The Upper Swansea Valley serves as a southern gateway to the Brecon Beacons National Park, and it includes the 19th century mansion of Craig-y-Nos Castle and its Country Park near the former iron-making town of Ystradgynlais.
of the Tawe in
December 1998.
The high ridge in the
centre distance is
Cribarth
The
valley is cut off from the rest of Breconshire by the great mass
of Black Mountain and Fforest Fawr to the north, with just this
narrow pass (left) allowing access. Although a part of
Breconshire, this remoteness has meant that perhaps the valley
communities have more naturally been open to influences from
the south.
Looking
north from the Glamorgan border this photograph shows the unfinished
Ynyscedwyn Ironworks and the modern spread of Ystradgynlais with
Black Mountain on the far horizon. Photograph from the collection of the late John Morris
