Fan Frynych
SW ridge (FF7)
There is no path from Pont Blaen Cwm-du to Fan Frynych, but strong walkers should have no difficulty in scaling the ridge at almost any point.
Pont Blaen Cwm-du (943215) provides an entrée to several unfrequented routes including this ascent of Fan Frynych, Fan Llia (FF8), and the exploration of Cwm-du itself (FF L2). It is most easily reached by a footpath that climbs up the prettily wooded hillside behind the farmstead of Blaensenny at 933215. This meets the bridleway that crosses Pont Blaen Cwm-du just 200yd to the S of it. The bridleway can also be joined at 925185, where it branches off the mountain road that links the Senni Valley to Ystradfellte, or by walking S down the lane from the crossroads at 939238.
Fan Llia
Fan Llia is a neglected mountain, its elephantine bulk, unmatched by any shapeliness of profile, giving it a dull appearance. But appearances can be deceptive: Llia’s long N-S ridge, where the 1800ft contour line stretches for over 2 miles, might well have been made to order. Firm short-cropped grass and heather create perfect fellwalking conditions. The views are superb too. The Fan Fawr plateau curves away dramatically at either end; Fan Nedd and Fan Gihirych are backed by the Black Mountain’s shadowy profile; meadows fringe the Usk and the distant outline of the mid-Wales hills while purple rolling moors beckon beyond the Ystradfellte Valley. A truly rewarding top. Tired walkers toiling up the S ridge should note that several hundred yards remain beyond the cairn before the highest point is reached.
Pont Blaen Cwm-du route (FF8)
A short walk S along the bridleway from Pont Blaen Cwm-du (see FF7) brings you to a gate where a fence struggles up the hillside. You can follow this for a quick but steep pull up to the N ridge. Alternatively continue along the bridleway for a few more minutes until you see a green path sidling away L. This is helpful for a time but gradually peters out. Even without a path it is still easy going and you should not be panting too hard when you finally breast the ridge. Either way look out for the mini rocky outcrop around Fan Dringarth; quite a rarity in these parts.
S ridge (FF9)
Cross the concrete bridge over the Afon Llia near the picnic area at 927165. Next climb a stile to join a track that runs beside the stream for a moment before turning R to scale the ridge alongside a wall. A dreary plod, but under 0.5 mile and well rewarded once you gain the ridge with springy turf and fine views the rest of the way.
Maen Llia route (FF10)
Use as a quick descent or when crossing to / from the Fan Nedd ridge.
You can gain the N ridge at Fan Dringarth directly from the standing stone of Maen Llia. There is no path, but the slope is gentle and the only obstacle is a wire fence near the start.
Fan Gihirych
Fan Gihirych is an imposing peak, especially from the E where the huge cwm that burrows into its N face gives it a charisma lacking in its peers. The summit plateau, a sea of tangled heather, is so large that only by walking around it can you appreciate the full extent of the views (the Black Mountain W, the Usk Valley N, Fan Fawr and the Beacons E, vast rolling moors S). There is no cairn, just a solitary trig point.
Fan Gihirych
Maen Llia route (FF11)
The Senni Valley is a memorable sight on cold winter mornings when the golden tints of autumn mingle with the dazzling white of early frosts.
The finest approach starts from 924189 where a ladder-stile gives access to the fells. With care it is just possible to park on the grass verge nearby. Over the stile follow the remains of an old stone wall (which soon degenerates to a line of posts) until you meet another wall crossing your path. Turn L and follow this along a superbly engineered track that crosses the steep upper slopes of Fan Nedd. Below R lies the Senni Valley, an oasis of long bracken-clad slopes and scattered woodlands far removed in spirit – if not in distance – from the bleak windswept uplands.
Fan Gihirych is hidden at first but soon begins to swell on the W skyline. At the same time a prominent cairn (shaped like a shark’s fin) comes into view half-R across a boggy depression where the track fades in the mire. Pass through an iron gate at the far end of the bog, and it is then but a short climb up to the cairn where you meet a noticeably pink bulldozed road. You are now at Bwlch y Duwynt with the Penwaindwr route (FF12) coming in from the R.
Stay with the road until you come to another iron gate. Either follow the road for another 0.5 mile before scrambling up the slopes R or, better, advance through the heather by the edge of the cwm, keeping Fan Gihirych in view the whole way.
Penwaindwr route (FF12)
All that prevents this becoming a more popular walk is the difficulty of fitting it into a round trip.
Little guidance is needed. Simply follow the wall that climbs the hillside next to the dwelling of Penwaindwr at 907229 and let it lead you, via the minor top of Fan Bwlch Chwyth, to Bwlch y Duwynt from where you finish as in FF11. The views are all you would expect from an isolated finger: Fan Fawr and Fan Llia on one side, the Black Mountain on the other and the Usk Valley behind.
Bwlch Bryn-rhudd route (FF13)
Quick if you have good leg muscles, but unrewarding.
This is the shortest but dullest route to Fan Gihirych. It is also the most difficult to fit into a satisfying day. It starts from a stile in the layby on the A4067 at 870195 from where it is a straight slog up the hillside.
Fan Nedd
Fan Nedd has few pretensions. It can be walked up from any direction except N (where it is too steep for comfort) and its rounded, heathery top is always a strangely satisfying place from which to view the world. Perhaps this is because few other hills repay so little expenditure of energy with such a feeling of spaciousness and freedom. The views are similar to those from Fan Llia, but in a curious way the vista S is more inspiring than the high mountains as wave after wave of hillock and fell carries the gaze far and wide to the blue haze of distant horizons.
The highest point of what is essentially a shallow ridge running N to S is marked by a trig point. Just to the N is a neat little windshelter and, further N still, a large cairn. Another prominent cairn with a pole sticking up lies several hundred yards S of the trig point.
Maen Llia route (FF14)
Cross the ladder-stile as in FF11 and then plod straight up the hillside to gain the ridge near the N cairn.
NW ridge (FF15)
This begins from the boggy depression at about 904193 mentioned