – Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team
  • BMRT – Brecon Mountain Rescue Team
  • LMRT – Longtown Mountain Rescue Team based in the east
  • WBMSART – Western Beacons Mountain Search and Rescue Team
  • SARDA South Wales – Search and Rescue Dog Association covering South and Mid Wales

The groups are funded primarily by donations. Their work is not restricted to mountain rescue – they frequently assist the police in their search for missing or vulnerable people in the community.

View north into Cwm Llwch from Corn Du, in the Brecon Beacons range

Military training
A soldier training in the Brecon Beacons above Llyn y Fan Fawr.

The Brecon Beacons are used for training members of the UK armed forces and military reservists. The Army’s Infantry Battle School is located at Brecon,[15] and the Special Air Service (SAS) use the area to test the fitness of applicants.[16] In July 2013 three soldiers died from overheating or heatstroke on an SAS selection exercise. An army captain had been found dead on Corn Du earlier in the year after training in freezing weather for the SAS.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Welcome to Brecon Beacons National Park". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  2. "10 great places to have a staycation in the UK this year". Independent. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  3. Owen, Hywel Wyn; Morgan, Richard (2007). Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales. Llandysul: Gomer. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-84323-901-7. OCLC 191731809.
  4. Owen, Hywel Wyn; Morgan, Richard (2007). Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales. Llandysul: Gomer. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-84323-901-7. OCLC 191731809.
  5. Smith, Lucy Toulmin, ed. (1906). The Itinerary in Wales of John Leland in or about the years 1536–9. London: George Bell and Sons. p. 110.
  6. Smith, Lucy Toulmin, ed. (1906). The Itinerary in Wales of John Leland in or about the years 1536–9. London: George Bell and Sons. p. 104.
  7. Bowen, Emanuel (1729). "A New and accurate map of South Wales containing the counties of Pembroke, Glamorgan, Carmarthen, Brecknock, Cardigan and Radnor wherein are exactly laid down and delineated from an actual survey and admeasurement all the towns, villages, churches, chaples, gentlemen's seats". National Library of Wales. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  8. Clark, John (1794). General View of the Agriculture of the County of Brecknock. London. p. 9. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  9. "Plan of the parish of Cantref in the County of Brecon". People's Collection Wales. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  10. Jones, Theophilus (1809). A History of the County of Brecknock. Vol. II.I. Brecknock. p. 388. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  11. "Brecon Beacons: Park to use Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog". The BBC. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  12. Davies, Andy; Whittaker, David (2010). Walking on the Brecon Beacons. Cicerone Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-85284-554-4.
  13. "Brecon Beacons National Park Reclaims Its Welsh Name". Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  14. Morris, Steven (17 April 2023). "Brecon Beacons national park renamed Bannau Brycheiniog in Welsh language move". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  15. Farmer, Ben (14 July 2013). "Two soldiers die in heat while training in Brecon Beacons". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  16. Farmer, Ben (2 July 2014). "No SAS manslaughter charges over Brecon Beacons deaths". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
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