Arenig Fawr seen from the east
The route (in red – 2012 route in blue)
This was our second visit to Arenig Fawr – Chris and I had been this way in 2012 (see post #101) and had a cool day (that’s the temperature and not the vibe!) so a return was overdue. Last time we had approached from the west, missing out the lake that sits to the east of the hill – this time we decided on the east side.
Dow Crag (right) with Goat’s Water below
1974 was a black time for hill-going Lancastrians – it was the year that ‘They’ changed the county boundaries and the Old Man of Coniston, the highest point in Lancashire at 803 metres (2634ft), became part of the new county of Cumbria. It wasn’t as though they didn’t have loads of fine mountains already, but it was decided so that was that – the highest point in Lancashire now is Gragareth at 627 metres (2,057 ft), a fine hill, but a poor consolation prize.
I don’t get to many film premieres; in fact, if I’m honest, I don’t get to any! That is until a couple of weeks ago, when I attended my very first film premiere. I left the black tie and dinner jacket in the wardrobe for this one though – microfleece and technical T-shirt was dress of the day, for this was the premiere of the movie of the Spine Race.
Approaching Pen y Ghent on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge walk
In July 1887, two teachers from Giggleswick School near Settle decided to have a stroll over Ingleborough (724 metres/2375ft). When they got there, Whernside (728 metres/2388ft) must have looked inviting in the distance, so they carried on. At Whernside they must have had a good view of Pen y Ghent (691 metres/2267ft) which was eight miles away as the crow flies, so they continued their walk to include that peak as well. By the time they had finished, they had completed what was probably the first Three Yorkshire Peaks walk.
The Gritstone edges of Staffordshire
Staffordshire is not exactly an area known for its mountains, but it is the home of a fine set of gritstone crags known as The Roaches. Rock-climbing had been popular at The Roaches since the earliest days of the sport – the crags are near to the big towns and cities of Northern England and are of easy access. This area has a huge importance in the history of rock-climbing in the UK, and it was one of the places where climbing standards rose dramatically in the 1950’s.
Tal y Fan seen from Foel Lwyd
The route (heading clockwise)
The Roman invasion of Wales, completed in 78 AD, must have been a real culture shock to the locals in more ways than one. The Romans must have appeared to be in a permanent state of ‘hurry up’, building roads that were the equivalent to the motorways of today, but I guess you might well be in a hurry with places to invade and rebellions to put down. One of their routes takes advantage of the pass between the high Carneddau Plateau and Tal y Fan, the northern outlier of the Carneddau range.
On the Fan Hir Ridge – Mynydd Du (The Black Mountain)
The route, starting from Dan yr Ogof
In previous posts I’ve mentioned my attempts to learn some of the Welsh language now that we live in North Wales. I don’t have the language skills to ever hope to get to conversational level, but I’m getting a reasonable vocabulary of place names. Mynydd Du in the Western Brecon Beacons is a pretty easy, it means ‘Black Mountain’, but in the Eastern Beacons we have Y Mynyddoedd Duon, which means ‘The Black Mountains’. Lots of potential for confusion there then!
Creigiau Gleision above Llyn Cowlyd Reservoir
The route – anticlockwise starting from Capel Curig
Our short outing onto the north-western hills of the Carneddau (see post #172) had the feel of a spring day about it, and with a few more days of settled sunny weather on the way, I decided to make the most of it by re-visiting the route I had abandoned three months earlier in the gales of December (see post #165). So, the next day I was at the south-east of the Carneddau range, ready to have a crack at Creigiau Gleision again.
The North-western hills of the Carneddau
The route
The mountains of the Carneddau in North Wales seem to be a regular theme in this blog, and no wonder – the pointy mountains of the Glyderau and Snowdon ranges attract more interest and consequently more crowds, but the high plateau of the Carneddau is a wild quiet place, largely avoided by walkers apart from those who are already converts.
Cwm Lloer below Pen yr Ole Wen and Carnedd Dafydd in the mountains of the Carneddau
Each spring, my mountain rescue team (North East Wales Search And Rescue) go on-call for an evening and night looking after our neighbouring area, while the resident team (Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation) have their annual dinner dance – it’s a good arrangement and Oggie team return the favour by looking after our ‘patch’ when NEWSAR have their Christmas ‘do’.
Paul offers guided hillwalking in the UK through Hillcraft Guided Walking. He is also a freelance outdoor writer.
Hillcraft Guided Walking Website
Paul Shorrock - One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks 