The reason for the bird spectacle is that the area is largely undisturbed by man, and walkers should take care to keep noise to a minimum and — for their own safety as well as that of the nesting birds — keep away from the cliff edges. The best way to see any of these raptors is in flight: the 90-mph dive of the peregrine falcon, with its black bandit mask and bare chest, is an unforgettable sight.
The real star here, though, is the red kite. Lighter and more aerobatic than the buzzard, the kite's deeply forked tail, flashing colour, and style of hunting — a flapping hover followed by a darting fall onto its prey — make it unmistakable. Until recent times, mid-Wales was the last retreat of the native red kite in Britain; now, due to a series of reintroductions, they are becoming a common sight all over the British mainland.
The walk begins at the end of the road from Llanddeusant and follows the Beacons Way long-distance footpath over moorland to the legendary lake of Llyn y Fan Fach, where long strands of flowering water-crowfoot decorate the surface in summer.
The story goes that a local farmer fell in love with a beautiful fairy who lived in the clear waters. She bore him three sons, to whom she passed on some herbal remedies; they founded a long line of local healers called the 'Physicians of Myddfai'. These recipes, written in the 9th-century Red Book of Hergest, include an infusion of foxgloves to ease angina.
Once you have climbed the large escarpment behind the lake to the ridge, you get a better impression of the clarity and great depth of the lake (although it is not bottomless, as another local legend has it). The lake has been used as a reservoir since 1922.
Nearby on the ridge, a cairn marks the 2,457-foot peak of Picws Du (Bannau Sir Gaer), and to the right is the valley of the Twrch Trwyth. This long, deep cwm is said to have been made by a giant boar run to earth there by King Arthur.
You descend from the peak and turn left, going round the base of Fan Brycheiniog to Llyn y Fan Fawr. This lake is shallower than its sister to the west and is in an even more secluded spot under the 2,631-foot summit of Fan Brycheiniog.
Both lakes are home to many eels, which breed in the Sargasso Sea. After migrating across the Atlantic and up the River Sawdde, they come to rest here, 1,800 feet above sea level. In drought years they have been seen struggling up the dried beds of ravines leading to the lake.
From the lake you follow tracks north and west over the moorland — a very quiet and secluded part of the world. Along the way you will pass over the rock-strewn valley of a mountain stream, Nant Melyn, to rejoin the outward track not far from the start.
Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.
