Industrial and rural heritage
Picture a national park, and what do you see? Is it a beautiful, natural area of grasslands, forests or open hillsides, perfect for walking, relaxing and watching wildlife? The Brecon Beacons has plenty of wild, green landscapes like this, but there's more to our National Park than that.
The Brecon Beacons is a region with a complex past. People have lived here for 8000 years and the landscape has been shaped by their activities. Massive changes took place during the Industrial Revolution, in which South Wales played a leading role.
Some of our farm buildings, industrial sites and constructions are now museums where you can learn about our history of toil, productivity and invention. Others, such as the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, have been reinvented as lovely places to spend time outdoors, shared by walkers, cyclists, boaters, horse riders, animals and birds.