![Afon Crai - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Afon_Crai_-_geograph.org.uk_-_798662.jpg)
The Afon Crai is a river in
Powys
Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain.
Geog ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
rising in the
Fforest Fawr
Fforest Fawr is an extensive upland area in the county of Powys, Wales. Formerly known as the Great Forest of Brecknock in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, water cat ...
section of the
Brecon Beacons National Park
The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...
and flowing north into the
River Usk. The headwaters known as Blaen-crai flow north from Bwlch Bryn-rhudd, a
col between the Crai valley and the upper
Swansea Valley
The Swansea Valley ( cy, Cwm Tawe) is one of the South Wales Valleys. It is the valley from the Brecon Beacons National Park to the sea at Swansea of the River Tawe in Wales. Administration of the area is divided between the City and County of Sw ...
for 2 km into the
Cray Reservoir. The river emerges from below the dam to flow a further 8 km through the dispersed settlement of
Crai (or 'Cray').
In common with other tributaries of the River Usk and the Usk itself, the Afon Crai is designated as a
special area of conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...
for its three species of
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
,
twaite shad
The twait shad or twaite shad (''Alosa fallax'') is a species of fish in the family Clupeidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and is an anadromous fish which lives in the sea but migrates into fresh water to s ...
,
European bullhead
The European bullhead (''Cottus gobio'') is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the family Cottidae, a type of sculpin. It is also known as the miller's thumb, freshwater sculpin, common bu ...
,
Atlantic salmon and
otter.
References
Rivers of Powys
Rivers of the Brecon Beacons National Park
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