Fan Gyhirych on the skyline, seen from the shattered limestone summit of Carreg Cadno (’Fox Rock’, colloquially). The area in between is an amazing limestone pavement, with lots of sinkholes and a huge underground cave system beneath.
Fan Gyhirych (centre) from Fan Nedd. The escarpment of Y Mynydd Ddu stretches away to the right.
The classic profile of Fan Gyhirych from Bwlch-y-Duwynt. The substantial cairn sits upon the top right hand point of the mountain. Fan Hir leads to two more examples of South Wales’s Bronze Age cemetery top right
The western section of the Bronze Age upland cemetery that is Fforest Fawr leads the eye toward skyline Y Mynydd Du.. Fan Gyhirych is centre left, with Fan Nedd to the left. Viewpoint is Fan Dringarth.
Fan Gyhirych, left of centre, with Y Mynydd Du beyond to the right. Seen from the northern spur of Fan Nedd.
A lovely moment of late autumn sunshine.
Vanishing point.
Looking across the upper Tawe valley to the brilliant Y Mynydd Du range, living up to its name today.
Looking down on Crai reservoir.
Looking out into Carmarthenshire.
Approaching from the southwest, showing the large footprint beneath the smaller modern cairn. The central Brecon Beacons beyond.
The Great Escarpment of South Wales stretches all the way to the English border... crowned with Bronze Age cairns as far as the eye can see. Fan Gyhirych is the shapely near peak, the decapitated summits of Pen y Fan and Corn Du visible, background left
The only view of Fan Gyhirych of the day, by the time I got close the mist and rain had reduced visibility to nothing much. Seen from the minor road to the north. Waun Leuci/Cefn Cul (cairns and standing stone) on the right.
The deceptively substantial monument crowns the north-eastern apex, top right – not the summit – of perhaps the most elegantly sweeping escarpment of any mountain I’ve seen to date.
Note the extent of the cairn’s footprint. Incidentally the enigmatic upland lake Llyn y Fan Fawr nestles beneath the summit escarpment of Y Mynydd Du, top right. There is also a cairn upon Waun Leuci, the intervening ridge (and apparently one further to the left upon Cefn Cul which I’ve not yet seen).
Looking down upon The Cray Reservoir...
Fairly large walker’s cairn... but it’s the embedded footprint beneath that is of far more interest to a Citizen Cairn’d. Y Mynydd Du possesses a few cairns of its own; not to mention stone circles and such like.
Even when faced with gravity working upon the Earth’s natural resources to such wondrous effect the eyes are still drawn upward to the sky. Guess that’s why Bronze Age peoples placed their VIPs upon locations such as Fan Gyhirych. Viewpoint is the head of one of Nant-y-Llyn’s numerous cascades, Y Mynydd Du.
Shapely Fan Gyhirych seen from slopes near Cribarth. Waun Leuci, on the left, also has Bronze Age cairns.
A small pool near Bwlch y Duwynt contains new life in the form of frog sporn.... below, to the left, lies the source, the birthplace of the Afon Nedd... whilst crowning the right hand flank of the dark mass of Fan Gyhirych is a substantial Bronze Age cairn.
Looking from Fan Nedd across the source of the Afon Nedd..... an important detail in the Bronze Age psyche, perhaps? Y Mynydd Du glowers right skyline, liberally crowned with Bronze Age cairns of its own, the whole scene somewhat Wagnerian. To be honest, it’s much more than that to these eyes, what with the Turner-esque sky. Yeah, these are not fashionable mountains, but fashion is fleeting, is it not?
Peny y Fan and Corn Du grace the syline, looking approx east........
Y Mynydd Du dominates across the valley. Waun Leuci sits inbetween, also bearing a funerary cairn. Once again not the extensive area of the monument. The summit plateau is otherwise very much free of surface stone.
Looking approx towards the summit, highlighting the extensive original cairn footprint.
Note the trademark Bronze Age siting, set just back from the escarpment edge to prevent viewing from below. Or so it would appear. The Cray Reservoir lies beyond. As usual, the walkers’ cairn is pointless.
Looking towards Y Mynydd Du. The walkers’ cairn is an irritation – as always – but cannot disguise the original monument
Fan Gyhirych in shadow in the centre, while the mountains of Y Mynydd Du bask is sunshine beyond to the right.
The steeply scarped northern face of Fan Gyhirych (left), seen from Crai Reservoir. The ridge on the right of the picture is Waun Leuci, with its own cairns. Beyond that lies Maen Mawr and the Cerrig Duon circle.
Looking NE. Solarised and bleached out to the right are the snow-capped Pen-y-Fan and central beacons. The cairn’s original construction does not include the stones dumped on top of it by passing walkers.
The low cairn, with Cray Reservoir away to the NW at the foot of the escarpment.
A trip up here after visiting Maen Llia and Fan Nedd (4.4.2010), following in Gladman’s footsteps. We arrived during another brief hailstorm, and the few yards from the trig point over to the edge of the steep escarpment to view the summit cairn were particularly windy and unwelcoming. But that aside, what a spot. Terrific views open on all sides, east to Fan Nedd and the central beacons, west to Y Mynydd Du, to the north the land drops away down to Cray Reservoir, while to the SW on a better day Swansea Bay is visible.
The cairn itself is a low mound, with the usual walker’s construct built on top of it. It sits right on the edge of the summit plateau, rather than at the highest point and is out of sight until you are practically on top of it. This makes for another one of those situations where it has a great view itself, but is not easily viewed.
Set high upon the 2,379ft South Walian summit plateau of Fan Gyhirych sits the remains of a large diameter round cairn.
As with other examples in the area, it is not conspicuous due to relative lack of height. Nevertheless it remains, a fact we should be grateful for in this day and age, to continue to provide a precious, if tenuous link with the people who once lived and worshipped here millennia ago....... and what a location, too.
The Fforest Fawr – literally ‘big forest’, as representing the medieval term for wild hunting country which didn’t necessarily include trees – has been one of my favourite walking areas for many years, being just one side of a C90 tape’s length drive – usually featuring a certain Mr Cope, it has to be said – from the Mam Cymru’s house. Ah, audio tapes... remember them? Ha! Still got ‘em. But I digress... Needless to say I’ve only recently – through our friends at Coflein – identified the cairn for what it really is. Yeah, not exactly quick off the mark, but you live and learn. And it’s a discovery which is very welcome indeed.
Coflein:- “A partly grassed-over round cairn located on the north end of a flat summit measures 11m (N-S) by 9m and 0.9m high. Composed of small stones there is no sign of a kerb or cist. A heap of stones 4m across and 0.4m high has been dumped on top of the cairn.”
Fan Gyhirych is perhaps best approached starting near the fabulous monolith Maen Llia – why not combine visits if you decide to come? From here you have the option of climbing Fan Nedd (and visiting another Coflein-certified cairn) or taking a good path across the mountain’s northern shoulder. Fan Gyhirych is the decapitated summit on the skyline straight ahead to the west.
Alternatively a well maintained track can be cycled from the minor road west of Penwaindwr (on the minor road which leaves the A4067 above Cray Reservoir). It’s not as bad as it sounds, honest! Either way make sure you’re prepared, that’s all.
