Brecon Beacons
A trip to one of Wales’s three national parks will never disappoint the wildlife-watchers among you
Spectacular wildlife-watching in beautiful Wales
The Brecon Beacons National Park has the lowest profile of Wales’s three national parks, but this offers opportunities to escape the crowds. Rounded, spongy hills of grass and rock tumble and climb around river valleys that lie between sandstone and limestone uplands, peppered with glasslike lakes and villages that seem to have been hewn from one rock. The park straddles three Welsh counties: Carmarthenshire, Powys and Monmouthshire, covering 520 square
miles. Most remote is the far western side, where the vast, open terrain of the Black Mountain (singular) is punctuated by craggy peaks and hidden upland lakes.
The southern flanks bare bony limestone ribs, beneath which are the chasms of the Dan-yr-ogof caves. East of this wilderness Fforest Fawr forms miles of tufted moorland tumbling down to a rocky terrain of rivers, deep caves and spluttering waterfalls around the village of Ystradfellte.
The heart of the national park comprises the Brecon Beacons themselves, a pair of 2,900 foot hills and their satellites. East of Brecon, the Black Mountains (plural) stretch over the English border and offer the region’s most varied scenery, from rolling upland wilderness to the gentler Vale of Ewyas.
The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal defines the eastern limit of the Beacons and forges a passage along the Usk Valley between them and the Black Mountains. This is where you’re likely to end up staying, in towns such as the county seat of Brecon, the charming village of Crickhowell or sprightly Abergavenny, nestled below the Black Mountains.
The Brecon Beacons contain some of Wales’ most spectacular scenery and wildlife. Key species include Otter, Great Crested Newt, Marsh Fritillary and bats, along with a host of other mammals, birds, amphibians, fish and insects. The rivers are the breeding grounds of Brown Trout and Atlantic Salmon – a real spectacle when making their way upstream to spawn.
Threatened species such as Water Vole and White-clawed Crayfish can also be found in the waterways. Many species of birds breed or winter here, thanks to the diversity of habitats. Little Ringed Plover, for example, brood their eggs on gravel banks, and large numbers of winter migrants visit Llangorse Lake and Talybont Reservoir. The national park is also a superb place for wildflowers, mosses, fungi and rare trees.
The easternmost section of the national park centres on the Black Mountains, far quieter than the central belt of the Brecon Beacons and skirted by the wide valley of the River Usk to the south and the Wye to the north. The only exception to the Black Mountains’ unremitting sandstone is an isolated outcrop of limestone, long divorced from the southern belt, that peaks north of Crickhowell at Pen Cerrig-calch (2,302 feet).
The Black Mountains have the feel of a landscape only partly tamed by human habitation: tiny villages, isolated churches and delightful lanes are folded into an undulating green landscape that levels out to the south around the aforementioned Crickhowell. It’s recommended spending a night or two here while exploring the eastern end of the national park.
Three types of woodland
Lying in a small, deep valley, shaped by glaciers, Coed y Cerrig National Nature Reserve is hidden away in the southern part of the Black Mountains.
There is a boardwalk (suitable for wheelchairs) that leads one through the wet woodland, just over the road from the small car park, and a steep circular route through the woodland on the side of the valley. The road that passes the reserve was once a busy railway line, carrying men and materials to build the Grwyne Fawr reservoir nine miles away.
There are three distinct types of woodland in this reserve. A wet Alder woodland covers the moist valley floor.
This tree used to be coppiced to make charcoal and soles for clogs.
A mixed woodland of Ash, birches and Hazel clings to the drier, steep valley sides, while a Beech and oak (mostly Sessile Oak) woodland grows in the more level ground with deeper, drier soils at the top of the reserve.
In the spring, showy Marsh Marigolds lie in the wet valley bottom, while the delicate pink ‘umbrellas’ of Common Valerian grow along the boardwalk. Here, too, are the pink pyramidal flowers of Early Purple Orchid, and the colourless and strange Toothwort, which lives parasitically on the roots of trees such as Wych Elm and Hazel. Swathes of fragrant Bluebell carpet the upper woodland.
In early summer, the elegant Nettleleaved Bellflower and the weird and wonderful Bird’s Nest Orchid take centre stage. Damselflies and dragonflies hover in glades and Speckled Wood butterflies flit through shards of sunlight.
The spinning coin trilling of Wood Warbler echoes throughout the oak woodland, while the black-and-white flash of Pied Flycatcher, or the colourful black, orange-and-grey, bandit-like colouring of the male Redstart add exotic dashes of colour to the verdant surrounds.
As summer moves towards autumn, fungi such as Chanterelles are encountered, especially in damp weather. To the north, the delightful churches of Cwmyoy and Patrishow are well worth a diversion.
Having explored the Black Mountains, it’s recommended using the town of Brecon itself as a base while exploring the central section of the national park. Not far from Brecon, a glacier carved out a valley during the last ice age. As it melted, about 18,000 ago, it exposed the steep rock walls of Craig Cerrig Gleisiad, now a National Nature Reserve. Sometime
later, a catastrophic landslide cascaded millions of tonnes of rock from these crags down the slopes. Archaeological remains found on the reserve show that the area has been inhabited for many millennia. Apart from Iron Age huts, there are also the remains of a Roman road and later farm settlements.
The steep rocky slopes, sharp escarpments and crags are home to rare arctic alpine plants. These are at their southernmost location in Britain and aren’t found again until the Alps. These grow on the north-facing rocky cliffs, and include Purple and Mossy Saxifrages, Serrated Wintergreen and Green Spleenwort.
The cliffs are, in effect, a vertical woodland with trees and shrubs of Rowan, Ash, Hawthorn and rare Whitebeams. There is also a rich variety of wildflowers and many different mosses and liverworts.
Early spring to mid-summer is the ideal time to see the reserve’s spectacular range of wildflowers, as well as its avifauna, including Red Grouse, Kestrel, Peregrine and Ring Ouzel. In August and September, the hillsides come alive with the purplish glow of heathers.
Immediately to the west, the largely afforested upland area of Fforest Fawr is excellent for Nightjar, which is best looked for in June and July. The area lies on the south flank of the Brecon Beacons and comprises exceptionally large blocks of conifer plantations, interspersed with clear fell and newly replanted zones. Nightjar can be seen around the clearings and on the adjacent moorland.
Spectacular views
Immediately to the west of Fforest Fawr, Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve is a huge expanse of moorland with magnificent views. It’s best known for its cave system, which is one of the most extensive in Europe and a popular destination for proficient cavers.
There was once a thriving village with a quarry and brickworks here and there are industrial remains all around the reserve. The varied rock types in the reserve produce different soils on which a range of plants grow. There are small areas of limestone pavement which has weathered into deep fissures and cracks.
The grassland on the limestone is rich in herbaceous plants, while heather moorland grows on the peat that lies on the millstone grit. The caves were discovered by the South Wales Caving Club in 1946, and are full of features from underground streams t to waterfalls and stalagmites to stalactites.
Fascinating creatures live in the caves. Some of them, such as crustaceans that live in the water, can only survive underground. Moths such as The Tissue and The Herald spend winter in the caves and summer in the open air. Bats hibernate in the cave passages in winter and Blanched Brown Trout live in the underground stream. The moorland is an ideal habitat for nesting birds such as Sky Lark and Wheatear in summer. Red Grouse, Red Kite, Nightjar, Peregrine, Raven and Ring Ouzel also feature.
Large expanses of acidic rocks on the reserve are covered in heather, which is at its best in early autumn, as well as Bilberry, mosses and lichens. Less common plants such as Mossy Saxifrage, Autumn Gentian and Mountain Everlasting grow in the grassland.
The fissures and cracks in the limestone pavement are home to specialists, as well as those more typically found in a woodland or hedgerow. They include Wood Anemone, Herb Robert, Small Scabious, Lily of the Valley, Hart’s-tongue and Black Spleenwort. Early summer is the best time to see most limestone plants.
The Brecon Beacons National Park encompasses some of the finest scenery in southern Wales, as well as being home to a vast array of species. Just watch out for the SAS on Pen y Fan.