Fan Bwlch Chwyth

About Fan Bwlch Chwyth

Perched above the Cray Reservoir, Fan Bwlch Chwyth is the sort of hill that values its privacy, mostly because everyone else is busy queuing for a selfie on Pen y Fan. It’s a breezy, grassy dome that offers solitude, provided you don't mind the occasional judgmental stare from a local ewe.

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Did You Know?

• •The name translates roughly to 'Peak of the Windy Pass,' a title that proves the ancient Welsh had a remarkable talent for stating the blindingly obvious. You will feel every bit of that etymology as the Atlantic gusts try to redesign your hairstyle mid-hike.
• •This summit marks a significant point in the Fforest Fawr, an area that was once a royal hunting ground for the lords of Brecknock. While you won't find many kings here today, the Bronze Age cairn at the top suggests people have been standing here looking lost for millennia.
• •To the west, the hill drops sharply down towards the Cray Reservoir, which was completed in 1907 to quench the thirst of Swansea. It offers a spectacular vantage point, assuming the Welsh mist hasn't decided to settle in for its daily fourteen-hour residency.
• •The terrain consists of Old Red Sandstone draped in a deceptively lush carpet of moorland grass and peat. It makes for delightfully soft walking underfoot, right up until the moment the ground decides to transform into a secret, boot-stealing subterranean lake.
• •The ascent from the north is a masterclass in psychological warfare, featuring a series of gentle slopes that promise a summit but deliver only more grass. By the time you reach the actual top, you will likely have developed a deep, personal vendetta against the very concept of horizons.