A recent article on grough about the Berwyns was the first I had heard of this range of hills in central North-East Wales. The article was about a ‘missing’ Berwyn, absent on OS maps but which turned out to be the highest hill of the range. Intrigued about a hill range so unknown that the highest hill had been missed off, I went there for a run.
The Berwyns are quite high, peaking at 832m and with three peaks over 800m. They lie just outside the boundary of the Snowdonia National Park, which may explain their relative obscurity. I am sure they have their devotees and are treasured by the locals, but it says something about me, when I think I know the hills of Britain quite well, that I had never heard the name before.
I drove along the small road leading into Cwm Maen Gwynedd looking up and around at the complete darkness and the spitting rain. The darkness itself was good evidence that there were hills there, and as the rain was meant to clear by morning, I pulled off the road somewhere below Rhos and went to sleep in the back of the van.
The morning was bright and sunny, with a few clouds moving quite fast above. The high point of the main ridge, with the ‘missing’ hill Craig Berwyn visible as a jutting rocky peak surrounded by ridgeline and dropping fellside. I set off up one of the long arms of hills leading to this main ridge, running to the start of the steep slopes up Rhos, walking fast up the steepest section, and then breaking back into a run once on the undulating ridge, above 600m and approaching the summit of Rhos. The ground was mostly pathless apart from a few sheep tracks and the vegetation was thick heather with a diverse range of other plants. Apart from some boggy ground above a plantation it was dry but soft.
I was soon treated to a panorama of the main Berwyn ridge ahead as the sun came out, though clouds over to the North-West over Snowdonia promised some rain. My run continued over Mynydd Tarw and up to Tomle (742m), hills which provided perfect ascents for training, not too steep to have to walk but long enough to practice some pacing. Rain briefly came and went.
From the col before the main ridge I branched off on a track to run up to the summit of Cadair Bronwen, whose substantial summit cairn provided some shelter from the wind that was beginning to pick up. The views were extensive as I turned back around and ran south, now on the main ridge. This section does have recognisable path along it, and even some decking to reduce erosion, by a sign that alerts people to the SSSI status of the northern slopes.
Once on the approach to Cadair Berwyn, the ridge smoothes out and the path clings to the brilliantly steep southern slope, which drops back down to a young plantation a few hundred metres below. There is a trig point marking the summit of Cadair Berwyn (827m) and then a circular shelter before the obvious and much higher missing summit, where the rocks break through the soil. The wind had become prohibitive by this point, and somewhere to the West, Arenig Fawr was obscured. I ran along to the end of the high ridge, Moel Sych, and then followed the path down to another arm of hills reaching back into my original valley.
The route over this spongy spur, which is only distinguished by the name ‘Godor’ for the end point, was slow going. Lots of high leg lifting was required and I was sometimes reduced to a walk in deep vegetation. There was periodically an old quad bike track evident on the summit, but the going only got fast again when I reached the top of Godor and began the descent back down to the valley tracks, passing bemused sheep huddling together from the wind.
I saw two other people that day, a Sunday in August with moderately good weather, who were both heading from Moel Sych towards Cadair Berwyn. The two hilly arms I had run up and down were without people or paths, and just went to show that the route we choose to get to the high peaks can be just as exciting as gaining the summits themselves. I am pleased to say I now know about the Berwyns, and from what I could see from the top, there are plenty of other valleys and hillsides to explore. There are also a few well defined trails, for those who don’t want the slowing down effect of uncropped vegetation, but I would certainly suggest giving it a go, just to get a true sense of this exceptional area. The route was around 24km with over 1000m of ascent.
Feet in the Woods 