Pen Y Fan at The Black Mountains

HIEGHT: 886m/2907ft

LOCATION: 4m south of Brecon

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE, ~1500ft ascent

WALK: About 4m, round trip

Well, this is the big one. The highest mountain in southern Britain, you have to go north to Snowdonia before you find anything higher than Pen Y Fan. The name means The Beacons’ Peak, as far as I can tell, which makes sense. As the mountain is so well known and documented, finding it is easy, parking is a breeze (and you have a choice of ascents) and the paths are very well maintained. The added bonus is that you get to climb Corn Du in the same walk, unless you’re mad and avoid it. Easiest parking is on the east side of the A470, just south of the Storey Arms.

The Walk

After parking, a walk through some dark woodland brings you onto the well worn path, that starts by crossing Blaen Taf Fawr (a stream, literally: Source of the Greater [river] Taf), with some curious shelters on the left. These shelters look for all the world like pill-boxes, ie: machinegun nests, but as to why you’d want a firing position in this little valley in the middle of nowhere is beyond me. After the stream, the path basically goes up and up and up, all the way to the summit. On the way up, looking behind you will afford increasingly good views of Fan Fawr, the highest peak in the region known as Fforest Fawr, and on a clear day much further west besides. After a mile or so of steady climbing, the summit of Corn Du will be looming ahead of you, and the path splits giving you the choice of going left, and scrambling up the rocks to Corn Du’s summit, or bypassing this, and going straight to Pen Y Fan. The saddle of land that connects the two summits is short, and doesn’t dip down much at all, so there’s no excuse for not visiting both. From the top of Pen Y Fan, you’re treated to exhilarating views in all directions; if the air is good, you’ll be able to see the Bristol Channel to the south, Corn Du will dominate the westward view, east the Black mountains are rising up with Sugarloaf easily recognisable at the right-hand end of the range, and north, well, it’s like you can see forever.

About Pen Y Fan

Pen Y Fan is owned and managed by the National Trust. It is well known that the british military (notably the S.A.S.) use the mountain and the surrounding area for training exercises. It’s not uncommon to see guys in camos running up and down the mountain will big rucksacks. If walking up from the Storey arms, you’ll likely come across a small monument, that has a sad story attached. It marks the spot where the body of Tommy Jones was found, a five year old boy who lost his way in fog on the mountain when visiting his grandparents at Cwm Clwch farm, back in 1900. He was found after a 29 day search. The inscription reads: “This obelisk marks the spot where the body of Tommy Jones aged 5 was found. He lost his way between Cwm Llwch farm and the Login on the night of August 4, 1900. After an anxious search of 29 days his remains were discovered Sept. Erected by voluntary subscriptions. W Powell Price Mayor of Brecon 1901.”