Enjoy 16 days of walks, talks and other events organised by the National Park Authority and its Geopark partners. In 2012 the Fforest Fawr Geopark Festival will take place between Saturday 26th May and Sunday 10th June. You might want to put those dates in your diary now.
If you enjoyed last year’s programme, or if you missed it, we hope you will help us celebrate some more in 2012!
Suggested donations: in common with the wider National Park walks programme, a few of our walks and events have charges to cover specific costs – though most are still free. However in 2012, as last year we are suggesting a specific donation per adult for each walk – usually £2 or £3 for a half day walk and £5 for a full day walk. Your donation will help to cover some of the costs of running the guided walks programme. Many thanks for your support.
Download a simple pdf of the Fforest Fawr Geopark Festival 2012 programme or a fuller version here.
Here is additional information on the festival programme including LEGAL DISCLAIMER – please read!
A few of our walks are ‘booking essential’, this is especially so where bookings involve food and where we expect the walk/event to be extremely popular. For all other events, booking is advisable - most events have a cap on numbers for the safety of participants and leaders are obliged to keep to this maximum number. So to avoid disappointment please book ahead – in the event of excess numbers, those who have booked will receive preference.
To find out more about any of the events listed and to book a place call the National Park Visitor Centre (also known as the Mountain Centre) on 01874 623366 (except where another number is given in the case of a handful of walks). See what we’ve got lined up by way of walks and talks highlighting different aspects of the Geopark:
Wednesday 23rd May 19:00 – 20:30 (a ‘warm-up’ talk before the Festival starts in earnest)
Myddfai: a Geopark community
A talk by Fforest Fawr Geopark’s scientific director, Tony Ramsay on the Geopark, its place in the European and global families of geoparks and its role in eastern Carmarthenshire. Tony will explore links between geology, landscape, history and myth.
- Venue: Myddfai Community Hall, Myddfai, Carms, SA20 0JD (OS grid ref SN 772301)
- Suggested donation: £2/person
Sat 26 May 10:00-16:00
Carreg Cennen Castle Roundabout
This energetic 7 mile (11km) walk in partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park Society explores the rocky landscape of this western corner of the Geopark. Visit pillow mounds, farm enclosures, burial cairns and a trig point.
- Total ascent: 450m / 1500ft
- Meet: Carreg Cennen Castle car park (OS grid ref SN 667193).
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £5 per adult.
- Dogs: well-behaved and on leads please!
Sun 27 May 10:00-13:00
From Cwm to Cwm
Join us for a 5 mile (8km) walk ‘From Cwm to Cwm’ following this trail on the southern slopes of the Black Mountain, visiting Cwm Pedol and Cwm Berach. Wet underfoot in places. This walk above the Amman valley can be paired with the ‘Brynaman Field Study Visit’ (see below) – why not make a day of it in the Brynaman area - and eat locally?
- Total ascent: 230m / 750ft
- Meet: Garnant car park, Brynaman (OS grid ref SN 686134)
- For more info and to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation for walk: £2 per adult.
- Dogs: well-behaved and on leads please!
Sun 27 May 14:00-17:00
Brynaman Field Study Visit
Follow the 2.5 miles (4km) ‘Rocky Ravines’ trail in the company of three experts – a geologist, a botanist and a zoologist. Visiting Coal Measures sandstones and shales, acid grassland, oak woodland, willow and birch scrub and upland streams. A partnership event with the Department of Adult Continuing Education at Swansea University. This field study visit can be paired with the walk above – ‘From Cwm to Cwm’ – why not make a day of it and eat locally?
- Total ascent: 110m / 350ft
- Meet: Black Mountain Centre car park, Brynaman (OS grid ref SN 714143)
- Booking essential: ring 01792 602211
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- University charge: £5 per person.
- Suggested donation for walk: £2 per adult.
- Sorry – no dogs.
Monday 28th May 19:00 – 20:30
A Thin Blue Line: limestone landscapes of the Geopark (TALK)
A talk by Alan Bowring, Fforest Fawr Geopark’s development officer, on the crags, caves, quarries and kilns that decorate the narrow belt of countryside stretching from Carreg Cennen to Cribarth and from Penwyllt to Pontsticill where limestone asserts it presence and which shows as a line of blue on geologist’s maps. See what sort of mark 350 million years of nature and 350 years of mankind have left here!
- Venue: Abercraf Miners Welfare Hall, Abercrave, SA9 1XA
- Suggested donation: £2/person
Tuesday 29th May 10:00 – 13:00
White Water & Black Powder
An easy 2 mile (3km) walk in partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park Society exploring the remains of the Gunpowder works which were set alight in 1930. Strung out along a couple of miles of riverside in one of the Waterfall Country’s most beautiful wooded gorge. See what’s left 80 years after the works were deliberately destroyed. This walk at the head of the Vale of Neath can be paired with ‘Faults, Folds & Firebricks’ – why not make a day of it at Pontneddfechan - and eat locally?
- Total ascent: 30m / 100ft
- Meet: Dinas Rock car park, Pontneddfechan (OS grid ref SN 911079).
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 16 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £2 per adult.
- Dogs: well-behaved and on leads please!
Tuesday 29th May 14:00 – 17:00
Faults, Folds and Firebricks
A moderate 2.5 mile (4km) walk exploring France’s role in creating one of our finest landscapes – amazing stories played out by nature and man. And one of Wales’ seven geological wonders – have you seen the recently revealed Bwa Maen yet? This walk at the head of the Vale of Neath can be paired with ‘White Water & Black Powder’ – why not make a day of it at Pontneddfechan – and eat locally?
- Total ascent: 250m / 800ft
- Meet: Dinas Rock car park, Pontneddfechan (OS grid ref SN 911079).
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 16 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £2 per adult.
- Dogs: well-behaved and on lead please!
Tuesday 29th May 19:30 – 21:00 (provisional)
Dry stone walling and Geology
A talk by Philip Clark (a.k.a. Charles Gordon Clark) on dry stone walls, a common feature of this area as elsewhere in Wales and upland Britain. He will examine their intimate relationship to the underlying geology.
- Venue: Brecon Guildhall (provisional) in centre of town. Plentiful parking available nearby. LD3 7AL
- Suggested donation: £2/person
Wednesday 30th May 10:00 – 13:00
Walk, Talk - and possibly lunch?
Join us for an easy/moderate 2.5 mile (4km) walk across Mynydd Illtud common that includes a mysterious spiritual centre, an industrial site, a final resting place, preparations for war, an unsolved mystery and a little known wonder. This walk from the Mountain Centre can be paired with ‘Bountiful Bogs and Marvellous Mires’ – why not make a day of it on Mynydd Illtud - and take lunch at the Centre?
- Total ascent: minimal
- Meet: car park (OS grid ref SN 977262).
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £2 per adult.
- Dogs: well-behaved and on leads please!
- *Lunch not included but, if staying for the afternoon event, why not take it at the NPVC / Mountain Centre?
Wednesday 30th May 14:00 – 17:00
Bountiful Bogs and Marvellous Mires
Join us on Mynydd Illtud again, for an afternoon exploration in partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park Society of Daudraeth Illtyd – water-filled rock basins near the Mountain Centre where wildlife thrives in a very special habitat. Wellies essential! Binoculars useful. This walk from the Mountain Centre can be paired with ‘Walk, talk – & possibly lunch?‘ – why not make a day of it on Mynydd Illtud - and take lunch at the Centre?
- Total ascent: minimal
- Meet: car park (OS grid ref SN 977262).
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £2 per adult.
- Sorry – no dogs!
Wednesday 30th May 19:00 – 20:30
Geodiversity and geological sites
A talk by Dr Adrian Humpage of the British Geological Survey looking at the rocky foundations of Fforest Fawr Geopark. The BGS has recently completed a review of those localities in and around the area which are of regional importance for the understanding of its geology and geomorphology.
- Venue: Brecon Guildhall (provisional) in centre of town. Plentiful parking available nearby. LD3 7AL
- Suggested donation: £2/person
Thursday 31st May 19:00 – 20:30 (provisional)
Tropical Seas, Dusty Deserts and Grinding Glaciers
A talk by Geraint Owen of Swansea University on the 400 million year geological evolution of South Wales with a focus on the Swansea Valley/Cwm Tawe in particular. Delve into the area’s deep past for a better understanding of a landscape you thought you knew.
- Venue: Coelbren Church (provisional), Heol Eglwys, Coelbren (OS grid ref SN 849117)
- Entry: suggested donation of £2/adult
Friday 1st June 10:00 – 16:00
Cairns and Ferns on Cefn Cil-sanws
Join archaeologist Edith Evans and wildlife expert Phil Sutton on a 5.5 mile (9km) exploration of a rocky mini-mountain rising above Cwm Taf – and one with several extraordinary stories to tell. From Bronze Age burial sites to Britain’s rarest tree – and some fossil ones thrown in too for good measure. In partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park Society, Brecknock Wildlife Trust and Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust.
- Total ascent: 250m / 800ft
- Meet: Merthyr Tydfil golf club car park (off Cloth Hall Lane at OS grid ref SO 030084). Postcode: CF48 2NU
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £3 per adult.
- Sorry – no dogs!
Saturday & Sunday 2nd & 3rd June
No events planned presently though any that are arranged will be detailed here. Please come back to find out more!
Bank holiday Monday 4th June 10:00 – 16:00
Llwch Lively!
Join a National Trust warden on this 5 mile walk up to Llyn Cwm Llwch and over Pen Milan to look at the life in this lake beneath Pen y Fan, the ice age legacy and see how the Trust manages this area. In partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park Society.
- Total ascent: 400m / 1250ft
- Meet: informal parking area beside Nant Cwm Llwch (OS grid ref SO 006244)
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £5 per adult
- Sorry – no dogs!
Bank holiday Tuesday 5th June 10:00 – 13:00
Romans to Railways
Follow a 2000 year old road and a 200 year old tramway – see how both Romans and industrialists left their mark on the southern slopes of our hills on this moderate 3.5 mile (5km) walk. In partnership with the National Trust. This walk at Coelbren can be paired with ‘Fossils, Ferns and faults at Henrhyd Falls’ – why not make a day of it in Coelbren - and eat locally?
- Total ascent: 60m / 200ft
- Suggested donation: £2 per adult
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 30 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Meet: Coelbren Miners Welfare and Memorial Hall, Station Rd, Coelbren (OS grid ref SN 851117)
- Dogs: well-behaved and on lead please!
Bank holiday Tuesday 5th June 14:00 – 17:00
Fossils, Ferns and Faults at Henrhyd Falls
A moderate 2 mile (3km) walk delving into the history and geology of the wooded ravine into which the waters of the Nant Llech plunge at Henrhyd Falls. In partnership with the National Trust. This walk at Coelbren can be paired with ‘Romans to Railways’ – why not make a day of it in Coelbren - and eat locally?
- Total descent: 200m / 650ft
- Suggested donation: £3 per adult
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 16 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Meet: NT car park, Henrhyd Falls, Coelbren (OS grid ref SN 853120)
- Dogs: well-behaved and on lead please!
Wednesday 6th June 10:00 – 14:00
Tawe Time Trundle
An easy morning walk of 1.2 mile (2km) through Craig-y-nos Country Park followed by activities at the country park classroom after lunch. A fresh look at deep time and how this valley came to be what we enjoy now. Bring a picnic or buy your lunch at Changing Seasons cafe in the grounds. Family-friendly.
- Total ascent: 20m / 70ft
- Meet: outside the cafe at Craig-y-nos country park (OS grid ref SN 840155)
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 16 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation:£2 per adult
- Dogs: well-behaved and on lead please!
Wednesday 6th June 14:00 – 17:00
Cwm Gwrelych Geo Heritage Trail: walking back in time
Experience coal swamps, cockroaches and climate change in Carboniferous South Wales on this moderate 3 mile (5km) walk.
- Total ascent: 120m / 400ft
- Meet: Geo Heritage lay-by between Pont Walby and Cwm Hwnt (OS grid ref SN 896067)
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 16 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation:£3 per adult
- Dogs: well-behaved and on lead please!
Wednesday 6th June 19:00 – 20:30
Penderyn: a Geopark community
A talk by Fforest Fawr Geopark’s scientific director, Tony Ramsay on the Geopark, its place in the European and global families of geoparks and its role in south Wales. Tony will explore links between geology, landscape, history and industry.
- Venue: Penderyn Community Centre (OS grid ref SN 950079)
- Suggested donation: £2/adult
Thursday 7th June 13:00 – 17:00
Karst and Conifers
An energetic 6 mile (9km) walk exploring sculptures in the forest around Garwnant and nature’s sculptures on the hills beyond the forest boundary. In partnership with Forestry Commission Wales.
- Total ascent: 150m / 500ft
- Meet: Garwnant Visitor Centre (OS grid ref SO 003131).
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £3 per adult.
- Dogs: well-behaved and on lead please!
Thursday 7th June 19:00 – 20:30 TALK
The Geopark from the air: archaeology, industry and landscape
A talk by Dr Toby Driver of the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historic Monuments of Wales. Thousands will have admired the superb aerial images which the RCAHMW have taken across Wales, many taken personally by Toby in his role as aerial survey project manager. Enjoy a bird’s eye view of thousands of years evolution of the Geopark’s landscape at the hand of man and nature.
- Venue: Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon, LD3 7EW
- Tickets: available from theatre; £5/person
- Contact: http://www.brycheiniog.co.uk/ or ring 01874 611622
Friday 8th June 10:00 – 15:00
Limelights of Allt Rhongyr
NOTE: This walk was incorrectly advertised in the NP visitor guide for the Thursday 7th – it will take place on Friday 8th!
A moderate 6 miles (9.5km) walk with Ben Mullen of the Brecknock Wildlife Trust looking at the botany, geology and zoology of this fascinating reserve in Cwm Tawe. Don’t forget your sandwiches and a flask! In partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park Society.
- Total ascent: 150 m / 500ft
- Meet: Craig y nos Country Park car park (OS grid ref SN 840155) (pay & display)
- For more info & to book: ring NPVC on 01874 623366
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- Suggested donation: £3 per adult.
- Dogs – no dogs
Saturday 9th June
No events planned presently though any that are arranged will be detailed here. Please come back to find out more!
Sunday 10th June 14:00 – 17:00
Mynydd Myddfai Field Study Visit
Another chance to take a look at the restoration work carried out following the gas pipeline construction in 2008. This moderate 3 mile (5km) walk will also visit the linear quarries of the Tilestones and Waun Ddu SSSI. A partnership event with the Department of Adult Continuing Education at Swansea University.
- Total ascent: 140m / 450ft
- Meet: Usk Reservoir car park (OS grid ref SN 835286).
- Booking essential: ring 01792 602211
- Maximum no of participants: 24 – please book to guarantee your place!
- University charge: £5 per adult
- Suggested donation: £2 per adult.
- Sorry – no dogs!
If you can’t wait until the end of May, why not check out other walking festivals in the region such as the Crickhowell Walking Festival which in 2012 takes place from 25th February to 4th March.
No sooner is the Geopark Festival over than the Gower Walking Festival begins – check it between 9th and 24th June 2012.
The Roots and Routes Festival takes place throughout the year within the east of the Brecon Beacons National Park, exploring links between the Blaenavon World Heritage Site and the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.
Look out too for the Wales Valleys Walking Festival which takes place to the south in September each year, followed by the Hay Walking Festival which takes place out east in October 2012.