The Cambrian Way

THE CAMBRIAN WAY About the Authors CLASSIC WALES MOUNTAIN TREK George Tod is a semi-retired IT support engineer and has long held a passion for long-distance mountain walking, starting with the Pennine Way in 1991. SOUTH TO NORTH FROM CARDIFF TO CONWY He has completed the Cambrian Way four times, the first in 2000. In 2005, at the request of Tony Drake who brought the route to fruition, he set up the by George Tod with Richard Tyler Cambrian Way website and has continually updated and revised both this and Tony Drake’s original guidebook, Cambrian Way: The Mountain Connoisseur’s Walk. His major contribution to this guide has been the compilation of the route descriptions and mapping. Richard Tyler is a retired solicitor who has enjoyed a lifetime of walking in the Welsh mountains. He has considerable experience of long-distance hill and mountain walking in the UK, the Alps and the Himalaya. Richard carried out a full walk and survey of the Cambrian Way, finishing in 2016. He is chair of the Cambrian Way Trust, footpath secretary for Ramblers Powys Area and, at the time of publication, chair of Powys Local Access Forum. JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS, OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL www.cicerone.co.uk © The Cambrian Way Trust 2019 CONTENTS First edition 2019 ISBN: 978 1 85284 990 0 Map key ..........................................................8 Overview map ................................................. 10–11 Printed in China on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd Route summary table ............................................ 12–13 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Trek planner ................................................... 14–17 All photographs are by the authors unless otherwise stated. Geology section and map by Alan Bowring and Dilys Harlow. INTRODUCTION .................................................19 The mountain connoisseurs’ walk ......................................19 © Crown copyright 2019 OS PU100012932 Wales, its history, people and language .................................21 Geology and landscape .............................................23 Plants and animals .................................................27 When to go ......................................................29 Travel ...........................................................30 Updates to this Guide Accommodation ...................................................31 While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as Kit ............................................................32 they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates Waymarking and navigation ..........................................33 that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone. Food, water and supplies ............................................34 co.uk/990/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise Emergencies ......................................................35 that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and Using this guide ...................................................35 shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time. We are always grate- ful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts THE ROUTE on the ground, sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, Stage 1 Cardiff to Machen .....................................38 Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL. Stage 2 Machen to Pontypool ..................................48 Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers and Stage 3 Pontypool to Abergavenny ..............................56 GPX files where available, register your book at www.cicerone.co.uk. Stage 4 Abergavenny to Capel-y-ffin .............................64 Stage 5 Capel-y-ffin to Crickhowell ..............................71 Stage 6 Crickhowell to Storey Arms .............................79 Stage 7 Storey Arms to Glyntawe ...............................95 Stage 8 Glyntawe to Llandovery ...............................105 Stage 9 Llandovery to Tŷ’n-y-cornel Hostel .......................115 Stage 10 Tŷ’n-y-cornel Hostel to Claerddu ........................124 Stage 11 Claerddu to Ponterwyd ................................133 Stage 12 Ponterwyd to Dylife ..................................141 Stage 13 Dylife to Dinas Mawddwy .............................149 Stage 14 Dinas Mawddwy to Bwlch Llyn Bach .....................163 Stage 15 Bwlch Llyn Bach to Barmouth ..........................171 Stage 16 Barmouth to Cwm Bychan .............................180 Stage 16/17A Bad-weather route to Moelfryn following Taith Ardudwy Way ..191 Stage 17 Cwm Bychan to Maentwrog ............................196 Stage 18 Maentwrog to Beddgelert ..............................205 Stage 19 Beddgelert to Pen-y-Pass ...............................217 Front cover: The dramatic outcrop of Craig Maesglese (Stage 14) Stage 20 Pen-y-Pass to Llyn Ogwen .............................224 Stage 21 Llyn Ogwen to Conwy ................................230 Appendix A The checkpoints .....................................242 Appendix B Glossary of Welsh words and places on the Cambrian Way ....243 Appendix C Useful contacts ......................................246 Appendix D Accommodation list ..................................248 Acknowledgements This guide could not have been written without the hard work of numerous people starting with Tony Drake, the Gloucestershire Area Footpath Secretary of The Ramblers’ Association (now The Ramblers), who devoted much of his life to walking the mountains of Wales and who worked for many years in finding the best route from south to north. Tony was also very involved in the creation of the Cotswold Way and Offa’s Dyke Path. Since his death in 2012, his work has been carried on by the Ramblers Cambrian Way Working Group and the Cambrian Way Trust. Thanks are due to Jacky Cross, Tony Drake, Max Grant, Amanda Hill, Mavis and Bob Rear, Oliver Wicks, Ramblers GB, Ramblers Cymru, Snowdonia and Brecon Beacons national parks and members of Ramblers groups along the route. Special acknowledgement is due to Dilys Harlow and Alan Browning for supplying the geology section and downloadable geology map and table. Mountain safety Every mountain walk has its dangers, and those described in this guidebook are no exception. All who walk or climb in the mountains should recognise this and take responsibility for themselves and their companions along the way. The author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this guide was correct when it went to press, but, except for any liability that cannot be excluded by law, they cannot accept responsibility for any loss, injury or inconve- nience sustained by any person using this book. International distress signal (emergency only) Six blasts on a whistle (and flashes with a torch after dark) spaced evenly for one minute, followed by a minute’s pause. Repeat until an answer is received. The response is three signals per minute followed by a minute’s pause. Helicopter rescue The following signals are used to communicate with a helicopter: Help needed: Help not needed: Help required: Help required:Help not required: Help not required: raise bothraise arms both arms raise both armsraise one arm abraiseove oneraise arm one arm above above headabov toe head to above head tohead, extend aboveother head,head, extend extend other form a ‘V’ arm downward form a ‘Y’ form a ‘V’ arm downwotherard arm downward Emergency telephone numbers UK: 999 Weather reports www.mwis.org.uk The Cambrian Way includes the 690m summit of Cnicht (Stage 18) Bwlch y Ddwy Glyder provides an excellent view over Nant Ffrancon (Stage 20) THE CAMBRIAN WAY Route symbols on OS map extracts Features on the overview map (for OS legend see printed OS maps) County/Unitary boundary route National boundary alternative route rail services start point Urban area ﬁnish point National Park alternative start point eg BRECON BEACONS Forest Park/National Forest alternative start point eg National Forest route direction Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty/National Scenic Area eg Clwydian Range 0 1 km >800m 600m The extracts from OS maps used 400m in this book have been reproduced 200m at 1:50,000 75m 0m GPX ﬁles for all routes can be downloaded free at www.cicerone.co.uk/990/GPX. Conwy from Conwy Mountain (Stage 21) 8 9 A583 Preston Lytham A583 PrestonA59 St Anne’s Leyland Lytham A59 SouthportSt Anne’s Leyland s 4h A570 Skelmers- Southport A565 dale s 4h8h A570 Skelmers- A565 dale 8h Formby A59 Wigan 10 M58 T IRISH SEA HE Formby A59 Wigan C IRISH SEA Bootle M58 AMBRIAN Amlwch LiverpoolBootle M57 A57 Liverpool Wallasey Amlwch Bay Liverpool M57 M62A57 Liverpool BirkenheadWallasey Llandudno A41 W Benllech Bay R Dee M62 Holyhead Colwyn Rhyl Birkenhead AY ANGLESEY ConwyLlandudnoBay R Dee M53A41 Llangefni BenllechBeaumaris Holyhead Menai Colwyn Rhyl M56 N Holy Island ANGLESEY Bay Holywell M53 A55 Bridge BeaumarisBangor ConwyA55 Abergele A55 Llangefni M56 Holy IslandRhosneigr Menai N A470 Holywell A55 Bridge Bangor A55 Abergele A55 Queensferry Llanfair A55 0 20 Rhosneigr Bethesda A470 Talhaiarn Clwydian A55 ChesterQueensferry km Llanfair Denbigh Range A55 Llyn A41 0 20 Caernarfon BethesdaA5 Clwydian 0 10 miles Ogwen Llanrwst Talhaiarn Mold Chester km DenbighRuthinRange A55 Caernarfon Llyn A5 A483 A41 Caernarfon Bay Ogwen Pen-y- Llanrwst

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