Fan Frynych is the northernmost peak of the
Fforest Fawr
Fforest Fawr (, ) is an extensive upland area in the county of Powys, Wales. Formerly known as the Great Forest of Brecknock in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, wate ...
massif in 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 ...
,
South Wales
South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
. It is classed as a subsidiary summit of
Fan Fawr
is a mountain in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, in Powys, Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the n ...
and makes up half of the
with its sister peak
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad.
The summit is marked by a
trig point
A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity.
The station is usually set up by a map ...
, where the northern face of
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad can be viewed.
Geology
The upper parts of the mountain are formed from brown-coloured
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
s of the Senni Formation. At lower level and hence older, and forming the lower northern slopes, though largely unseen, are the
mudstone
Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...
s of the St Maughans Formation. Both are units of the Lower
Old Red Sandstone
Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It ...
of early
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
age. Though locally variable, the rock
strata
In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...
dip generally towards the southeast. The northeastern flank of the mountain is defined by a NE-SW aligned geological fault, the Cribarth Fault downthrowing to the southeast, which forms a part of the
Swansea Valley Disturbance. Large parts of the mountain's eastern flanks are affected by landslips.
Access
Being 'mountain' and/or 'moor', the entire mountain is mapped as open country and hence freely available to walkers under the access provisions of the
CROW Act 2000. A network of paths and tracks cross its summit plateau and link with
public rights of way to east, west and north. The 99 mile
Beacons Way
The Beacons Way (Welsh: Ffordd y Bannau) is a waymarked long distance footpath in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales. It is a linear route which runs for east to west through the National Park, and passes many of the most important landmar ...
passes over Craig Cerrig-gleisiad immediately to its south, affording views over Fan Frynych's southern slopes and connecting with a path running the length of the east side of the plateau.
References
External links
www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Fan Frynych and surrounding area
Hewitts of Wales
Nuttalls
Fforest Fawr
Mountains and hills of Powys
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