Vale of Grwyney Community Council

Vale of Grwyney

The community of The Vale of Grwyney is the most south-easterly community in Powys. The area is defined by two valleys: the Grwyne Fechan (to the west) and the Grwyne Fawr (on the eastern boundary) which rise in the high Black Mountains and converge near Llanbedr before joining the river Usk, which forms the southern boundary of the community, which has a population of about 700. These valleys are bounded by the rising high points of the Black Mountains: Table Mountain, Pen Cerrig-calch and Pen Allt-mawr to the west, and Patrishow Hill, Crug Mawr, Pen Gwyllt- meirch, Twyn Du, Pen Gader-fawr and Waun Fach which form a spine through the centre of the community. At the northern end of the community is the Grwyne Fawr reservoir, made (in)famous some years ago when Princes William and Harry were photographed abseiling down the face of the dam. Please don’t try this.

The northern half of the community comprises largely uninhabited moorland and the extensive Mynydd Ddu Forest.  To the south Llanbedr, Llangenny and Glangrwyney are the major villages, the remainder of the population living in scattered farms and dwellings in the two valleys  and in the small settlement of Patricio. The whole of this community lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park.As the crow (or maybe that should be the raven) flies, the community is 11.3 miles (18.2Km) top to toe and 4.25 miles (6.9Km) at its widest point.  Purely hypothetical as there are no straight roads, or even straight footpaths in the area!  The highest point is on Waun Fach at 2661ft (811m) and the lowest point 190ft (58m) is by the Usk at The Ithon, Glangrwyney.

The eastern boundary mostly follows the Grwyne Fawr river (an SSSI) which acts as the border between Powys and Monmouthshire.   On the south-west boundary is the larger town of Crickhowell.  Take a look at the Ordnance Survey map of the Vale and surrounding areas. (Please note that it is a large file and may take some time to load particularly if you have a slow internet connection.)

Llanbedr, Llangenny and Glangrwyney each have a pub, but there are no shops in the community.  A primary school serving the area is in Llanbedr.  There is a Chapel in Glangrwyney and  churches in Llanbedr, Llangenny and Patricio, the latter being famous for its antiquity and wall painting.

There are a number of alternate spellings for place names in the area, for example Partrishow / Patricio;  Grwyney/ Grwyne, as well as different pronunciations of the same place name, so if visiting keep your wits about you!

Whilst this website is primarily for the dissemination of information by the Community Council, we plan to make it a key point of reference for all important news and events taking place in the area, so keep watching for regular updates.