Berwyn edges Route 3
Quiet, proud, lofty and with huge sky views, discover the leading edges along the highest area of Berwyn y Mynydd – courtesy of Kate Worthington.
The dramatic forgotten edges of Wales
The prominent Mynydd y Berwyn (Berwyn Hills) sit proudly between Snowdonia National Park’s eastern boundary and Oswestry.
A National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, this high and rough moorland gives interest and challenge in abundance, with sweeping contours, sharp slate escarpments, calls of red kites and peregrines, and blanket bilberry and heather. Summer skylarks will sing and eyes are drawn to the enticing east-facing edges, which fall away to the rolling farmland beyond. The massif (the loftiest Welsh land outside the country’s National Parks) draws solitary souls to its heights and is very exposed to a westerly wind!
This route captures obvious delights (the waterfall of Pistyll Rhaeadr, summit cairns and passes) and makes the most of efficient walking on the few paths there are. There’s also a cunning contour to cut back and discover a little solitude underneath the craggy, heathery chin of Cadair Berwyn, an abandoned and gaping slate quarry hole, plus a final descent to Llyn Lluncaws that comes all too soon. And why is it called ‘lake of cheese’, I wondered?
The ‘chair’ of Berwyn and Bronwen, the ‘dry hill’ of Moel Sych and the cheesy lake… there’s more than will ever meet the eye on these hills, and they are thoroughly worth exploring. So follow in the footsteps of an advancing Saxon army and see why King Owain Gwynedd used this upland backbone as a protector of Wales.