Half way through No Man's Land - geograph

The Epynt Way is a long-distance path created by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in 2004 around the perimeter of its '

Sennybridge Training Area (SENTA) The Sennybridge Training Area (SENTA) is a UK Ministry of Defence military training area near the village of Sennybridge in Powys, Wales. It consists of approximately 31,000 acres (12,000 ha) of Ministry of Defence freehold land and 6,000 acres ...

' and artillery range on

Mynydd Epynt Mynydd Epynt () is a former community and upland area in Powys, Wales. The Ministry of Defence controversially evicted the community of Mynydd Epynt in 1940, creating what is now the core of the Sennybridge Training Area (SENTA), the largest mi ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. There is, understandably, virtually no public access across the land used by the MoD, pre-existing

public rights of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

and public roads having been closed, with only one or two exceptions. The establishment of the Epynt Way, section by section in recent years has gone some way to compensating for that reduction in public access across the area.

Route

The circular route which is described as a permissive bridleway is 75 km / 49 mi in total length and available to walkers, cyclists and horseriders. It travels around the edge of the plateau, and keeps clear of MOD firing ranges. Nearest towns are

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

to the south and

Llandovery Llandovery (; cy, Llanymddyfri ) is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 and A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and west of Brecon. Hi ...

to the west, with Llangammarch Wells to the north. A leaflet and map can be downloaded from the Defence Estates website. It is covered by Ordnance Survey Explorer maps 187 'Llandovery' and 188 'Builth Wells'. Further information about the Epynt Way is displayed at The Epynt Centre, an interpretive centre beside the

B4519 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A road A roads may be *motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian). * mai ...

north of

Upper Chapel Upper Chapel is a Unitarian chapel on Norfolk Street in Sheffield City Centre. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. The Chapel is Grade II list ...

which was refurbished in 2009. Being in an upland area it contains steep and boggy sections that require extra care. Poor weather also demands extra awareness of route finding, especially in

mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such ...

and fog as well as precipitation such as

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

and

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet ...

. The route is waymarked throughout with 1.2 metre posts and finger posts at junctions with external paths, but local large-scale maps such as the OS Explorer map series should be used for information.

References

External links

MOD leaflet on short walks near SennybridgeGeneral guidance about access to MOD training areasDetailed advice on access with maps of the route

Footpaths in Powys Recreational walks in Wales Long-distance footpaths in Wales Epynt {{Wales-geo-stub