People have had their say after a Welsh national park authority decided to drop their English name so that it is officially known only by its Welsh name. On Monday, April 17, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park decided to erase its English name - 'Brecon Beacons' and to only be named as Bannau Brycheiniog or simply 'y / the Bannau'.
The decision comes a year after Eryri National Park decided to get rid of 'Snowdonia' and 'Snowdon' for its highest peak, which are now only referred by their Welsh names - Eryri and Yr Wyddfa, respectively. According to Bannau Brycheiniog National Park authority, the decision is to reflect their commitment to Welsh culture, language and heritage in direct response to the planet's ongoing climate and ecological crisis.
Its bosses have said that, from Monday - the 66th anniversary of the area being designated a national park - it will instead be known as Bannau Brycheiniog National Park or 'the Bannau' for short. Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog has always been the Welsh name for the park.
Read more: Brecon Beacons National Park officially changes to Welsh name
Bannau means 'peaks', while Brycheiniog refers to the old kingdom of Wales' fifth century ruler, Brychan. The park's managers said the present name - referencing wood-bruning, carbon emitting beacons, no longer fitted with the park's eco ethos, which resulted in the rebrand.
In a statement released on Monday, CEO Catherine Mealing-Jones said: "Given that we're trying to provide leadership on decarbonisation, a giant burning brazier is not a good look. Our park is shaped by Welsh people, Welsh culture, and after looking into it we realised the name we've got is a bit of a nonsense. It doesn't really make any sense - the translation Brecon Beacons doesn't really mean anything in Welsh.
"We'd always had the name Bannau Brycheiniog as the Welsh translation. We just felt we needed to put that front and centre as an expression of the new way we want to celebrate Welsh people, Welsh culture, Welsh food and Welsh farming. All these things need to come with us as we go through this change in the management plan."
WalesOnline visited the quaint town of Brecon (Aberhonddu) in Powys, which is right at the heart of the national park. Most of the people that we spoke to were in support of the decision.
Rowland Jepson is a Welsh learner from Brecon. According to Rowland, he thought the national park authority's decision was a "very good idea". He added: "I'm in favour because I'm learning Welsh. I'm all in favour of them encouraging Welsh names."
When asked if the community of Brecon would support the idea, he said: "I think there's a lot more positive view for the Welsh language than there was. There's not a lot of Welsh spoken just around here, but there is a lot of bits of Welsh - people know names in Welsh."
Gareth Thomas, who was also from Brecon, said: "I think it's fine. They did it with Snowdon [Yr Wyddfa] and Snowdonia [Eryri], haven't they? People will get used to it. And it's fun - even if you don't know Welsh, to learn little things, just like learning different expressions such as how to say 'shwmae' or 'bore da'. You know, you don't have to be fluent in Welsh. People will get used to things."
Mr Thomas added: "I've had Whatsapp messages from family not from Brecon - one in London and one in Llanelli, they think it's a great idea. They'll start using it now. I'll be using it - Bannau Brycheiniog."
However, friends Alison Child and Lynda Bernard from the Swansea area, had concerns. Alison said: "I just think possibly people will struggle with the pronunciation." Lynda added: "I agree, it might be hard to get used to the new name."
Meanwhile, county councillor Rosalyn Davies from the Cwm Tawe area was fully supportive of the decision. Being a Welsh speaker herself, she said that anyone who would struggle with the pronunciation of Bannau Brycheiniog could ask for help. "They should ask somebody how to pronounce it in the first place," she said. "Of course, you can break these words up to make it easier for people to pronounce it correctly."
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