The Brecon Beacons National Park has officially changed its name.
From today, the national park will now go by the Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog National Park or the Bannau for short.
Bannau is the Welsh plural for peaks and Brycheiniog refers to the old kingdom of King Brychan, dating back to the fifth century.
The park’s CEO, Catherine Mealing-Jones, said the name change was part of a re-brand aimed at making all things Welsh the cornerstone of the national park's brand.
We've spent the last year speaking to staff, volunteers, residents and visitors about our brand. People gave a number of reasons for wanting a new image for the Park - and this is how we took those on board.#AnOldName #ANewWayToBe pic.twitter.com/V39kx1nKOm
— Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park (@BreconBeaconsNP) April 17, 2023
Talking to PA news agency, she said: “Our park is shaped by Welsh people, Welsh culture, and as we looked into it we realised the brand we’ve got and the name we’ve got, it’s 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 and we just felt we needed to put that front and centre as an expression about the new way we wanted to be celebrating Welsh people, Welsh culture, Welsh food, Welsh farming – all of the things that need to come with us as we go through this change in the management plan.”
Monday, April 17, marks the 66th anniversary of the park.
An old name. A new way to be.
— Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park (@BreconBeaconsNP) April 17, 2023
From today, we look to the future with a bold new strategy. Watch the video, featuring actor @michaelsheen and words from @owensheers. https://t.co/sIagUxEyAshttps://t.co/cIdyBAOuCL#AnOldName #ANewWayToBe
Today's change comes less than six months after Snowdonia National Park announced it would be altering its name.
In November 2022, the national park in North Wales revealed it would be changing its name and that of the tallest mountain in Wales, Snowdon, to their Welsh versions - Eryri and Yr Wyddfa respectively.
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