BRECON BEACONS
Take it slow through South Wales and discover endless trails over
moor and mountain, coaching inns creaking with history, ghostly
goings-on and moody landscapes to make the heart sing
Words: Kerry WalkerWEEKENDERW
ales makes quite an entrance. As
rolling, chequered fields fade in
the rearview mirror, the Brecon
Beacons begin to loom on the horizon: a
clear reminder you’ve reached a wilder,
more mountainous land. Snowdonia to the
north may have the upper hand height-
wise, but these peaks are just as dramatic,
rippling across 520sq miles of national
park. Rising like the prows of great ships,
they hoist their sails above moors misted
with purple heather and glacier-carved
valleys, the ramparts of Iron Age hill forts
and the dark skeletons of ruined castles.
And whether they’re seen in the gildedlight of a late-summer afternoon, cloud-
wreathed in the rain, or frosted with snow,
their beauty is entirely their own. This
weekend-long journey heads off the beaten
track — or igam ogam, as the Welsh say
— from the eastern Black Mountains and
their secluded valleys through to the central
Brecons, where lofty summits, hiking
trails and dark night skies await, before
dipping south to waterfalls hidden in ferny
woodlands ripe for a fairytale. Pack sturdy
boots and clothes that can handle mud, and
look forward to getting stuck behind that
pootling tractor or stray sheep. This is one
journey not to be rushed.38 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel