FAN LLIA
A broad and featureless ridge between the Ystradfellte reservoir and the valley of the Afon Llia, this mountain was, surprisingly perhaps, a real joy to run up. I parked the car at the side of the road half way between Ystradfellte and Heol Senni - if you want to catch some great mountain scenery without leaving your car, check this road out for its superb views.
From the car I descended at first into the valley of the Afon Llia and waded through the river, which was only a few inches deep. Then I was faced with a vast mountainside and no real paths or features to aim for. So, I just aimed straight up and ran. The grass here was smooth and going quite easy - the gradient perfectly set for running; steep enough to gain altitude quickly but not too steep to sustain a reasonable running pace. I was at the summit in little over a quarter of an hour, glad that I didn't have too far to run along the ridge as there was horizontal hail on a strong south-westerly wind sweeping across the top.
For descent I just headed down into the valley and went for it, please to be out of that face-stinging hail after only a minute or so. I was soon back at the car and heading north on the road for a few hundred yards to a point where a beautiful and imposing standing stone lies just a few metres from the fence on the ground just east of the Afon Llia.
Standing stone (Maen Llia) with Fan Llia's slopes behind.
FAN NEDD
The other side of the Afon Llia valley from Fan Llia, Fan Nedd has steeper, rougher flanks and offers more of a challenge to the runner. Well, it did to this runner anyway, but still a fairly easy climb. From just south of the standing stone, a "permissive path" offers a stile over the fence by the road and then promptly peters out in the marsh. I later found a better path from a point further north along the road, that runs up a spur of Fan Nedd, but when presented with the usual disappearing path trick I decided just to strike out across the hillside and enjoy the marsh and tussock as best I could.
It was slow going, but the gradient is not too steep, and I was soon at the imposing cairn that appears to mark a summit of some kind, but is in fact a bit of a red herring as the highest point of Fan Nedd is half a kilometre further south at the trig. This at least gave me an exhilarating few minutes of fast ridge running on a reasonable, soft path along the ridge. The panorama is great here - mountain, forest and field as far as the eye can see in just about all directions.
To descend I took "route 1", the straight down method, and soon found myself working up quite a pace as I splashed through sodden ground to avoid the more arduous tussock. I could soon make out my car in the distance and was able to make a swift beeline for it, the only obstacle being the barbed wire fence at the foot of the hill which was easy enough to get over (you have to watch those things when you're tired though or you can get into a right mess).
So, Fan Nedd. A great place to practise your rough-terrain skills and enjoy a blast of steely rain and wind in your face. These hills lie so close to much more "illustrious" neighbours like the well-known Brecon Beacons and the less-known-but-well-loved Black Mountain that they probably attract very few walkers. This makes for a wonderful sense of tranquility on the tops, and a chance to make up your own route instead of travelling a trail already trodden by millions of boots.