THE MOELWYNION
Sprawling in a great long stretch of bog, marsh and rock from Moel Siabod in the north to Moelwyn Bach in the south, the Moelwynion include two of the best easy scrambles in the whole park. These are the Ddaer Ddu ridge on Siabod and the south-west ridge of Cnicht. It’s possible to climb the former on a bright day all on your tod and emerge on the summit to huddles of people and one of the most spectacular viewpoints in Wales.
The brunt of the bigger hills are clustered to the south, around Moelwyn Mawr and Moelwyn Bach, which at 770m and 710m bow only to Moel Siabod (872m) in height. Between these high points are a series of knotty hills inscribed with the workings of the mining industry. This is a landscape “savaged by Man, but somehow all the more fascinating for it”*.
At 609m, Moelwyn Meirch, in the middle of the range, barely keeps its head above boggy water. Yet this dumpy little thing, a blunt dome of rock nosing out of the surrounding moss and moor grass, gives one of the best views of Snowdon you’ll get outside of a helicopter. Though it falls short in altitude, looking out to the highest peaks from a position of remoteness as the wind whistles over your waterproofs evokes an attitude of the mountainous.
There is plenty of scope for exploration here. For locating scrambling lines among the crags (Craigysgafn provides a lovely ridgeline up Moelwyn Mawr), history among the abandoned mine workings and bivvy spots on the slopes. Seek out the howff on the slopes of Yr Arddu, facing Cnicht for a snug night in a ‘stone hotel’ and wake to views of the Welsh Matterhorn. Then get your boots on and climb it.