Llyn Cyri – the referenced lake of ‘Craig-y-Llyn’. As it happens, the great cairn was sited so as to not overlook it. Incidentally, this is the reverse view of the framing of Twll yr Ogof between the ‘portal stones’ of Cerrig Arthur stone circle located some 5 miles across the Mawddach to the northwest
Looking approx west to the sea. There is (apparently) a cairn upon the unnamed hilltop seen below (to the left of the forestry)... although I wasn’t able to positively identify it.
Looking approx northeast along Cadair Idris’s great northern escarpment towards the summit of Craig-y-Llyn. Pen-y-Gadair, the mountain’s 2,930ft apogee, can be seen top right.
Despite the inevitable central damage – note the apparent ‘excavation’ by an old woman as well as Wynne-Foulkes back in the day – this remains a substantial cairn.
Looking approx NE across the – much more impressive than I recalled – monument towards the central summits of Cadair Idris.
Looking SSE between the two rounded summits of the Tarrenau mountains. Tarrenhendre with its own cairn(s) is on the right. In the distance between the two is Pumlumon.
The magnificent high-level view of Cader Idris.
Looking north, the hills of the Lleyn Peninsula form the skyline.
Damage to the centre aside, this is a well-preserved cairn.
Looking southwest. The Ceredigion coast stretches away in the distance.
Looking west across the scooped out cairn. Craig-yr-Aderyn hillfort is below on the far left.
The cairn is at the right hand end of the summit ridge, at the top of the slope. Cader Idris on the left, the lake in Llyn Cyri. Seen from Braich Ddu across the head of the Arthog valley.
Craig-y-Llyn is the summit in the centre of the image. The cairn is at the right hand end of the summit ridge. Over on the far left in shadow is the summit of Cader Idris, with the precipitous cliffs of Tyrrau Mawr to the left of centre. The hill on the right is Braich Du.
The viewpoint is Ffridd Gorllwyn across the Afon Mawddach estuary.
Craig y Llyn rises across the splendour of the Llynnau Cregennen. Viewpoint is the wondrous hill fort Pared-y-Cefn-Hir
Archive scan from years back.... Craig-y-Llyn is to the right, Tyrrau Mawr to the left
Mooooon
In the distance Cader Idris is inundated with water like clouds that continuously poured over its cliffs.
Half way between tyrrau Mawr and Moel Gallt
On zoooom from half way back to Tyrrau Mawr
Craig-y-Llyn is the summit left of centre. Perched high above the cliffs and Llyn Cyri, what a place for a monument. Seen from Tyrrau Mawr summit.
Searching – unsuccessfully, I might add – for the cairn cited by GAT as existing at SH65141153, I decided to mask my disappointment (and then some!) by carrying on to revisit the great Twll yr Ogof. Rude not to.
Leaving Craig yr Aderyn behind I drive past Castle y Bere, then past Lady Jones’ chapel, and then past a farm called Gwastadfryn. The track leads one higher and higher, through two gates until we reach Hafotty Gwastadfryn. This really is as far as you can safely drive, it is an appreciable percentage of the climb and not wanting a full bore hike I settled for this half drive half walk affair.
Checking the compass, I set off in the easterly direction it indicated, naturally it is all up hill and it did’nt take long to start huffing and puffing. With plenty of breather stops to turn and take in the scenery, which is dramatic to say the least. Only the highest peak of Cader Idris was visible for an ocean of fast foamy clouds were spilling over the tops, looking like an otherworldly Niagara falls.
There are two grassy tracks leaving Hafotty Gwastadfryn one leads eventually to the cairns of Tyrrau Mawr , and the one I was treading leads to Moel Gallt.
I got fed up with the even easy track and struck off at an angle up the boggy and uneven slope to try and reach the cliff tops of Craig y llyn. After a great deal of huffing and an unhealthy dose of puffing, I arrived at the top, half way between the cairn of my desires and the peak(ish) of Craig y Llyn.
The view north, east and west were free of clouds and the view was as ever stunning, but the southern aspect was stubbornly remaining completely engulfed in cloud. The cloud bank periodically sent a few tendrils of wispy cloud my way but the wind which was’nt as bad as last time but still quite strong quickly did my bidding and kept the hill top cloud free.
At the eastern end of the mother hills just before the gradient goes steeply down is this cairn, it’s been badly scooped out and the wall next to it is probably to blame for its disheveled nature. But enough remains of it to deduce that it was once a big big cairn, it’s best view is down the Dyffryn Dysinni to the sea, but with a watchfull eye to the godly abode of Cader Idris over it’s shoulder.
The clouds came and went, sometimes thick and veiling but mostly thin and ghostly, the sun just seemed to highlight the shimmery beauty of nature. But to the south always cloud, and the cloud still poured over the mountain tops, I have spent too much time here now and it’s time for a short walk in Tyrrau mawr’s direction before I loose my mind completely to this heavenly scene.
Carnedd Llwyd on Moel Gallt-y-Llyn.
This is a large carnedd situated near the summit of the above named mountain [...] close to a boundary wall dividing the Nantcow and Gwastad-fryn sheep-walks. It measured about forty-five feet in diameter from east to west. It was reputed to be the repository of treasure; and some years ago an old woman, goaded by nightly visions and dreams, became so impressed with this idea, that she made a vigorous attack upon it; but the wished for prize was dashed from her thirsty lips by an avenging storm of thunder and lightning, as she herself affirms. This old lady is still living, I believe. The story was told to me by one of our workmen, who was acquainted with her.
From Archaeologia Cambrensis v3 (1852).
The Gwynedd Archaeological Trust has the following to say (PRN4230):
‘45ft diameter from E-W? Near the summit of Moel Gallt y Llyn. Opened by Wynne-Foulkes in 1850 having been previously opened by an old woman some years before. Wynne-Foulkes excavated the centre but found nothing.... A cairn of roughly piled stones measuring 13m E-W and 14m N-S, on a W facing slope averaging 1.2m high. There is a hole in the centre, 6m across and 1.2m deep which has exposed the natural ground surface’.
Incidentally, GAT also cites the existence of a further cairn surmounting the high ground below and to the west at SH65141153. Sceptical – as always – I decided to revisit Oct 2023, only to find.... nothing. Which, of course, is not to say that evidence does not exist.
The GAT record is given below should anyone wish to try their luck:
“Cairn, Llanfihangel-y-Pennant
Primary Reference Number (PRN): 4248
Trust: Gwynedd
Community: Llanfihangel-y-Pennant
Unitary Authority: Gwynedd
NGR: SH65141153
Site Type (preferred type first): PREHISTORIC CAIRN
Description: Robbed cairn, 16m in diameter, on the summit of an un-named peak, 1657ft high. (Crew, 1979)
Sources:
Crew, P., 1979, Cairn, Tyriau Mawr, Archaeology in Wales: Vol. 19: p. 18
Ordnance Survey , 1980 , SH61SE 34 , ”
A Bronze Age burial cairn crowns Twll yr Ogof, lying to the southwest of the 2,040ft summit of Craig-y-Llyn at the western end of Cadair Idris’s great escarpment. The eponymous ‘Llyn’ (lake) in question is the beautiful Llyn Cyri, lying at the base of a plunging cliff-line. So, what gives with the vernacular name for this great prehistoric funerary monument: (roughly) Hole/Hollow of the Cave? Is the ‘cave’ referenced here the now vandalised funerary cairn, the ‘hole or hollow’ the former cist/chamber which presumably once sat within? The Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (PRN4230) informs us that the monument was: “..Opened by Wynne-Foulkes in 1850 having been previously opened by an old woman some years before. Wynne-Foulkes excavated the centre but found nothing...“. Now, far for me to cast aspersions upon unnamed old women of yore... but, did this one know something Wynne-Foulkes and our good selves do not?
The monument is substantial, yet it is the superlative scenery which steals the show here, particularly looking north across the sublime Mawddach Estuary to Central Snowdonia. Welsh folklore informs us that Cadair Idris was (quite literally) the ‘chair’ or seat of the legendary giant Idris... while fizzy drink aficionados of a certain age will perhaps conjure up other images since the factory was nearby. Perhaps it still is?
[edit] Incidentally, visitors to the stone circle of Cerrig Arthur – located some 5 miles to the northwest across the Afon Mawddach – will note that the southeastern stones of that ring appear (to me) to be almost certainly aligned upon Twll yr Ogof. Why not go see for yourself?
