The Brecon Beacons National Park was established on this day in 1957.

The National Park encompasses 519 square miles and covers four main regions, The Black Mountain, Fforest Fawr, The Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains. Its highest peak is Pen y Fan, at 2907 feet.

*   The western half was awarded European and Global status in 2005 as Fforest Fawr Geopark.

*   A cycling route from Brecon to Cardiff, the Taff Trail, passes through the Beacons. 

*   A 100-mile walking path, called the Beacons Way, runs from the foot of Ysgyred Fawr east of Abergavenny to the village of Bethlehem in Carmarthenshire.

*   Some of the remote uplands of the Park are used by the SAS and SBS for military training, including an exercise called the Fan dance.

*   The area was inhabited during the Neolithic period and the succeeding Bronze Age, evident in the numerous burial cairns in the west of the National Park.

*   Over twenty hillforts were established in the area during the Iron Age, the largest being the forts on top of Y Garn Goch near Bethlehem - Y Gaer Fawr and Y Gaer Fach, which are thought to have been trading and political centres.

*   The Normans erected many castles throughout the park, such as Carreg Cennen Castle and Brecon Castle.

*   The area was important during the Industrial Revolution, as raw materials including limestone, silica sand and ironstone were quarried and transported to the industrial Valleys of South Wales.  

Born this day 1943 in Barmouth,

Tommy Nutter , who was the tailor famous for reinventing the Savile Row suit in the 1960s.  His clients included Mick Jagger, Bianca Jagger and Elton John. Nutter himself was most proud of the fact that, for the cover of The Beatles album Abbey Road, he dressed three out of the four. He described his suits as a "cross between the big-shouldered Miami Vice look and the authentic Savile Row."  

Born this day 1621 in Llansantffraed nr Abergavenny,

Twin brothers; Thomas Vaughan, philosopher, and Henry Vaughan, physician, author and metaphysical poet. 

Both brothers attended Jesus College, Oxford, after which Thomas became rector of the parish of  Llansantffraed, being evicted from the parish in 1650 because of his Royalist sympathies.  He went on to use his chemical skills in the preparation of medicines in the manner recommended by Renaissance physician, Paracelsus and established a reputation with his magico-mystical book Anthroposophia Theomagica.

Henry began to practise medicine and write poetry, taking his inspiration from the mountainous environment of the Brecon Beacons, using the pseudonym "Silurist," in homage to the native Celtic Tribe. His work influenced later poets such as  Wordsworth, Tennyson and Siegfried Sassoon.