WALES
■Distance: 6¼ miles/9.9km ■Time: 3 hours ■Grade: Moderate
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Myddfai is a pretty village in the northwest of Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park, most famous as the home of the Physicians of Myddfai, a line of herbalists who practised medicine here from the 13th century to the 18th. This walk winds along country lanes, fringed with wildflowers in spring and summer, to the wild upland of Mynydd Myddfai, a long, low ridge with views to some of the park’s biggest peaks, including Pen y Fan and Corn Du. You can also see the scarps which cradle Llyn y Fan Fach, home to a Lady of the Lake which legend tells was the mother of the first physicians. A healing well they used is tucked in the edge of the forest above Usk Reservoir, and can be reached by a rough, off-path detour across the moor. Many of the paths in these little-trodden hills can be faint, so this route is best for confident navigators in clear weather.
1 Start Turn R out of car park onto lane. Go R at junction soon after, then R again at next junction, signed Llandeusant. Take first turn to L and follow lane for 1.5km/1 mile as it climbs uphill. Just past house (Sarnau on map), as road bends R, go ahead on bridleway signed ‘Physicians Well’. Go through gate and ascend rough trackway. Go through another gate and keep with rocky path ahead by trees, later curving L onto more open grassland. Follow path – a bit faint and boggy in places – gently uphill and over stile by gate.
ROUTE
Start/parking Free parking at Myddfai Community Hall, grid ref SN771301, SA20 0JD
Is it for me? Quiet country lanes, rough tracks, faint paths, trackless section on moorland needs good navigation and weather Stiles 2
PLANNING
Nearest town Llandovery Refreshments Café at Myddfai Community Hall (myddfai.org) Public toilets As above, when café open Public transport None to start: buses and trains to Llandovery (a 6km walk away on the Heart of Wales Line Tra
