After the stiff climb up on to the ridge from Wern Frank Wood barrow (15.4.2010) via the steep Cwm Cwnstab, the views open up in all directions. It is very difficult to describe the immensity of this landscape. The summit of Twmpa is visible to the NE, then the walk SE along the ridge gives wonderful views of Mynydd Troed and the Y Grib ridge. Ahead, the flattened summit of Waun Fach, at 810m the highest point in the Black Mountains, is between me and the summit of Pen y Gadair Fawr.
Once reached, the Waun Fach summit is a lunar landscape, pitted and worn through the peat by countless walkers' feet. Whether there was ever a summit cairn here we will never know, even the trig point is reduced to a worn plinth surrounded by trenches. From here, there is a great view of Pen Cerrig-calch and Pen Allt-mawr, both with their own Bronze Age cairns. And there is Pen y Gadair Fawr, its distinctive peak (800m) crowned with a large summit cairn, itself topped with a recent walkers' construct.
After a mile walk across the boggy saddle between these two summits, there is a short uphill stretch to the cairn itself, which is actually a rather fine one, despite the silly walkers' effort on its top - noticeably reduced since Gladman's photos.
A fine spot on a fine day and well worth the effort, whichever way you come from. From here I headed to Maen Llwyd, close by but at a much lower elevation and not reached by any easy path from here.
Visited with the Mam Cymru, by way of a direct, very steep ascent from the secluded Grwyne Fawr valley - we're getting too old for this lark, I'm afraid - the 2,624 ft summit of Pen y Gadair Fawr is crowned by a substantial cairn-spread, perched upon which is a rather 'dodgy' looking modern effort. The size of the latter apparently varies according to the vagaries of the winter storms; a rather feeble construction, if the truth be told. Huh, they don't make 'em like they used to, do they?
Not so the remnants of the original which, as the photo shows, would have been of a fair old size and is still pretty extensive. Well worth the trouble in reaching and worthy of such a major peak.
Coflein isn't conclusive as to period of origin, but nevertheless reckons:
".....The circular cairn is constructed of small easily-portable stones forming a dense pile and measures 15m diameter and 2.5m high. The grassed-over base of the cairn measures about 1 metre high. The exposed pile of stones on the top, which has been rebuilt in modern times, is about 5 metres across. The feature could be a burial mound, and has extensive, panoramic views......"
As mentioned, the views from the cairn are simply magnificent, stretching all the way to distant Sugar Loaf Mountain and Blorenge above Abergavenny... nearer to hand, the Maen Llwyd stands at the apex of forestry below to the (approx) south. Said to be the highest sited standing stone in South Wales, it apparently aligns upon a man-made notch near Mynydd Llysiau, across the Grwyne Fechan to the west. Nice. Sadly we didn't have the energy reserves to check this out this time around.
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Posted by thesweetcheat
Posted by GLADMAN
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