Cefn yr Ystrad
Encyclopedia
Cefn yr Ystrad is a mountain
in the Brecon Beacons
National Park
in Wales
. It is an outlier of the Central Beacons group.
The broad northeast - southwest aligned ridge reaches an elevation of 617 metres. One of the southernmost peaks in the Brecon Beacons, it rises to the east of Pontsticill Reservoir
. The summit area is a great stretch of wild moorland
, with the highest point marked by a trig point
.
and the overlying Twrch Sandstone (formerly known as the Basal Grit of the Millstone Grit
). There are extensive ice-smoothed pavements of the latter and loose rock abounds. The crest and southern slopes of the hill are home to dozens of shakeholes, some of which reach considerable proportions.
and so access on foot is freely available. A bridleway running northeast from Pontsticill
skirts the northwestern edge of the hill bound for Dyffryn Crawnon and the Usk Valley
.
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
in the Brecon Beacons
Brecon Beacons
The Brecon Beacons is a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of popular peaks south of Brecon, including South Wales' highest mountain, Pen y Fan, and which together form the central section of the Brecon Beacons National Park...
National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It is an outlier of the Central Beacons group.
The broad northeast - southwest aligned ridge reaches an elevation of 617 metres. One of the southernmost peaks in the Brecon Beacons, it rises to the east of Pontsticill Reservoir
Pontsticill Reservoir
Pontsticill Reservoir or Taf Fechan Reservoir is a large reservoir on the Taf Fechan lying partly in the county of Powys and partly within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark...
. The summit area is a great stretch of wild moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
, with the highest point marked by a trig point
Trig point
A triangulation station, also known as a triangulation pillar, trigonometrical station, trigonometrical point, trig station, trig beacon or trig point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity...
.
Geology
The hill is formed from successive layers of Carboniferous LimestoneCarboniferous limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a term used to describe a variety of different types of limestone occurring widely across Great Britain and Ireland which were deposited during the Dinantian epoch of the Carboniferous period. They were formed between 363 and 325 million years ago...
and the overlying Twrch Sandstone (formerly known as the Basal Grit of the Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...
). There are extensive ice-smoothed pavements of the latter and loose rock abounds. The crest and southern slopes of the hill are home to dozens of shakeholes, some of which reach considerable proportions.
Access
The hill lies entirely within open countryOpen Country
Open Country is a designation used for some UK access land.It was first defined under the 1949 National Parks Act , and was land over which an appropriate access agreement had been made...
and so access on foot is freely available. A bridleway running northeast from Pontsticill
Pontsticill
Pontsticill is a village within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. It lies within the valley of the Taf Fechan on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park...
skirts the northwestern edge of the hill bound for Dyffryn Crawnon and the Usk Valley
River Usk
The River Usk rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain of mid-Wales, in the easternmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially it flows north into Usk Reservoir, then east by Sennybridge to Brecon before turning southeast to flow by Talybont-on-Usk, Crickhowell and...
.