GLADMAN

The excellent Castell Llanaber lies beyond.

Despite the deprivations wrought upon this monument, the substantial footprint is clear: this was a first-rate ring cairn.

Sadly the cairn is the depository for significant field clearance... plus an old bath, presumably for animal husbandry...

Western flank

Western flank looking approx north..

Eastern flank looking approx south... very windy

Eastern flank looking approx north

Approaching from the approx north (don’t, the track to the south is much easier) I was mightily surprised by the substantial remains of this excellent hillfort... even bisected by a bloody dry-stone wall.

Aran Fawddwy is centre of image, viewed from the northern flanks of Foel Dugoed to the south.

The cist appears to not have been aligned upon Aran Fawddwy, but rather in harmony with the rocky fault upon which it sits... integrating within Nature, as it were.

Great location overlooking Cwm Clywedog toward The Arans, Aran Fawddwy to left.

Set upon a prominent northern spur a considerable distance below the summit of Foel Dugoed, this cairn/barrow contains the remains of a pretty well preserved cist

The eastern cairn at SH8972213295

The eastern cairn at SH8972213295 – again, evidence suggests a cist in situ. Aran Fawddwy rises top left, Mynydd Clywedog (with apparent stone row) to right.

The small cairn crowning the eastern shoulder of Foel Dugoed at SH8972213295... looking towards the summit.

Summit cairn, highlighting the cist..

Summit cairn... the wondrous Aran Fawddwy – featuring one of Wales’ finest upland cairns – crowns the far horizon.

The summit cairn’s not the best-defined you’ll ever see... but what with great location and cist in situ, that’ll do.

Summit cairn...... not pushing credulity too far to state there is evidence for a former kerb, perhaps?

The cist within the summit cairn... looking approx west to the wondrous Dyfi Hills and Cadair Idris

From Gyrn Ddu’s eastern cairns... Moel y Gest can be seen immediately beyond, the prehistoric cornucopia of Y Rhinogydd fading to haze.

Gyrn Ddu and its hunched cairned-bearing shoulders from the wondrous Tre’r Ceiri

The summit of the ‘fort is crowned by the remains of a massive Bronze Age cairn, seen here. Beyond Gyrn Ddu and its cairns, the skyline Eifionydd lead the eye toward Snowdon herself, centre.

A retrospective of the cairns (centre right) from the summit of Gyrn Ddu

Worth the climb for the views alone, to be honest. looking east towards The fabulous Nantlle Ridge and the heart of Northern Snowdonia. Pen-y-Gaer is to right.

Northward towards an (apparently) cairn-less Gyrn Goch from the northern cairn. Note the additional cairn beyond... do we have a cemetery here?

Yr Eifl from a VERY windy southern cairn... Tre’r Ceiri resides upon the left-hand peak.

A segment of the northern cairn from the southern... the very intrusive walling makes appreciation of scale difficult to say the least... however Coflein reckons both cairns are c45ft in diameter.

Southern cairn...

The southern monument is bisected by a dirty big drystone wall (the northern dissected by two) and is currently the ‘taller’ of the two...

The pair of cairns sited to the east of Gyrn Ddu, looking from the northern to southern.

As it happens, there is an unenclosed group of four (I think?) huts between the cairn and the summit of Gyrn Ddu.

I truly found this to be an impressive cairn well worthy of a primary visit one day. Should you decide to invest energy to ascend Gyrn Ddu you really must make time for an audience.

Very, very windy conditions.... but happily traded for the sun.

Looking as ‘west-ish’ as I could manage into the sun... hence the fabulous view of Yr Eifl does not feature.

Looking approx east towards the summit of Gyrn Ddu

A fine upland cairn under a ridiculously blue North Walian sky.

Looking from the summit crags of Gyrn Ddu itself, the unenclosed settlement is located below, approx centre far-left of image. The western cairn lies a little further west.