Brecon Beacons is known for being home to the highest “peak” in the southern UK. This is one of the reasons I wanted to visit in anticipation of four days of hiking, though the tallest mountain, Pen y Fan, is a mere 886 m above sea level. This classifies it as barely a foothill compared to the Rockies, and a full 300 m closer to the sea than my home city of Calgary, Alberta.
First of the roll shot of my boyfriend standing on the cairn at the top of Corn Du, with Pen y Fan in the background. Taken on Kodak Pro Image 100 35 mm film.
However, something very unexpected happened: the weather got hot.
When I first read news reports warning of an impending heat wave that could drive temperatures into the mid- to high-twenties (summer temperatures are very stable here, rarely swinging outside the 18 to 22 degree range), I laughed. After all, I’m from Canada, one of the coldest inhabited places on Earth. And even we don’t consider it a heatwave until temperatures rise above 30°C.
I’m also from a place where the air is so dry water is literally sucked out of your skin, so I failed to take into account the effect of humidity on apparent temperature.
Which is all a roundabout way to say it got hot out, I became viciously burnt, and our plans for four days of intense hiking went out the window. Instead, we decided to plan our days searching for waterfalls - and to my surprise, there were plenty to choose from. In fact, this part of Wales is often called “Waterfall Country.”
Let this blog post serve as a brief tour then:
Sgwd Clun-Gwyn (“The Fall of the White Meadow”)
Taken from the base of Sgwd Clun-Gwyn on Kodak Portra 160 medium format film using a 65mm lens at f/32 and 1/2s.
This waterfall is the first accessed on the popular Four Waterfalls Walk, about 10 minutes from where we parked though the full trail is much longer. Due to its proximity to the parking lot, it was a popular spot for families and there were plenty of kids splashing in the Mellte River and swimming in the cold pools at the top of the falls.
The sheer rock wall the fall tumbled over was bisected by a ledge several feet wide, with more than enough room for people to walk right up to the rushing water and feel its spray.
Taken on Kodak Portra 160 medium format film using a 65mm lens at f/32 and 1/2s.
A steep, narrow path wound its way around trees and over boulders to reach the bottom of the falls, where all these photos were taken. Though significantly less busy than the top of the falls, there were still a few people down here enjoying the view and going for a dip in the shallow pools.
Taken on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film using a 55mm lens at f/22 and 1/4s.
Cathedral Cave
The remarkable sight of two underground waterfalls. Taken on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film using a 28 mm lens with ~2s exposure.
Aside from waterfalls, mountains, and fields of sheep, Brecon Beacons National Park also has a fairly extensive cave network. Part of the system can be viewed at Dan yr Ogof National Showcaves, where three caves have been opened for tourist viewing (though due to COVID, the Bone Cave - possibly the most interesting of the bunch - was closed).
Ever since I visited one of the Crystal Caves in Belize in 2014 I’ve been a bit obsessed with these natural wonders, and seeing what sort of caves Wales has to offer seemed like a good idea for a 30 degree day. Though definitely more of a walking experience than an actual caving experience, the caves still offered a welcome break from the heat, stunning rock formations, an interesting history of their discovery, and, inside the Cathedral Cave, an underground waterfall. The noise of the rushing water thundered through the massive cavern, which is also advertised as a wedding venue.
Henrhyd Falls
Look up, up, up.... Taken on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film with a 28mm lens at f/22 and 1/8s.
At 27 m high, Henrhyd Falls are the tallest in South Wales and supposedly look quite majestic after a heavy rainfall, though on a hot July day the rush of water had slowed more to a trickle. A large cave had formed behind the waterfall (actually the shooting location for the Batcave in The Dark Knight Rises), easily accessible from the path that leads down to the falls.
There was also a cold, rocky pool at its base deep enough at its centre that my feet no longer touched the bottom, once I had gathered the courage to submerge myself fully. The day was hot enough that plenty of kids, teenagers, adults, and even dogs were braving the chilly waters.
Taken on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film with a 200mm lens.
Sgwd yr Eira (“Falls of Snow”)
People enjoying the sun at Sgwd yr Eira. Taken on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film using a 55mm lens at f/22 and 1/4s.
These falls are part of the Four Waterfalls Walk, though we didn’t visit them on our first trip to the trail. Rather than deal with the winding country lanes that are often only wide enough for a single car, we decided to hike to the falls via a different route, beginning in the town of Penderyn.
Starting outside an old church and cemetery, this looping trail took us through common land fields of cows, sheep, and horses, past a group of young canyoneers jumping from a waterfall into a river, and, on one memorable occasion, through a bog.
(After getting disoriented near a farm, the farmer suggested we take a shortcut through his sheep pasture to cut a mile or more off our hike. Either he was unaware of the marshy nature of the land or he was playing a prank on us; regardless, my boyfriend managed to sink both of his feet ankle-deep in the muck and while we may have saved ourselves some distance I’m not sure we saved any time.)
About halfway through the hike we came across the same parking lot for the Four Waterfalls Walk we’d stopped at two days before and forty-five minutes beyond that we reached Sgwd yr Eira, the last of the four falls. (Although we’d walked the entirety of the hike, we somehow missed the second one and decided not to take a further half an hour detour to reach the third.) Here we stopped for lunch and to soak our aching feet in the stream before continuing on our way.
Let me know which waterfall photo you like best in the comments!