Monday 21st June 2010 - Aberbran

Back to Wales.
We reversed our journey of last Thursday as far as Brecon where we stopped to have a look at the town. The Welsh name of the town is Aberhonddu, named after the small river Honddu that together with the River Tarell joins the much larger River Usk here.
The very useful Town Guide provided by the Town Council allowed us to plot a route. We started by walking out from the centre and along the aptly named Castle Street, crossing the Honddu River in the shadow of the impressive castle ruins. Built within 25 years of the Norman Conquest the castle was never taken by force but it was partially demolished during the Civil War. A large Regency house was built in part of the castle and the grounds and this has now become the Castle of Brecon Hotel. Another part is Ely Tower, the residence of the Bishop.
We walked up hill to reach the Cathedral church of St. John the Evangelist, built in the 13th and 14th centuries on the site of and using some of the fabric of a Benedictine Priory church constructed in the late 11th century. The priory is thought to have been preceded by an early Celtic church. The church is very interesting and there is also a very attractive cathedral close that incorporates some of the earlier priory.
We continued down into the centre and along by the river admiring the views of the Brecon Beacons. Brecon is very pretty and the town centre is vibrant with many small shops. It must be a nice place to live and it is certainly worth a visit.
We drove west along the A40, turning off to the hamlet of Aberbran where there are three campsites within a few hundred metres – two farm sites at Aber-Bran Fawr Farm and Aberbran Fach Farm and the Aberbran Caravan Club Site. We chose Aberbran Fach because the facilities looked slightly better, although if you are happy not to have a shower block, the Caravan Club Site (members only) at £8 per night (half what we paid) is excellent value.
Photos: The beautifully decorated Norman font in Brecon Cathedral; The Cresset Stone – in Mediaeval times the holes were filled with oil or candles and lit to provide light in those many dark corners, especially useful when they were attending their first service of the day at 2am!; On town trails we are always looking out for those blue plaques but I have never seen one like this before – I am sure that it wasn't there when I was last in Brecon in 2020.