Pen y Fan-tastic!!

brecon beacons countryside — views on the climb up

Three days after getting back from Halkidiki, Bro and I took advantage of a couple of mid week days off to go and climb Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons. It'd been on our to do list for a while and it's an area we really don't know at all, so it would be an interesting couple of days.

We booked into the dog friendly Craig-y-Nos Castle Hotel which is the very atmospheric, gothic former home of opera singer Adeline Patti, world famous in the 1800s. It's also haunted and the TV programme Most Haunted filmed an episode here. We weren't in the main castle building, but in what we suspect were the former stables, so we didn't hear, see or feel anything untoward, which was both a relief and a shame.

That afternoon the sun came out, and after lunch we walked in the 40 acre Craig-y-Nos Country Park in which the hotel sits. There are lots of gentle, well marked paths to follow, a visitor centre and tea room with benches and picnic areas, so it's a lovely place to spend an afternoon. We, of course, took the steepest, longest path up and above the park and were rewarded with some lovely views of the Upper Swansea Valley, then wandered back down following a woodland path through huge banks of wild garlic and bluebells next to the bubbling River Tawe, which was magical.

The next morning we were up and off early so as to get a space in the parking area at the foot of Pen y Fan which we’d read can be really busy. Pen y Fan is the highest mountain in the Brecon Beacons and South Wales, at 2907ft, but it’s a straightforward and obvious path as part of the Beacons Way up to the summit, and one that requires no navigation.

It was a beautiful day and the clarity of the light was stunning. The path is easy but steepish and it's pretty much 2 miles up and 2 miles back. As you near the col between Corn Du and the Craig Gwaun Taf ridge, the path reaches its steepest, but then levels and runs along the base of Corn Du as you turn north eastwards for Pen y Fan.

The views were jaw dropping. Huge, glacial valleys dropped away on either side of the ridge and there were views right across to the Bristol Channel, Swansea Bay, the Black Mountains and the Cambrian Mountains. It was still and warm and perfect, although quite busy for a Thursday morning.

The last, easy pull brought us onto the wide, flat summit plateau of Pen y Fan itself, and its wonderful panoramic views. Beware the incredibly sheer, steep drops if you venture too close to the edge though! We spent a good half hour up there and made our way leisurely back down, in time for a pub lunch after a really enjoyable morning's walk.

Outdoor Ramblings

‘The greatest adventure is what lies ahead’