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Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park covers 520 square miles, over half of which is 1,000 ft above sea level. There's the quiet attraction of mile after mile of empty mountains, rolling green hills and valleys, and its rich heritage links it to the dawn of the industrial revolution in the Welsh Valleys. Cycling is greatly encouraged here and there are a number of way-marked and suggested cycle routes throughout the Park. The Park is patrolled by various birds of prey, including the peregrine falcon, but the symbolic bird is the reed kite. Britain's national newspapers recently heralded the "first sighting of a red kite over London for more than 140 years" - the Brecon Beacons has over 250 breeding pairs. The Park has a clear approach regarding wildlife. Its action plan for the otter includes construction of underpasses to reduce the number of otters killed by cars, while currently studying the chief suspect in the decline of the water vole, the mink! The area is defined by its hills and the five ridges of the Black Mountains with its haunted lakes and millions of sheep. Around the the Black Mountains, you can view mile after mile of these forests, hills and valleys, and the National Trust owns much of the open mountains which stretch over 100 miles. But it's not without its market towns which provide rest and food and water supplies for the next stage. It's demanding territory in places, and the chief training ground for the S.A.S. - locals farmers are known to make stools and foot rests out of spent artillery shells. Brecon Cathedral has over 900 years of history, and at Llancaiach Fawr Living History Museum you can step back in time to the Civil Wars of 1645 with its tales of troubled times, and the 'National Show Caves' is one of the largest cave systems in Europe. There's also Brecon Mountain Railway, and the 19th century iron works at Blaenavon is a World Heritage site. You'll
see many Welsh language signs and place names on the Lôn Las Cymru
Route and Celtic Trail in Wales. Some of them are common words in
place-names and describe the landscape: |
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Further infromation www.breconbeacons.org |
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