Gaer is the name of a hill in the Black Mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, south Wales. It lies at the southern end of the long ridge between the valley of the Grwyne Fawr and the Vale of Ewyas, one mile north of Bryn Arw and three miles northeast of Sugarloaf. Its summit, at 427m above sea level, sits within an Iron Age hillfort known as Twyn y Gaer. [1]
The mass of the hill is formed from the mudstones and sandstones of the Senni Beds formation whilst the upper slopes are composed of the sandstones of the overlying Brownstones Formation. Both are assigned to the Old Red Sandstone, which was laid down during the Devonian period. The southern slopes around Coed y Cerrig have experienced substantial landslipping in the past. [2]
The upper part of the hill is designated as open country, making it freely accessible to walkers. Several public footpaths and unmetalled roads (often referred to as 'green lanes') weave around the lower slopes, enhancing the hill's accessibility.
The Sugar Loaf is a hill situated two miles (3.2 km) north-west of Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Wales, within the Brecon Beacons National Park. It is the southernmost of the summit peaks of the Black Mountains, and rises to 1,955 feet (596 metres). The Sugar Loaf was gifted to the National Trust by suffragette Lady Rhondda.
Fan Fawr is a mountain in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, in Powys, Wales and over 734 m (2,408 ft) high.
Pen Cerrig-calch is a subsidiary summit of Waun Fach in the Black Mountains in the Brecon Beacons National Park in southern Powys, Wales. Its summit, at a height of 701 m (2,300 ft), is marked by a trig point. The peak sits high above the River Usk valley as it narrows above the small town of Crickhowell. The views from here are wide-ranging and extend as far as the Beacons themselves to the west. A ridge runs off to the northwest and the shoulder of Pen Gloch-y-pibwr then turns north to the secondary top of Pen Allt-mawr whose peak at 719m is also crowned by a trig point.
Mynydd Illtud is an extensive area of common land near Libanus, Powys, Wales, located in the Brecon Beacons National Park and some three miles south-west of Brecon. The common is an undulating plateau lying between 330 and 370 metres above sea level. Its highest points are 381 metres (1,250 ft) at Allt Lom and 367 metres (1,204 ft) at Twyn y Gaer trig point overlooking the valley of the River Usk. Twyn y Gaer is the site of an Iron Age hill fort.
Ysgyryd Fach is a hill one mile east of Abergavenny in the county of Monmouthshire, south Wales. It is often referred to in English as 'Little Skirrid' or sometimes as 'Skirrid Fach'. Its summit height is just over 270 metres (885'). A conifer plantation extends over much of the hill including its summit; prior to felling of trees on the upper slopes in 2012 outward views were therefore restricted. The hill is considered to be one of the 'seven hills of Abergavenny'.
The Grwyne Fawr is a river in the Brecon Beacons National Park in south Wales. A section of it forms the administrative border between Powys and Monmouthshire and also of the historic counties of Brecon and Monmouth. The river and its major tributary the Grwyne Fechan flow into the River Usk at Glangrwyney.
Allt yr Esgair is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales. It is commonly referred to locally as simply 'The Allt'. The Welsh name signifies 'wooded slope of the ridge'. It takes the form of a northwest-southeast aligned ridge which rises to a height of 393m and which overlooks the valley of the River Usk to the west and south. To the northeast are panoramic views across Llangorse Lake to the Black Mountains There is a viewfinder on the summit erected as a monument to Eirene Lloyd White, Baroness White of Rhymney. It is a Marilyn with a prominence of 199 metres.
Y Garn Goch is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the east of Carmarthenshire, Wales. The name means the 'red cairn'. It lies near the village of Bethlehem, three miles southwest of Llangadog and four miles east of Llandeilo on the southern side of the broad Towy Valley. It is also commonly known as either Garn Goch or Carn Goch. Current owners and land managers are the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.
Waun Lefrith is a top of Picws Du and is also the westernmost of the Carmarthen Fans, a group of peaks within the Black Mountain of the Brecon Beacons National Park. It lies within Carmarthenshire, Wales. The summit plateau of the mountain reaches a height of 2221 feet above sea level. Picws Du and Fan Foel are the other, higher summits of the Carmarthen Fans. The glacial lake of Llyn y Fan Fach dominates the panorama to the north of the peak. Beyond the lake to the north lies the Usk Reservoir and then the Cambrian Mountains on the horizon. Swansea Bay and the Bristol Channel are visible to the south across the undulating dip slope of the mountain. The Towy (Tywi) valley lies to the west, with Llandovery and Llandeilo as important market towns nearest to the hills.
Cefn Cul is a hill in the Fforest Fawr sector of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, southern Wales. It is a broad north-northeast to south-southwest aligned ridge whose summit reaches a height of 562 m above sea level. The hill is bounded to the west by the upper valley of the River Tawe though which the old Trecastle road runs whilst to the east is the pass of Bwlch Bryn-rhudd over which the A4067 road runs from the Crai valley south to that of the Tawe.
Carreg Dwfn is a hill four miles southeast of Llandeilo and just to the south of the village of Trap in the county of Carmarthenshire, south Wales. It lies at the western extremity of the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its summit at 283 metres (928 ft) is towards the eastern end of a rocky east-west-aligned ridge.
Trichrug is a hill four miles east of Llandeilo and 3 miles south of Llangadog in the county of Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its summit at a height of 415m above sea level is marked by a trig point. It is a Marilyn with a prominence of 191 metres.
Mynydd Myddfai is a hill 4.5 miles southeast of Llandovery in the county of Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. The hill is in the form of a broad ridge aligned southwest to northeast with three or four distinct tops separated by cols. The northwest side drops steeply away towards the village of Myddfai whilst the other side is a more shallow slope down towards Glasfynydd Forest which encircles Usk Reservoir. The plateau surface of the hill rises to a height of 440m at OS grid ref SN 806297 where a trig point has been erected.
Mynydd Bach Trecastell is a hill on the border between the counties of Carmarthenshire and Powys in southwest Wales. It lies within the Black Mountain range of the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its summit is plateau-like and reaches a height of 412m at OS grid ref SN 827312 at Y Pigwn. The name signifies the 'little hill of castle town'.
Bryn Arw is a hill in the Black Mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, south Wales. It lies 4 km north of the town of Abergavenny and 1.5 miles west of the village of Llanvihangel Crucorney. Its summit at 384m above sea level is the more northerly of two tops which lie on the crest of a slightly arcuate north-south ridge which drops away to the south at first gently and then sharply. The hill is isolated from the main mass of the range by the valleys of Cwm Coed-y-cerig to the north and by Cwm Brynarw to the west. It is a Marilyn.
Mynydd Troed is a hill in the Black Mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, south Wales. Its name literally translates to "Foot Mountain," based how it appears when viewed from the Allt Mawr ridge.
Mynydd Llangorse is a mountain on the western edge of the Black Mountains in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, south Wales. It lies two miles east of Llangors and its lake and 5 miles south of Talgarth. Its summit at 515m overtops the location 600m to the south at which a trig point is sited by 9m. The broad spur of Cefn Moel extends south towards the village of Bwlch whilst a spur to the southeast forms Pen Tir which reaches just over 450m above sea level. It is a Marilyn with a prominence of 161 metres.
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.
Pen-y-crug is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys, south Wales. It is commonly referred to locally as simply 'The Crug'. The Welsh name signifies 'top of the mound'. It slopes are moderately gently on three sides; only to the west do they steepen somewhat. Its flat trig point adorned summit at 331m overlooks the valley of the River Usk to the south. To the southeast are panoramic views over Brecon whilst eastwards are the Black Mountains and south the Brecon Beacons.
Buckland Hill is a low hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys in Wales. Sitting transversely across the Usk valley between the river and the village of Bwlch, it provides excellent panoramic views down the valley and across to the Black Mountains. The summit at 316m above sea level is marked by an OS trig point though this is now within a dense conifer plantation and so no longer affords any outward views. Buckland Hall sits at the foot of the hill's afforested northwestern side.