The River Honddu ( i.e. ''hon-thee'') is a river in 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 ...

, mid

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 north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Early recorded versions of the name are of the form ''Hothenei'' and ''hodni'' which are believed to contain the Welsh adjective 'hawdd', meaning 'pleasant' or 'easy', together with a suffix -ni. Later forms such as ''Honddey'' and ''Honthy'' have undergone metathesis whereby -''ddn''- became -''ndd''- (or -''thn''- to -''nth''- in anglicised form). It rises on

Mynydd Epynt Mynydd Epynt () is an upland region of Mid Wales, within the county of Powys. It is bounded on the south by the upper stretch of the Usk Valley, on the north by the Irfon Valley, and on the east by the Wye Valley. Its western boundary is less ...

and flows southwards to join the

River Usk The River Usk (; ) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it flows north int ...

Brecon Brecon (; ; ), 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 county town of Breck ...

, which takes its Welsh name (''Aberhonddu'') from the river. The river has no major

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

but acquires numerous streams during its 11-mile course. The valley of the Honddu is followed by the B4520 road which runs north from Brecon to

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 ...

. The road serves the hamlets of Upper Chapel, Lower Chapel, Pwllgloyw and Llandefaelog each of which, Pwllgloyw apart, sit at bridging points of the Honddu. Brecon Castle, now a hotel, sits at the lowermost crossing of the river at its confluence with the Usk. For the last of its course, it lies partly or wholly within

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 ...

and Fforest Fawr Geopark.Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL12 'Brecon Beacons National Park: western area'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honddu Epynt Rivers of the Brecon Beacons National Park Rivers of Powys