Discover 7 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Pen y Cae (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Dan-yr-Ogof, Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary, and Craig-y-Nos Castle. Also, be sure to include Cribarth in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Pen y Cae (Wales).
Table of Contents
Dan-yr-Ogof
Cave in Wales. Dan yr Ogof, located at the National Showcaves Centre for Wales, is a 17-kilometre long cave system in south Wales, about 5 miles north of Ystradgynlais and 15 miles southwest of Brecon, in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It is the main feature of a show cave complex, which is claimed to be the largest in the UK and is a tourist attraction in Wales. The first section of the cave system is open to the public, but the extensive cave system beyond is scheduled as a national nature reserve and is open only to bona fide cavers.
The bones of some 42 humans, as well as numerous animal bones, have been found in one of the nearby chambers of this cave system. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, Dan yr Ogof was named as the greatest natural wonder in Britain.[1]
Address: Dan-Yr-Ogof Showcaves Brecon Road, SA9 1GJ Pen-y-cae
Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary
Animal sanctuary. Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary is an animal sanctuary between Caehopkin and Abercraf in Powys, Wales. It became the Wales Ape & Monkey Sanctuary in December 2008, being previously known as Cefn-yr-Erw Primate Sanctuary. The sanctuary is owned and operated by husband and wife Graham and Jan Garen.
Cefn-yr-Erw had been a traditional hill farm, when Jan inherited it from her father. Jan first acquired a Vietnamese Potbelly Pig and later some marmosets, goats, capybaras and several traditional farm animals. Jan married Graham Garen in 1994 and the sanctuary continued to develop. When Penscynor Wildlife Park closed in 1998, the sanctuary took seven unwanted chimpanzees from the park and were able to house them from 21 February 1999 within the sanctuary. They would have been shot without the intervention of the sanctuary. The sanctuary now rescues and provides a final home for many types of unwanted animals, in particular chimpanzees, baboons, spider monkeys, capuchins and marmosets.
As the animals that they rescue are not able to survive in the wild, they try to make the rest of the animals' lives as enjoyable as possible. The sanctuary has a policy of not breeding any animals.
The sanctuary receives no funding from the UK government, Welsh governments or local councils and therefore relies donations from the public and also from the entrance fee to its 30,000 visitors a year. It is a registered charity (Charity ID:1076645).[2]
Address: Cefn Yr Erw Study Centre Caehopkin Road, SA9 1UD Pen y Cae
Craig-y-Nos Castle
Housing. Craig-y-nos Castle, is a Scottish Baronial country house near Glyntawe in Powys, Wales. Built on parkland beside the River Tawe in the upper Swansea Valley, it is located on the southeastern edge of the Black Mountain. The castle, formerly owned by opera singer Adelina Patti, is now a hotel. Its landscaped grounds are now a country park, managed by the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority. The castle is a Grade II* listed building and its theatre has a separate Grade I listing.[3]
Address: Brecon Rd, SA9 1GL Swansea
Cribarth
Hill in Wales. Cribarth, sometimes referred to as the Sleeping Giant, is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys in southern Wales. The summit lies on the broken ridge at an elevation of 428 m at OS grid reference SN 831143. To its west is a 426-metre-high rounded top at SN 829144 which lies just to the northwest of a mile-long ridge that forms the main bulk of the hill. The ridge attains a height of 423 m at its southwest end and this spot is marked by a trig point. Both of these latter high points are adorned by Bronze Age burial cairns.[4]
Ogof Ffynnon Ddu
Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, also known informally as OFD, is a cave under a hillside in the area surrounding Penwyllt in the Upper Swansea Valley in South Wales. It is the second longest cave in Wales and the deepest in the United Kingdom.[5]
Pwll Dwfn
Pwll Dwfn is a cave in South Wales. It is located above Dan yr Ogof and cavers can access it from the show cave's car park. The entrance is not gated.
Pwll Dwfn is one of the few caves in the area which requires single rope technique (SRT). The pot itself consists of five pitches totaling 97 metres (318 ft) from top to bottom.
The cave is terminated by two static sumps and has colonial coral fossils on the walls.[6]
Carreg Cadno
Hill in Wales. Carreg Cadno is a hill five miles northeast of Abercraf in the county of Powys, south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its summit at OS grid ref SN 874161 reaches a height of 538m / 1763 ft above sea level. The hill is within the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve which is owned and managed by the Countryside Council for Wales.[7]