The A479, officially also known as the Glanusk Park (Crickhowell)—Llyswen Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales. It connects

Crickhowell Crickhowell (; , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community (Wales), community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Brecknockshire. Location The town lies on th ...

Llyswen Llyswen is a small village in Powys, Wales on the west bank of the River Wye. It was formerly within the county of Brecknockshire and now forms part of the Community of Bronllys. The nearest town is Brecon approximately to the south-west. Hist ...

via the

Rhiangoll The Rhiangoll is a river in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales. It rises on the western slopes of Waun Fach, highest point of the Black Mountains (Welsh: Y Mynyddoedd Duon) and drops steeply down to the west into the north–sout ...

valley and

Talgarth Talgarth is a market town, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in southern Powys, Mid Wales, about north of Crickhowell, north-east of Brecon and south-east of Builth Wells. Notable buildings in the town include the 14th-century ...

, running through the

Brecon Beacons National Park Brecon Beacons National Park, officially named Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (), is a National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Wales. It is named after the Brecon Beacons (), the mountain range at its centre. The national park ...

Route

The road starts at

Glanusk Park Glanusk Park () is a country estate in Wales, United Kingdom, situated near the town of Crickhowell, Powys and was established in 1826 by ironmaster Sir Joseph Bailey. The park features in the hereditary title Baron Glanusk which was given to ...

near

and runs roughly in a northerly direction to

, where it joins the

A470 road The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate th ...

. It runs entirely within the county of

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

and is a single carriageway throughout its length. From Crickhowell to

, the road is in the

, and follows the

valley. The southern end is near

Tretower Castle Tretower Castle () is a Grade I-listed ruined castle in the village of Tretower in the county of Powys, Wales. It was built around the beginning of the twelfth century as a motte and bailey castle and this was probably replaced mid-century by a ...

and

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

History

Exiting Tretower to the north - geograph

The A479 originally ran through

Builth Wells Builth Wells (; ) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of the Wye Valley. In 20 ...

Rhayader Rhayader (; ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Radnorshire. The town is from the source of the River Wye on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambri ...

. This part of the road is now the

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate th ...

. A short section of road near Llyswen was realigned in 1995. A bypass of Talgarth and

Bronllys Bronllys is a village and community situated in Powys, Wales, nestled between the towns of Brecon and Talgarth. The village is part of the historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire) and serves as an electoral ward for Powys County Council. ...

began construction in 2006. Part of the Talgarth bypass runs on the former

Mid-Wales Railway The Mid-Wales Railway was conceived as a trunk route through Wales connecting industrial areas in North West England with sea ports in South West Wales. The company was prevented from reaching its goal by competing proposals in Parliament, and i ...

. Because this part of the road runs through the Brecon Beacons, additional treatment was needed to minimise disruption with the nearby countryside. This included a specific alignment of the highway, and replanting of hedgerows to fit in with the existing parts of the road. The bypass opened in 2009.

Traffic

In 2005, the A479 was listed as one of the most dangerous roads in Wales in an AA Motorway Trust report. In 2013, another report suggested the same. The section of the A479 between

Pengenffordd Pengenffordd is a hamlet located in the community of Talgarth, in the Brecknockshire area of south Powys. It is 33.4 miles (53.7 km) from Cardiff and 135.4 miles (217.9 km) from London. The village is located approximately 8 miles east ...

and

has had regular issues with

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

. A section south of Talgarth was closed in March 2016. In February 2017, the road was closed for an extended period in order to lay new foundation work. In February 2020, a section of the road near Talgarth was closed following a collapse during

Storm Dennis Storm Dennis was a European windstorm which, in February 2020, became one of the most intense extratropical cyclones ever recorded, reaching a minimum central pressure of . The thirteenth named storm of the 2019–20 European windstorm season, ...

. The damage affected the surface and foundation of the road, resulting it being closed until November.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Roads, Wales Roads in Powys

Route

History

Traffic

See also

References

External links