at the expense of the wildwood. This change is suggested by a gradual decline in tree pollen and an increase in plantain pollen and bracken spores in peat cores taken locally. It is also known that cereals were cultivated in the Brecon Beacons area. The climate deteriorated again from about 3000 years ago and resulted in a retreat of farming from the uplands. Peat bogs spread across formerly productive farmland.
The Neolithic tradition of constructing stone circles was continued into Bronze Age times but now came the construction of large dry-stone cairn burial mounds on the summits of Mynydd Du and Fforest Fawr. Copper tools and other objects are recorded from at least 4500 years ago. The use of copper was followed shortly by bronze. However, stone tools continued to be made and used in Wales until about 3400 years ago.
A marked increase in deforestation took place during pre-Roman Iron Age times in order to create new grasslands, as sheep were an important part of the subsistence economy. Similar factors have controlled the appearance of the landscape from this time to the present day as farmers continue to make a living from the land.
Birdlife
Merlins have declined due to loss of open heather moorland which has been decimated by conifer planting, agricultural improvement of moorland and overstocking of sheep. Their principal prey are meadow pipits which return to the moor in spring. Before this, merlins feed on small birds from surrounding lowlands, mainly chaffinches, tits and goldcrests. Ravens are numerous in the Brecon Beacons and are the great scavengers of the hills. Buzzards are also common and, together with ravens, are carrion feeders and find sheep carcasses whenever they can. Curlew can be found nesting among rushes of the higher streams but their camouflage is so good that you will rarely spot a sitting bird.
Dunlin nest among eroding peat hags and are at their most southerly breeding limit in the world. Golden plover are another true wader of mountain moorland and are again close to their southerly limit. You may disturb red and black grouse when walking across open moorland such as Waun Llysiog. Both species spend the winter on the mountains but the loss of bilberry, heather and cotton-grass moorland through conifer planting has resulted in their decline.
Bracken-covered valley slopes support dense populations of whinchat and also provide nesting areas for mallard, nightjar, stonechat, wren, tree pipit and yellowhammer. Damper patches may hide the dark-capped reed bunting. Skylarks are constant companions in spring and summer on grassy uplands, the air full of song as they fly above you. White rumped wheatear reside in dry-stone walls and bouldery scree. Look out for stonechat, linnets and yellowhammers in the gorse.
Woodland birds include blue tit, great tit, coal tit, pied flycatcher, nuthatch, redstart, tawny owl, green woodpecker, lesser-spotted woodpecker, great-spotted woodpecker, jay, wood pigeon, blackbird, treecreeper and wren. Warblers migrate in summer from southern climes to nest on the woodland floor.
The fields, wooded slopes and river of waterfall country provide a wide variety of habitats for numerous birds. Lapwing are commonly seen in the valleys together with redshank and snipe. Birds found associated with woodland and along the river bank include breeding dipper, grey wagtail, goosander, pied flycatcher, redstart, wood warbler, woodcock, buzzard and sparrowhawk.
Getting to and Staying in the National Park
The Brecon Beacons National Park is a day trip from Swansea, Cardiff, Bristol and the Midlands and an ideal short-break destination from London, only 200km (120 miles) away. There are excellent rail and motorway links with the rest of the UK and Cardiff International Airport is just over an hour from the park.
In summer, the Beacons Bus offers the opportunity to have a car-free day in the mountains on Sundays and Bank Holidays from May to September from many places in South Wales and Herefordshire.
If you want to stay over, the park has accommodation to suit all pockets, from grand country hotels to secluded campsites. More information on transport and accommodation can be found at Brecon Beacons Tourism (www.breconbeaconstourism.co.uk) along with suggestions on where to eat.
The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority manages the area and runs a number of visitor centres and a guided walk programme. Further information can be found on its website www.breconbeacons.org and in the comprehensive Visitor Guide.
A Solitary Guided Walk?
The inspiration for this guide came from a realisation that many walkers wish to know more of the countryside they come to enjoy and explore. One solution is to join one of the many guided walks organised by the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority. However, these are so popular that as many as a hundred people may join a single ramble. This is not only a logistical problem for the warden, but the sheer numbers destroy the wilderness quality of a walk in the countryside, with little chance of seeing undisturbed wildlife.
Another approach is a ‘guided walk’ with a difference – a walk guided by a book which gives you all the interesting facts that a walk with an expert would provide but still retains the magical wilderness feeling of an isolated mountain summit or the tranquillity of a river ramble. This guide aims to provide you with information on all aspects of the landscape, as if you were being accompanied and advised by several experts at the same time.
All the route descriptions are accompanied by a commentary that includes geomorphology, hydrology, geology, botany, zoology, ecology, ornithology, archaeology, local history, land-use and environmental issues. Designed to be used by all ages, the guide does not assume any previous mountain walking experience or countryside knowledge.
Sgwd Isaf Clun-gwyn
Using this Guide
This book is divided into seven geographic sections:
1 Brecon Beacons – North-Eastern Valleys and Ridges
2 Brecon Beacons – Eastern Valleys and Ridges
3 Brecon Beacons – South-Western Valleys and Ridges
4 Fforest Fawr
5 Waterfall Country
6 The Black Mountain/Mynydd Du (Western Brecon Beacons National Park)
7 The Black Mountains/Y Mynyddoedd Duon (Eastern Brecon Beacons National Park)
It is designed to be used in conjunction with the Brecon Beacons National Park Outdoor Leisure Maps (1:25,000): Western Area OL12, Central Area OL11 and Eastern Area OL13. The 45 routes described include low-level and high-level routes of varying lengths and degrees of difficulty to cater for different weather conditions and abilities. A fit mountain walker will not find any of the routes particularly strenuous. All the routes are circular, include as few roads as possible and explore little frequented areas.
For each route, the start point (including grid reference), distance, total ascent and map required are listed at the beginning of the route description. Routes are illustrated with extracts from 1:50,000 OS maps, with the main route marked in orange and any alternative routes marked in blue and extensions in green (alternative and extended routes are described at the end of the main route description). Features along the walk that appear on the map are highlighted in bold in the route description to help you follow your progress. The route descriptions are also accompanied by information boxes which are often cross-referenced by other route descriptions, using the title of the box and the walk number (for example, see ‘Cefn Cyff,’ Walk 10).
The tables of Routes by Difficulty
