The Brecon Beacons National Park
Gliffaes lies in the eastern corner of the
National Park, between the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons in
the valley of the Usk.
The Brecon
Beacons
National Park contains some of the
most spectacular and distinctive upland landforms in southern Britain. The
highest point in the Park is Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, at the
centre of the National Park. Its distinctive
table-topped summit stands at 886 metres, and it is climbed by
hundreds of thousands of people each year.
The Park covers 1346 square kilometers (520
square miles) and lies between rural Mid Wales and the industrial
South Wales Valleys.
It is a diverse landscape, where sweeping uplands contrast
with green valleys, with dramatic waterfalls, ancient woodland,
caves, forests and reservoirs.
The Brecon Beacons
National Park covers a
broad geographical area, encompassing an impressive diversity of
natural and cultural landscapes within its boundaries.
To the East, for example, the Park is more developed than in
the West, offering a number of modern amenities to residents and
visitors alike. The landscape here has been
heavily influenced by Norman culture in the past, and the area is
now largely anglicised. Its pastoral patterns and
glaciated mountains are generally more accessible than areas to the
West. Yet, the eastern part of the Park still
offers opportunities to escape the “commercial bustle of everyday
life in the UK.”
In contrast, Welsh language and traditions are
more predominate in the West of the Park, where people and culture
are more deeply rooted. There is a sense that the
mountains, farmlands, and lowlands here are remote and rugged.
Yet this feeling is not without an accompanying sense of
peace and tranquillity. The South and
South-eastern areas of the Park are wholly different still; both the
culture and sense of place are characteristic of the Welsh
Valleys
which have been shaped by the rise and decline of the industrial
era. The air is more cosmopolitan here than in
other parts of the Park, reflecting the blend of many different
walks of life who have settled here to make this their home.
The Park as a whole provides a plethora of opportunities to
enjoy its outstanding natural beauty, rich flora and fauna, and
local flavour. Whilst pursuing these
opportunities, one also gains a better understanding of the Park’s
communities, their history and time-honoured traditions, and a sense
of what it means to be Welsh.
It is the richness and variety of experiences
that the Brecon Beacons have to offer that make it such a valued
natural and cultural resource for so many people.
There is something here for everyone. Though each
individual’s impressions of the Park are forged by his or her own
personal experiences here, there are commonalities that emerge from
these experiences which are shared by a variety of audiences.
These special qualities, as they are often referred to, are
what we strive to conserve through our ongoing management of the
Park’s resources so that present and future generations may continue
to benefit from them.
Useful websites about the national park.
The official National
Park website is here, along with their guided walks programme.
The Brecon
Beacons Park Society also runs a guided wlks programme through
out the year.
For a very useful guide to activities, events, accommodation
and places to eat have
a look at this site put together by local tourism operators.
