Cadair Berwyn
It’s not all boring in the Berwyns. James Forrest finds an excellent high-level ridge walk in this much maligned range in non-Snowdonian north Wales...
They are regularly labelled the ‘Boring Berwyns’, but is that fair? The Berwyns are an often-ignored mountain range of high moorland east of Bala, lying just outside Snowdonia National Park. Most of the rounded tops are covered in thick, energy-sapping heather
– enough to turn off all but the most dedicated of peak-baggers like me. I’ve climbed 23 peaks in the Berwyns and much of it was an exhausting battle against the deep heather, as if I was vaulting over thousands of purple-flowered hurdles.
But, in truth, the ‘boring’ label applies more to the northern and western sections of the range. In the middle the heather relents, good paths abide, and an enjoyable high-level horseshoe walk is possible from Cwm Maen Gwynedd, bagging the trio of Cadair Bronwen, Cadair Berwyn and Moel Sych – easily the best day walk in the Berwyns.
And, for added interest, when you’re standing atop Cadair Berwyn you can ponder the ‘Roswelsh Incident’: a bizarre occurrence in 1974, when loud noises and bright lights were seen over the 830m mountain. Was it a UFO crash, covered up by the government? Or an earthquake combined with a meteor shower, as per official statements? Whichever way you look at it, not such a boring place after all!