Ystradfellte is a village and community in Powys, Wales, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Hirwaun, with 556 inhabitants. It belongs to the historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire) and the Fforest Fawr area of the Brecon Beacons National Park, beside the Afon Mellte river. The village is linked by minor roads with Heol Senni to the north and the A4059 north of Penderyn, and with Pontneddfechan, which lies in the community, at the head of the Vale of Neath to the south.
Afon Mellte or the River Mellte is a river in south Wales. It is formed by the confluence of the Afon Llia and the Afon Dringarth. It then flows south through the village of Ystradfellte to Pontneddfechan where it joins with the Nedd Fechan to become the River Neath. The river derives its name from 'mellt' - the Welsh word for 'lightning' - after its tendency to rise and fall rapidly in response to heavy rainfall.
River Neath is a river in south Wales running south west from the point at which its headwaters arising in the Brecon Beacons National Park converge to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay.
Pontneddfechan, also known as Pontneathvaughan is a village in Powys, Wales. It is the southernmost village in the historic county of Brecknockshire, within the Vale of Neath and in the community of Ystradfellte. It stands at the confluence of the rivers Mellte and Nedd Fechan and gives access to a series of waterfalls that adorn the upper Neath valley. Dinas Rock is a quarried limestone promontory east of the village, popular with visitors.
The River Alyn is a tributary of the River Dee, in north-east Wales. The River Alyn rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The main town on the river is Mold, the county town of Flintshire. It lends its name to the constituencies of Alyn and Deeside in the UK Parliament and the Senedd.
Porth yr Ogof is a cave located near the village of Ystradfellte, near the southern boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. It lies on the course of the Afon Mellte, a river whose name translates as ‘lightning’, commonly explained as a reference to the flashy' nature of the river, i.e. rising and falling rapidly in response to rainfall. In 1998 the cave's passageways had been measured as over 2.25 kilometres (1.40 mi) in length. Among the cave's fifteen entrances is the largest cave entrance in Wales and one of the largest in the UK standing at nearly 20 metres (66 ft) wide and 8 metres (26 ft) high. The cave was used as a show cave many years ago, but is not as attractive as more decorated caves such as Dan yr Ogof, and so today is more often used to introduce people to cave exploration.
The Alyn Gorge is a gorge section of the River Alyn north between Loggerheads and Rhydymwyn in Wales. The west side of the valley rises gently to Moel Famau, while the east bank is along parts a cliff with evidence of tram lines and old quarry workings.
Penwyllt is a hamlet located in the upper Swansea Valley in Powys, Wales, lying within the Brecon Beacons National Park.
The Nedd Fechan is a river almost wholly within the county of Powys, Wales, currently administered as part of the unitary authority of Powys. It rises on the eastern slopes of Fan Gyhirych in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park and flows south for 7 miles (12 km) to join with the Afon Mellte at Pontneddfechan, their combined waters continuing as the River Neath to the sea near Swansea. The only significant tributary of the Nedd Fechan is the Afon Pyrddin which joins it at Pwll Du ar Byrddin. Downstream of this confluence it forms the boundary between Powys to its east and Neath Port Talbot to its west.
The Afon Llia is a short river in Powys, Wales, and which is wholly contained within the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Moel Penderyn is a hill on the edge of Penderyn village, in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, south Wales. It also appeared on older maps as 'Y Foel Penderyn'. Its summit at 371m is marked by a trig point.
Carreg Cadno is a hill five miles northeast of Abercraf in the county of Powys, south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its summit at OS grid ref SN 874161 reaches a height of 538m / 1763 ft above sea level. The hill is within the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve which is owned and managed by the Countryside Council for Wales.
Waterfall Country is an English name often given to the Vale of Neath in South Wales. The tourist area around the head of the valley has an unusually large number of publicly accessible waterfalls. The area is not officially defined but generally includes the group of falls on the Nedd Fechan, Pyrddin, Hepste and Mellte rivers, all of which lie between the villages of Pontneddfechan and Ystradfellte in the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Dyffrynnoedd Nedd a Mellte, a Moel Penderyn is a 421.1 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the border of Neath Port Talbot and Powys, Wales, notified in 1954.
The Afon Sychryd is a river in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Although it is a relatively short river, with a total length of 3 miles (5 km), it is notable for the gorge and two waterfalls through which it flows.
This article describes the geology of the Brecon Beacons National Park in mid/south Wales. The area gained national park status in 1957 with the designated area of 1,344 km2 (519 sq mi) including mountain massifs to both the east and west of the Brecon Beacons proper. The geology of the national park consists of a thick succession of sedimentary rocks laid down from the late Ordovician through the Silurian and Devonian to the late Carboniferous period. The rock sequence most closely associated with the park is the Old Red Sandstone from which most of its mountains are formed. The older parts of the succession, in the northwest, were folded and faulted during the Caledonian orogeny. Further faulting and folding, particularly in the south of the park is associated with the Variscan orogeny.
