Natural Resources Wales And Bannau Brycheiniog Need To Act - Now!
Furious is not often how I would describe my reaction to incompetence, but in this instance, given the complaining by Wales Outdoors since 2022 with regard to the disastrous and dangerous planning and maintenance decisions made by both NRW and Bannau Brycheiniog, I think furious is just about hitting the nail on the head…
When descending the improved path to Sgwd y Pannwr, visitors to the area are greeted by this:
Worse still, there is no attempt at managing the crowds, which on busy, sunny weekends will number in the hundreds. The main platform is not available and there are narrow areas close to steep drops and towards the river. So, not only unsightly but dangerous in the extreme.
Then, when walking along the path towards Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn, path maintenance has strewn the nearby forest with litter such as this:
Directly before the ascent to Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn there is a sign. I must confirm that I missed it, my eye looking up, but upon looking back I did notice it. It says that the path is closed. This is not true. The path ahead is open, to a point, the point being the ‘viewing area’ for Sgwd Iasf Clun-Gwyn. There are no diversion signs and nothing that says that after visiting Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn hikers must retrace their steps, heading the 1km back, past Sgwd y Pannwr and up the steps to the main, upper track.
On my last visit I noted that before hikers reach a fence that says footpath closed, in an area where that fence is not visible and still on the section of path that remains open, a path not visible on the ground in 2022 continues to develop. This takes hikers up and above the closed footpath sign, they never get sight of it, and onto dangerous ground, either with a climb or on very narrow paths with over 100ft of steep drop beneath them.
I have been warning of visitors doing just this since the closure of the path in 2022 and it is obvious to anyone that my understanding of use of the area has been proven correct. Casual visitors follow the desire line and without the landowners/managers guiding those casual visitors, they end up in dangeorus situations and this has led to accidents, incidents and deaths.
You can follow the campaigning that Wales Outdoors has worked on regarding this area of the waterfalls of Bannau Brycheiniog by clicking on the following links:
We've Warned Natural Resources Wales And Bannau Brychieniog Again That Serious Accidents WILL Occur
Wales Outdoors delivered yet another five star event in the waterfalls area of the Bannau Brychieniog (Brecon Beacons National Park) on Monday just gone. Andy took a little time out from the group to check out the progress at what has become a very sad area for some, there having been, relatively recently, four deaths and multiple serious accidents and …
Finally, there is money available to put things right. Not only are NPTC spending £7 million on a new car park and visitor centre at Pontneddfechan, sending more visitors towards a path that is wholly unsuitable for its traffic, NRW or Bannau Brycheiniog are destroying a bucolic footpath that links Sgwd yr Eira to Dinas Rock. They began this work a couple of years ago, then stopped, leaving a large section of muddy trail which we have complained about on many an occassion. Now they are smashing through what was a lovely single track section of path, a path I delighted in taking clients along, and it looks like this too will become a motorway of grey and unlovely stone chippings.
If the money is available for work to be undertaken that is not required and I believe damages the nature of the area, why is the money not available to make safe, even temporarily, the area of paths around Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn?
After all, I’ve only been shaming NRW and Bannau Brycheiniog since May of 2022…
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