The British Geological Survey (BGS) publishes several maps at different scales which cover Fforest Fawr Geopark.
1:250,000 scale map
The bilingual sheet ‘Rocks of Wales / Creigiau Cymru’ showing the bedrock geology of the whole country was published in 1994. It appears in a green cover and is available at £12.00.
1:50,000 scale maps
Four sheets of the ‘England and Wales’ series of geological maps are required to give complete coverage of the Geopark.
- No.212 Llandovery (now available!)
- No.213 Brecon
- No.230 Ammanford (2 versions available – see below)
- No.231 Merthyr Tydfil (2 versions available – see below)
These appear in blue covers and are available at £12.00 each. Sheets 212 and 213 are also available as parts of packs which contain brief explanations of the local geology. Both packs cost £18.00 Sheet 212 was published in spring 2009.
Sheets 230 and 231 are available as ‘Solid with drift’ versions which show the bedrock geology and as ‘solid and drift’ versions which also show the superficial deposits such as peat, alluvium and glacial deposits. A ‘memoir’ describing the area covered by sheet 231 is also available.
1:25,000 scale maps
A new sheet covering the area around Cribarth and Craig-y-nos in the upper Swansea Valley. This sheet has been specially prepared to cover a ‘Classic Area’ of South Wales geology within Fforest Fawr Geopark.
Specialist Maps
A South Wales Hydrogeological Map at 1:250,000 scale which covers aspects of groundwater availability, exploitation and quality was also published by the BGS in 1986. It is available from BGS at a cost of £12.50 in either flat or folded form.
Visit the BGS map shop online.
British Mountain Map of Brecon Beacons
This 1:40,000 scale topographical map covers the whole of the Brecon Beacons National Park except for the Black Mountains in the east and some peripheral areas. On the reverse side is a ‘digital terrain model’ (DTM) coloured to show the main rock divisions within the area and this is accomapnied by a detailed geological commentary. Available from Harvey Maps, the British Mountaineering Council and good outdoor shops. First published in spring 2011.