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Brecon Beacons (Pen y Fan) Horseshoe from Neuadd Reservoir Walk

A classic horseshoe walk of the Brecon Beacons (Pen y Fan, Corn Du, Fan y Big) around a glacial valley, with an extension to Waun Rydd

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History

Club walks since April 2015, and a summary which goes back to Jan 2010.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sun, 13-Jul-25 a A Beacons Traverse: Talybont-on-Usk to Storey Arms (via Waun Rydd, Fan y Big, Cribyn, Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du) or to Brecon [Brecon Trip] 13 near perfect summer walking weather
Sun, 19-Jul-20 a Brecon – Fan y Big – Cribyn – Brecon [Brecon Trip] 12 sunshine all day
Mon, 07-May-18 a [Brecon Trip] Bank Holiday Walk - A Beacons Traverse: Brecon to Talybont-on-Usk (via Cribyn, Fan y Big, Waun Rydd) [New Walk Option] 22 hot and sunny
Sun, 30-Apr-17 [Brecon Trip] Sunday Extra Walk - The Brecon Beacons Horseshoe – Bannau Brycheiniog 30 dry but overcast then rainy
Thomas G
Length : 17.5 km/10.9 mi for the traverse to the Storey Arms bus stop or 23.1 km/14.3 mi for Talybont to Brecon via Pen-y-Fan [shorter options available]
Ascent/Descent : 1409/1089m for the traverse or 1255/1266m for Talybont to Brecon [easier options available]
Net Walking Time : 6 hours or 7 hours
Toughness : 9 out of 10 in both cases

Meet at 08.40 (sharp) next to the Market Tavern, where it borders the Morrison’s car park. Car drivers bring their cars into the car park. We will then allocate walkers to cars.
Spare walkers will take the 08.51 bus X43 (direction Abergavenny/Y Fenni) from Stand 3 to Talybont-on-Usk, The White Hart, arrives 09.10. This bus also calls at Free Street, Barracks and Dering Lines. The walk will not start before the bus has passed through.
Return buses from Glyn Tarell, Storey Arms (Line T4): xx.23 to 18.23.

This route is a combination of some of the many variations described in the pdf for the Brecon Beacons Horseshoe and following the write-up will require frequent shuffling of paper within the 19 page document.

The route rises out of Talybont from the side of the Mon & Brec Canal out of the lush Usk Valley onto the upland peat bog of the Waun Rydd. You pass a WWII airplane memorial and then follow a clear path around a steep sided glacial valley, the first part of one of the best ridge walks in South Britain, featuring some spectacular views in all directions in good weather. It is exceptionally exposed to the elements though.

Climb up to Fan y Big, the first of four table-top peaks across the majestic core of the Central Brecon Beacons (Crybin, Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du being the others) and finally descend to one of the highest bus stops in Wales, on the saddle between the Beacons and Fan Fawr, concluding the adventure.

Alternative descents to the centre of Brecon or to a couple of car parks are described.

Shortcuts :

· Either descend at the shallow saddle between the Waun Rydd and the Bwlch y Ddwallt, to the right down to Brecon (map-led) or to the left down to the Blaen-y-glyn car park (two cars required),
· or descend from the ridge off Fan Y Big or Crybin to Brecon,
· or turn left from the saddle between the two with the Horseshoe Route to the car park that is the starting point for the Horseshoe (two cars required).


Lunch : Picnic .
Tea: Plenty of options in Brecon.
For walk directions and options, route map , height profile, photos or gpx/kml files click here.
  • Thomas G
    Jul-25

    With the tent dweller and the park runner back in the fold, all 13 remaining souls started on time (9.20) in Talybont, quickly getting the mostly shaded approach to and initial ascent up the hill out of the way, before temperatures could rise much from 20 (Brecon was forecast to reach 27 in the pm). Once through the hill fence onto the open bracken covered hillside, it was just us and the sun though, until the end of the walk, most of the time though with a fairly refreshing breeze. 1 walker fell behind on the next bit of ascent, she followed the route on up Waun Rydd and to the War Memorial and followed the ridge for a bit, then went back down to Talybont.

    The rest reached the Carn Pica cairn before noon, where we had the second of many refreshment stops. On to the memorial (remnants of a Canadian Air force plane crashed in 1942) and then along the ridge with views down to Brecon. All of us 12 went up and over the three big tops without shortcuts and stayed together until Cribyn, when a few sped ahead, then we all went down via Corn Du to the Storey Arms, arriving on time for the 16.23 bus (some only with the aid of a 5 delay in the service though).

    Group dinner will be in the garden of The Castle Hotel, with views to the Beacons Ridge just walked, fittingly.

    near perfect summer walking weather

  • Bill
    Jul-25

    Follow the link to see a group photo!

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/Hc78KPlalzFtXwI061SxHp6FzNI8dWDZknREKuhwLen

Thomas G
Length: 21.8 km (13.5m ascent) mi)
Ascent/Descent: 933m; Net Walking Time: 6 ½ hours
Toughness: 10 out of 10
Meet at 09.30 in the south east corner of the Morrison’s car park in Brecon’s town centre, next to the Markets Tavern and near the four-way road junction by the Bus Interchange.
This route deliberately avoids the guaranteed-to-be-busy tops of Pen y Fan and Corn Du and is one of the many variations described in the pdf for the Brecon Beacons Horseshoe. Following the write-up will require frequent shuffling of paper within the 19-page document (we start on page 12, immediately go to page 9, then back to 12, etc. pp.), and the stretch between the two tops is obvious but not written up in text in this anti-clockwise direction.
The route rises from the centre of Brecon up to and then across the majestic core of the Central Brecon Beacons onto Fan y Big, where you turn right along the ridge towards the other of these two least frequented of the four table-top peaks: Cribyn. The clear path around a steep sided glacial valley is part of one of the best ridge walks in South Britain, featuring some spectacular views in all directions in good weather. It is exceptionally exposed to the elements though and also requires one steep descent and re-ascent.
Variations:
· descend directly back down from the ridge off Fan y Big the way you came, back to Brecon (cut 1.8 km and 196m ascent);
· continue past Cribyn to Pen y Fan and descend from there (adds one descent/re-ascent);
· from Fan y Big, turn left along the ridge – to Waun Rydd alongside an upland bog – offering more superb views, and past a WWII airplane memorial and lastly down into the lush Usk Valley to Talybont and its pubs, or on a loop back from Waun Rydd to Fan y Big. The return from Talybont to Brecon would have to be by taxi or on foot along the Monmouth & Brecon Canal (11.7 km), due to the 43/X43 bus not running on the Sunday;
· from Fan y Big, turn left along the ridge – to Waun Rydd alongside an upland bog – offering more superb views, and past a WWII airplane memorial but descend from Waun Rydd to Brecon via the Gist Wen and through Llanfrynach village (pub). This descent would be map-led.
Lunch : Picnic lunch.
Tea: plenty of choice in Brecon, but also in Talybont (see the pdf) and that pub in Llanfrynach.
For walk directions and options, route map, height profile, photos or gpx/kml files click here.
  • Thomas G
    Jul-20

    Constant overnight rain had cleared the air so much so that the mountain forecast promised 'fantastic long range views', and that's what we got besides sunshine all day . Combined with temperatures of 19 in town and 12 on the tops, this is perfect walking weather in my view.

    3 set off by cars to drop one off in Talybont and then drive back to a car park in the Cwm Gwdi and start their ascent from halfway up the range, to Cribyn and across to Fan y Big and on to Talybont.

    Group 2 set off first from Brecon and were only briefly encountered by my group, up on Fan y Big. They turned left from there to the Waun Rydd and the downed aircraft memorial, then down a new exploratory descent route from there, while we turned right down to the saddle between FyB and Cribyn. The car drivers were encountered half way down going the other way and at the saddle one of us turned right along the old Roman Road to spare herself the 200m height up Cribyn and descent down again along the scramble steep side. We met her again by the hill fence, sunbathing. Another one of our group continued on to Pen y Fan to descend from there. Time for dinner: the Gurkha Corner is awaiting...

    A picture perfect day of walking. The hills were fairly but not overly busy.

  • Thomas G
    Jul-20

    12

  • Stargazer
    Jul-20

    A special kudos are deserved for the 3 others who set off for the memorial and exploratory route home....Found the memorial and a canal side pub for an afternoon break....but the final canal stretch turned out to be twice as long as described (apologies)....all soldiered on without complaint....hopefully, enjoying the lovely evening light along the way....

  • Sandy
    Jul-20

    Strictly in the interests of scrupulous accuracy, I would like to add that we did not in fact drive half way up the hill; the altitude of the car park is 300m and we descended to approx 255m before making the ascent of Cribyn (795m).

Thomas G
Length: 22.6 km (14.0 mi) [shorter option available]
Ascent/Descent: 928/942m; Net Walking Time: 6 ½ hours
Toughness: 10 out of 10
Meet at 09.30 in the south east corner of the Morrison’s car park in Brecon’s town centre, next to the Markets Tavern and near the four-way road junction by the Bus Interchange.
This route is one of the many variations described in the pdf for the Brecon Beacons Horseshoe and following the write-up will require frequent shuffling of paper within the 19 page document (we start on page 11, immediately go to page 9, then back to 11, etc. pp.).
The route rises from the centre of Brecon up to and then across the majestic core of the Central Brecon Beacons over the two least frequented of its four table-top peaks (Cribyn and Fan y Big). You follow a clear path around a steep sided glacial valley, part of one of the best ridge walks in South Britain, featuring some spectacular views in all directions in good weather. It is exceptionally exposed to the elements though and also requires one steep descent and re-ascent, but this can be circumvented. The route then continues further along the ridge – to Waun Rydd alongside an upland bog – offering more superb views, and past a WWII airplane memorial and lastly down into the lush Usk Valley to Talybont and its pubs.
Shortcuts: Either descend from the ridge off Fan Y Big direct back to Brecon (this has only little overlap with the outward route), cuts less than a km and hardly any ascent, but spares you the journey (or walk) back from Talybont (see below); or turn right along the ridge from Cribyn to Pen Y Fan and pick up the descent route of SWC 85 (see separate walk post today) to the bus stop by the Storey Arms Centre.
Note: Unless we can get a clever car-shuttle arranged, the return from Talybont to Brecon will have to be by taxi or on foot along the Monmouth & Brecon Canal (11.7 km), due to the 43/X43 bus not running on the Bank Holiday.
Lunch : Picnic lunch.

Tea: The White Hart or The Star Inn . There is also the Talybont Stores and The Travellers Inn, although that is off route in the wrong direction.
For walk directions and options, route map , height profile, photos or gpx/kml files click here .
  • Thomas G
    May-18

    12 left Brecon, 7 took cars to the Upper Blaen y Glyn car park to ascend Fan y Big from there, 3 got a taxi to the end of the road up the valley nearest to Cribyn. 22 in hot and sunny weather with a welcome breeze.

    On the full walk, for the first two hours of ascent, there was plenty of shade from trees and hedged paths, and for the remaining hour plus the breeze helped with the hot temperatures. We had lunch just below the top of Cribyn and one of us then turned right to descend via Pen y Fan to the Youth Hostel where he is staying. The rest mastered the descent to the pass and re-ascent to Fan y Big better than feared. On that ascent we met the Blaen y Glyn starters on their descent. One of us then descended from there to Brecon to catch the 17.00 bus to Neath for a train.

    On along the escarpment with fantastic views, past the WWII airplane memorial and onto the bogland plateau. Then the scenic and steep descent to Talybont where most of the others were ensconced in the garden of The Star Inn. 17.30 finish, although 4 hardcore walkers then walked on along the canal to Brecon, with dinner at The Three Horseshoes en route.

    Bluebells, celandine, dandelions, tadpoles, lizards and hang gliders (not all in the same place). Pleasingly for the walk writer, plenty of the many options of this walk got tried out.

    A rather fantastic day out.

  • Sandy
    May-18

    While I'm on a roll I might as well comment on this one too. I was very grateful to the driver for his offer of a lift to the car park, enabling a more relaxed pace on this hot day with no bus to catch. I diverted to the top of Waun Rydd (not on the main path!) and then rejoined the group. I distinctly remember there being a tea room on the road back to Talybont but we couldn't find it so ended up in the Star, to meet most of the other groups as described.

  • Thomas G
    May-18

    ...that tea room is - from memory - on the stretch of road between the car park you were at and the car park for the main walk, by the Neuadd Reservoir, somewhere around where it says 'Ystradgynwyn' on the OS map, I think.

  • Sandy
    May-18

    Well that would explain why we missed it!

Thomas G
Length: 15.3 km (9.5 mi) or 22.8 km (14.2 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 740m or 1030m; Net Walking Time: 5 hours or 7 hours
Toughness: 8/10 or 10/10
Meet at 09.30 in the south east corner of the Morrison’s car park in Brecon’s town centre, near the four-way road junction opposite the Bus Interchange (drivers: please bring your cars).
The start of the walk is at the remote Neuadd Reservoir car park, map reference SO 036 170 , 9 km north of Merthyr Tydfil, when all cars have arrived. Directions: Drive north from Merthyr Tydfil, past Pontsticill, along the west side of the large Pentwyn reservoir. Where the road bends right along the top of the reservoir (near CF48 2UT), go straight on (north) along a single track tarmac lane (the Neuadd Reservoir's access road) and continue to a Brecon Beacons National Park car park.
If we do have more walkers than spaces, the ‘spare’ walkers will have to either…
Take the 10.51 bus T4 (direction Merthyr Tydfil/Cardiff) to Storey Arms, arrives 11.07, and take the alternative start from there up to the ridge (see pdf). The only return bus is at 18.03. Or…
Take one the alternative start routes from Brecon to the ridge (see pdf).
The ridge linking the four table-top peaks traversed on this walk (Corn Du, Pen y Fan, Cribyn, Fan y Big) forms the majestic core of the Central Brecon Beacons and contains the three highest tops in South Wales. As a result, this classic horseshoe walk around a steep sided glacial valley is amongst the best ridge walks in South Britain, featuring some spectacular views in all directions.
From a remote reservoir north of Merthyr Tydfil you climb steeply to reach the ridge, from where the gradient is mostly fairly gentle over good engineered paths as you follow a sequence of steep escarpments to Corn Du and Pen y Fan. Pen y Fan is the southern-most mountain in Britain and a large glacial grassy mound with steep glacial sides. Continuing along the ridge up to Cribyn and Fan y Big requires some steep descents and re-ascents, but both tops can be circumvented.
An out-and-back extension further along the ridge – to Waun Rydd alongside an upland bog – offers more superb views, lastly along the Usk Valley. This adds 7.5 km/4.7 mi and 288m ascent.

Route finding is easy (in clear weather), as the whole of the horseshoe route is visible at all times. Despite some steep drops this walk is not scary or dangerous, but it is exceptionally exposed to the elements.

Lunch : Picnic on the ridge.
Tea: lots of choice in Brecon (see pdf) or en route to Brecon in Talybont-on-Usk (see pdf) or in Libanus .

For all walk options, a summary, route map, height profile, photos, walk directions or gpx/kml files click here .
  • Thomas G
    Apr-17

    30 today in initially dry but overcast then rainy weather.

    The weather turned out not quite as bad as forecast, as it took to 13.30 for the first on-and-off drizzle to arrive, later turning to steady light rain. This meant dramatic views for the majority of the people for the majority of the walk. 3 had opted for the short ascent from the A470 by the Storey Arms to Pen y Fan, amongst them a dedicated flatland-only walker.

    27 drove to the remote Neuadd Reservoir. 4 fast ones sped ahead for the main walk plus Waun Rydd extension. 11 did the same long version but much slower, initially staying together with the other 12 that would then avoid tops 3 and 4 to walk the direct shortcut route back to the cars. So plenty of the many options of this walk got tried out today!

    Rewarding walk on largely good paths, many engineered to avoid further erosion on this popular route.