SIGN PEAKS AT SALE

Mountain summit marker snapped up at auction after flurry of bids

THE Pen y Fan sign has sold for more than four times its estimated price. Welcoming around 350,000 people to the summit each year, the iconic sign was auctioned yesterday to raise money for maintenance of the mountain.

The aluminium sign has marked the 886m tip of the mountain since the early-2000s. But weather has taken its toll and rangers have installed a new version.

The proceeds from the sale will raise funds for the Brecon Beacons appeal.

Hundreds of walkers queued at the top of Pen y Fan to take a final selfie with the sign before it was removed.

It meant National Trust rangers took almost three hours to swap the old sign, in what should have been only a three-minute job.

In the height of summer, the selfie queue can snake a long way back down the mountain.

However the sign has now been sold to an anonymous buyer for £2,100, more than four times the £500 it was estimated to sell for.

Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones said: “There was a huge amount of interest from people all over the country, we still have bids coming in even though the item has sold.

“It was a very prestigious sale, and it had the most interest, more than any other item we sold on the day.

“The gentleman who bought it wished to remain anonymous, but he did say that he was from Cardiff, and that the sign was something that meant a lot to him.”

Rob Reith, lead ranger for the Brecon Beacons National Trust, said: “We couldn’t have completed this year’s work without the funding and efforts of our rangers and volunteers, who have been able to help to create a stable footpath on the Pont ar Daf route so people can continue to enjoy walking this iconic landscape.

“It’s been great to have so much support and to be able to watch the land slowly recover, but there’s still a way to go with 400m of this path left to repair this year and many more routes to work on across the central Beacons.

“These repairs are absolutely essential, to reduce erosion, protect the special landscape and ensure paths are fit for purpose for the hundreds of thousands of people that come to Pen y Fan every year.”

DIMITRIS LEGAKIS Imogen Ashwell Lewis in a prototype four wheeled mountain bike. Soldiers from the Battle School in Brecon as well as friends and colleagues of the organisers helped to pull the bike to Pen y Fan in a walk sponsored by Specsavers Wales for charity Cerebra Here are just some of the many people who have had their photo taken with the sign after reaching the summit.

Port Talbot firefighter Craig Hedges and his wife Leanne aimed to conquer the summit of Pen y Fan 10 times in 24 hours for charity. Their son Luke was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia

Senior members of Abertillery Youth Drama and Music Society walked up Pen y Fan to raise money for a production

Miss Wales finalist Dione Rose of Ferndale was raising money for children’s charity Beauty With A Purpose

Justine Swainson at the summit as part of her 50 Shadesofbrave Blog

Laura James, right, with friend Rachel Trow, fundraising for Bloodwise Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research

A walk up Pen y Fan raised money for Rhianna’s Swing, a project organised by people in Swansea to build a swing to be used by disabled children in Gnoll Park in Neath in memory of nine-year-old Rhianna Chellew