BRECON
Brecon is an historic market town in southern Powys in mid Wales with a population of roughly 8,000 with around 6,000 in the surrounding area. It was the County Town of the former county of Brecknockshire, although it's role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys it remains an important local centre. Today Brecon has a thriving community and is overlooked by the majestic Pen y Fan mountain and is the home to the world famous Brecon Jazz Festival.
BUILTH WELLS
Builth Wells lies on the upper section of the River Wye. It was probably close by at the village of Cilmeri that Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was ambushed and killed as he tried to rally the men of the Lordship of Builth in December 1282.
Builth Wells originally grew as a small market town and later a spa, but today is better known for the location of the Royal Welsh Showground, home of the Royal Welsh Show.
The town lies on the A470, the main trunk road through Wales and has the Builth Road railway station on the Heart of Wales line.
HAY ON WYE
Hay on Wye lies on the Welsh border with England and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Hay is the UK's Mecca for bibliophiles which boasts in the region of thirty bookshops with a thriving market for second hand and rare books.
The town comes to life for 9 days in the year in May/June with the Guardian Hay Literacy Festival. The festival attracts in the region of 80,000 people a year. Its originator, Richard Booth declared Hay in 1977 as an independent kingdom and declared himself as its monarch.
Hay has also recently been twinned with Timbuktu in Mali.
ABERGAVENNY
Abergavenny (Welsh "Y Fenni") is a thriving market town in Monmouthshire, situated at the confluence of a tributary stream called the Gavenny and the River Usk. The town is surrounded mainly by 2 mountains, the Sugar Loaf and the Blorenge. The market hall is a major attraction to the town with its main market held every Tuesday and Saturday, a flea market on Wednesday and on every 4th Thursday in the month a Farmer's Market.
One of the biggest events of the year in the town's calendar is the Abergavenny Food Festival, known as the 'Glastonbury' of Food Festivals, it attracts tens of thousands of people in late September each year.
WYE VALLEY WALK
The Wye Valley Walk is a long distance path that runs from it's source at Plynlimon mountain in the remote Hafren Forest, and then follows the river to the mouth at Chepstow. It passes through some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere in the UK and has rightly so been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The walk passes through many towns and picturesque beauty spots such as Rhayader, Builth Wells, Hay on Wye, Hereford, Symonds Yat, Ross on Wye, Tintern and finally Chepstow.
OFFAS DYKE
Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork which follows the Welsh/English border for 177 miles from Chepstow in the south up to Pretatyn in the north of Wales. In places the earthworks (which date back to the 8th century) rise up to 65 feet.
The earthworks can be attributed to Offa, King of Mercia who built it as a mutual boundary between the mercians on one side and the men of powys on the other.
Today the dyke has been designated as a National Trail which runs along side the River Wye before heading over the Black Mountains, stradling the Shropshire Hills before heading north into Flintshire. The Offa's Dyke Centre is located about halfway in the border town of Knighton.
BEACONS WAY
The Beacons Way is a long distance footpath with runs for 100 miles through the Brecon Beacons National Park. It was developed through the Brecon Beacons Park Society.
The path starts at Abergavenny and passes through Monmouthshire, passing the Skirrid mountain, crossing Offa's Dyke into the Vale of Ewyas close to Llantony Priory, through to Crickhowell, Bwlch, over the Brecons Beacons of Corn Du and Pen Y Fan, through Craig-y-Nos, climbing Fan Brycheiniog in Carmarthenshire, then climbing to the magnificent Carreg Castle and then finally finishing at Llanadog.
National Parks & Other Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
BRECON BEACONS NATIONAL PARK
The Brecon Beacons National Park covers approximately 519 square miles. It covers three major regions: The Black Mountains - East, The Brecon Beacons - Central and The Black Mountain - West. The park is one of Wales's three National Parks, the others being Snowdonia and the Pembrokeshire Coast. The park has a mixture of forests, mountains, caves and remote reservoirs.
The Park celebrated its 50th birthday in 2007, and in 2005 the Beacons Way was opened which spans the entire length of the park, some 100 miles. Due to its remoteness and challenging ascents, the military use the area for training, with barracks based in Brecon and Sennybridge.
The National Park's own Visitors Centre can be found near Libanus with great views of Pen Y fan and the rest of the Beacons.
THE ELAN VALLEY AND RHAYADER
Although the Elan Valley is not an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, due to its man made reservoir, it cetainly is one of the most stunning and peaceful locations in Wales. With five reservoirs it is sometimes referred to as 'The Welsh Lake District'. The reservoirs are Claerwen, Craig Goch, Pen-y-Gareg, Careg-ddu and Caban Coch.
Work was carried out over 100 years ago to build the Elan Valley dams which feed the water supplies to Birmingham and the Midlands. A 73 mile long aquaduct was built to accommodate the water which flows at about 2 miles per hour.
In World War Two, Barnes Wallace used the reservoirs to test out his bouncing bombs. This culminated in the Dambusters breaching the dams in the Rhur Valley.
Rhayader is the gateway town to the Elan Valley and the first major town the River Wye flows through. It is probably best known today for the Red Kite feeding station just south of the town.
THE GOLDEN VALLEY
The Golden Valley is situated on the border of Herefordshire and Powys overlooking the Black Mountains. The origin of its name possibly comes from the river Dore that flows through the valley. This comes from the French word 'd'Or, when translated means 'of gold'. The valley has been made famous by the author C.S. Lewis and the film Shadowlands which starred Sir Anthony Hopkins.
THE SHROPSHIRE HILLS
An hours drive north of Llyswen takes you over the English border to the rolling hills of Shropshire. The hills have been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Most of the AONB is primarily based in South Shropshire passing through the large escarpment of The Long Mynd, Stiperstones and the highest point in the county being Clee Hill. From Clee Hill you can see the Malverns in Worcestershire and the Black Mountains in Powys.
Shropshire also boasts many lovely towns such as Church Stretton, Craven Arms, Ludlow, Bishop's Castle, Cleobury Mortimer and Clun. The oldest brewery in England (The Three Tuns) can be found at Bishop's Castle.
THE WYE & USK VALLEYS
The River Usk's source is within Carmarthen Fan (The Black Mountain). It flows through the towns of Brecon, Crickhowell, Abergavenny, its namesake Usk, through the Roman fortress of Cearleon, through Newport and flowing out into the Severn estuary at Uskmouth. It is the deepest river in the British Isles at its mouth, rising by up to 30 feet between high and low tides.
The River Wye is the fifth longest river in the UK. Its source being at Plynlimon, flowing through towns such as Builth Wells, Hay on Wye, Hereford, Ross on Wye before finally flowing out into the Severn estuary at Chepstow.
Both rivers are of important scientific interest and some parts have been designated as Areas of Outstanding natural Beauty. The Wye and Usk Foundation was formed with the intention of restoring the habitat, water quality and fisheries of both rivers.
THE TAFF TRAIL
The Taff Trail is a popular walking and cycle path which covers a total of 55 miles. It is so named as it follows the course of the River Taff which flows out to Cardiff Bay.
Starting at Brecon it follows the majority of the National Cycle Network route 8 (Lon Las Cymru) all the way into Cardiff Bay. The route passes through the Brecon Beacons passing the Talybont resevoir, Pontsticill Reservoir which runs close to the Brecon Mountain Railway, on past Merthyr Tydfil, Aberfan, Pontypridd, Taffs Well and finally into Cardiff Bay.
LON LAS CYMRU
Lon Las Cymru is Wales's National Cycle Route (NCN Route 8 and 42) which runs North to South from Holyhead to Cardiff. The route is over 250 miles in length and follows some of the old tracks of old railway lines such as Lôn Las Menai, Lôn Eifion and the Mawddach Trail.
The route can also be accessed by using the Heart of Wales Railway Line which will assist in getting you back to your starting point.
THE WELSH COAST
Only an hour and a half from Llyswen, you can find yourselves on some of the best beaches in the UK. The Gower Peninsula in the south of Wales is another Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty with beaches and coves to rival Cornwall. Along Cardigan Bay you will find pretty sea ports such as Aberporth, New Quay and Aberaeron. The university town of Aberystwyth is also a great place to visit. This is where the famous narrow gauge railway can take you to Devil's Bridge through the Vale of Rheidol.
