Fan Gyhirych
{{Short description|Mountain (725m) in Powys, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Fan Gyhirych
| photo = Fangyhirych.JPG
| photo_caption = The north face of Fan Gyhirych with Crai reservoir beyond
| elevation_m = 725
| elevation_ref =
| prominence_m = 280
| parent_peak = Pen y Fan
| listing = Marilyn, Hewitt, Nuttall
| language = Welsh
| range = Brecon Beacons
| coordinates = {{coord|51.8590|-3.6270|type:mountain_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| topo = OS Landranger 160
}}
{{GB summits start}}
{{GB summits entry|Name=Fan Fraith|Height={{convert|668|m|ft|0}}|Gridref=SN969193|Status= Nuttall}}
{{GB summits entry|Name=Yr Allt|Height={{convert|604|m|ft|0}}|Gridref=SN969193|Status= sub Hewitt}}
{{end}}
Fan Gyhirych is a mountain in the Fforest Fawr section of Brecon Beacons National Park in south Wales. It lies within the county of Breconshire, and administered as part of the unitary authority of Powys.Nuttall, John & Anne (1999). The Mountains of England & Wales - Volume 1: Wales (2nd edition ed.). Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone. {{ISBN|1-85284-304-7}}.
Its highest point at 2379 feet (or 725 m) is marked by a trig point which is located towards the western side of the summit plateau. The hill drains to the north into the catchment of the Afon Crai and to the south and west into that of the River Tawe. Fan Fraith is a nearby hill which can be considered a subsidiary top of Fan Gyhirych.Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL12 'Brecon Beacons National Park: western area'
Geology
The hill is formed largely from sandstones of the Brownstones Formation of the Old Red Sandstone laid down during the Devonian period. A part of the summit plateau is capped by sandstones of the overlying Plateau Beds Formation which also occur on the nearby peak of Fan Fraith. The Cribarth Disturbance, a north-east to south-west aligned zone of faulting and folding, passes through the hill. The hill's finest feature is its north-eastern cwm which held a small glacier during the ice ages. The hill is within the Fforest Fawr Geopark designated in 2005 in recognition of the area's geological heritage.British Geological Survey 1:50,000 map sheet 231 'Merthyr Tydfil' & accompanying memoir
History
Along the lower western flanks of the hill, entrepreneur John Christie ran the Brecon Forest Tramroad in the early part of the nineteenth century. Two lines of this can be seen to diverge from near their crossing of the Nant Gyhirych on the northern side of the hill. Subsequently, the Neath and Brecon Railway was constructed following the lower tramway route in part. This line closed in the 1960s.Hughes, S. 1990 The Brecon Forest Tramroads RCAHMW Aberystwyth
Access
The entire hill is open country giving walkers the freedom to wander at will though most choose to use a vehicular track which ascends its broad south ridge and skirts the summit area to head down the hill's broad eastern ridge.
SOTA
The mountain has a Summits On The Air (SOTA) reference of GW/SW-006 SOTLAS website: accessed 19/01/2025 https://sotl.as/summits/GW/SW-006
References
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External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=4845029 Images of Fan Gyhirych on Geograph website]