GLADMAN

Pumlumon graces the horizon

Assumption is there’s been quite a bit of slippage over the millennia... but nonetheless.

I found this monument difficult to photograph; however, the copious nature of the sloping footprint is hopefully clear.

Viewed at a distance from Carn-y-Rhyrddod a couple of years back and subsequently from Bryn Dafydd the day before... well, guess it would’ve been rude not to come take a look. The large shelter sits upon a significant prehistoric footprint...

Pen y Fan and Corn Du can just be seen poking their decapitated heads above the skyline...

I don’t normally like ‘revisits’ of lowland sites within a decade... but circumstances meant it was either hang out here... or sit in the car. You do the maths.

Looking towards Banc-y-Celyn, whence there is a stone circle....

Clearly, this round barrow once possessed a cist/chamber of some description

Approaching from the northwest, the backdrop panorama of The Black Mountains is arguably the finest there is.

Not shown upon OS mapping, this is about as obscure as Welsh round barrows come...

Almost impenetrable forestry rendered this a very, very difficult site to reach.

Highlighting the ‘orthostats’ that looked rather like the remains of a kerb-like arrangement to me.

It is noticeable that the stones are in a location where Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du (summit peaks of The Brecon Beacons) just happen to sit perfectly upon the horizon. Add a treeline and the fit would appear even more precise. Given the topography of the area and the otherwise ‘why here?’ questions raised by placement, my suggestion is that there may be an association here.

Toward Gorllwyn... was there an association between the row(s) here and the great (now fallen) stone upon Pen-y-Gorllwyn?

Toward Y Gamriw and its cornucopia of upland cairns......

Towards beautiful Cwm Chwefri

Looking across Cwm Ystwyth towards Bryn Copa (centre right) descending from the great cairn surmounting Bryn Dafydd to approx south-west. Pen-y-Garn, with another large Bronze Age cairn, surmounts the far left summit of the ridge (centre), with Pumlumon’s ultimate Bronze Age cemetery looming background left.

I thought this was a top-notch upland cairn... ticks all the boxes I look for.

Looking towards Trawsallt about a mile to the Southwest... I took the opportunity to visit the very next day. Again, just look at the footprint.

It does sometimes beggar belief how some upland cairns are not recognised for what they are.....

The monument surmounting Bryn Dafydd is (discounting the parasitical modern marker cairn) of low profile, but with a substantial, obvious footprint.