Abandoned Landscapes - The South East Carneddau Wales

Submitted by M_M_Robinson on Monday, 31 July 2006 Page Views: 6616

Country: Wales PART 2: EXPLORING THE HIGH GROUND
The South East Carneddau

A long hard day in November mist and drizzle exploring the routes over the main Carneddau ridge and the lonely and sometimes rugged geography of the south east Carneddau.

The prehistoric route across the main Carneddau ridge via Cwm Cowlyd

Along the six miles of the Llugwy valley, from Ogwen in the east to Capel Curig in the west, there are only three feasible natural routes (i.e. a migratory or stock route) across the main Carneddau ridge . The most westerly course is Bwlch Trimarchog at the head of Cwm Tal y Braich which leads into Cwm Eigiau. Barely a mile south east is the pass into Cwm Cowlyd, and a further two miles south east again is the path between Cwm Crafnant and Capel Curig. Of the three only the Cowlyd route has obvious prehistoric markers, but each passes through archaeologically rich terrain. In this walk I set out to experience the grain of this land and to examine these possible route ways.

The map shows a bridleway from the Llugwy valley up Cwm Tal y Braich traversing north east up and over the watershed to reach Cwm Cowlyd and eventually the Conwy valley. Alongside this route are several cairns and a standing stone which were my first objective for the day. To get there I endured 20 minutes of road walking from my parking space near Gwern Gof Uchaf on the A5 to Helyg (famous as a climber‘s base in the 1950‘s and 60‘s), and then took the track on the left leading up to the hill farm of Tal y braich-uchaf.

As I approached the farmyard the young farmer stopped his JCB and told me in his soft pleasant voice that the footpath has been moved and I'd have to retrace my steps and then pass above the farm. Despite this detour, within ten minutes I reached the entrance to the wide, gentle Cwm. The main road and farm were left behind and only the sound of a farm-dog barking broke the silence. The walking was glorious up this open miry glen in the thin morning with sunlight over my shoulder and smoky clouds drizzling elusive shimmering rainbows over the green hillside. In the hazy distance two miles to the north at the head of the cwm was the col at Bwlch Trimarchog.

I wandered up beside the Afon y Bedol and after some searching, found the first Bronze Age monument - the standing stone of Cwm-y-bedol-arian - on a gently sloping area in the wide mid-ground of the valley (705607). It is surprisingly small, being less than a metre high, and it is visibly leaning. Only 10 metres north of it is a stony and grassy feature visible in the rushes, possibly a cairn. A cist is marked on the map 100m to the north east which I located by compass-bearing (705608). Although all are close to the bridlway there is no sign of a trail - ancient or modern. I think there may be more sites here (ritual perhaps preceded by settlement) than can be seen from the surface [note 1].

More poor map reading had me walking back and forth before I could locate the next cairn, a low grassy tump (711608, RCHMW 1956 151-2, site 558). Then I followed the line of a modern leat through heather and bog to reach the col - a wide, uneven but relatively flat area between the slopes up from the Llugwy valley to the south and the deep, incised glacial valley of Cwm Cowlyd with its blue-painted lake to the north east.

Here, just in front of a ladder stile, is a cairn, now a barely perceptible hump in the ground. (715608; RCHMW 1956 152 site 559). Clambering onto the stony outcrops above provides a clear view in both directions. From here you can also see that the cairn is in the classic pass-marker position; not too prominent and deliberately sited on one approach rather than at the highest point. Maen Trichwmwd, another marker stone is a little way down the far side of the pass but my rapid search failed to locate it. There is no sign of an old worn routeway but I'm left in no doubt that this is indeed an ancient trail which was embellished by a variety of monuments in the Bronze Age, when it had probably already been used for thousands of years [note 2].

Also at the col, 50m north of the cairn on a patch of dry ground, a round house can be seen, consisting of a slight platform about 15m across with a few large stones around the perimeter. A smaller one lies 10m away (715609, RCHMW 1956 74 site213). Although the site is at about 430m OD and not in a sheltered valley, people have obviously chosen to live here, if only seasonally. Whilst the visible circles are perhaps Iron Age or Romano-British, who knows what else lies beneath the turf.

To Bwlch Trimarchog and the plunge into Cwm Eigiau

Here I left the route over the pass and continued northwards to explore the high flank of Cwm tal y Braich across the slopes of Pen Llithrig y Wrach. The weather was worse at this height, and in the drizzle and mist I followed the line of a fence for a couple of hundred yards to reach a flattish sheltered area where there are several intriguing and unusual archaeological features not shown on the map (c.715612). The most striking is a low heap of stones with several small upright stones around about. It may be a cairn of some variety rather than a hut circle. There are several undulations around about and a hollow which I thought might be a robbed-out cist grave. It the atmosphere was clear you could see right across the Ffrancon valley from here. About 20m away in the lee of a rock outcrop is a dilapidated rectangular structure [note 3].

The fence-line climbs steadily along the steep moorland of the side of the cwm. On the upslope about 10m from the fence I spotted the remains of a small shelter against a large boulder, perhaps an early shepherds shelter (c.712622). Suddenly the murk cleared from my enclosed little world and as if by magic I was transported into a huge green landscape peppered with grazing sheep and wild ponies. A quarter of a mile ahead I could see Bwlch y Trimarchog at the top of the valley. Arriving there I stopped to survey the scene. The bwlch itself is wide and boggy and there are no indicators of an old routeway such as a worn track or a marker cairn. I headed north over the pass into the vast space of Cwm Eigiau. The 200m descent down the slippery grass and stones beside the fence line is steep and awkward; I conclude that this cannot have been a pass of any value other than for local small-scale communication.

An abandoned farmstead (mentioned briefly in the previous chapter) is spread out below in the most magnificent situation - nestling in this hidden pathless recess of this wildest of Welsh cwms, with tumbling crags rising high above (711631). The stonework of the single storey farmhouse survives largely intact, its long back wall built against rising ground. It has two main rooms accessed from the front door, and two other rooms with separate entrances, presumably for animals. Close-by is a multi-celled sheep enclosure and a large irregular stock pound, perhaps 70m or so across, with a small enclosure or shelter on the far side. Beyond are other enclosure- and field-walls extending over a couple of hundred metres. Although on the 400m contour, the whole complex has the character of a permanent farm and I would guess it was built in the 18th century and perhaps deserted in the great abandonment of the 1870's and 80's.

Based on the evidence from high in the other great Carneddau valleys one would expect this sort of locality to be the repeated focus of activity from prehistoric times onwards. Although I could see no early sites here it has all the right characteristics; a high elevation, a stream, plenty of space (albeit very rough) and a sheltered location [note 4].

Down the cwm, across a hilly wilderness to Cwm Cowlyd, up the far side of the valley and along the Creigau Gleison ridge

Rather than continue north to the far side of the valley to join the quarry track, I made the blunder of taking a direct route north east down the valley floor beside the dividing fence. Pretty soon I was paddling barefoot up to my knees through quivering, marshy fields until I could ford the Afon Eigiau and reach dry ground further down the valley.

Finding a rock to sit on, I dried my frozen feet and ate lunch. Back on the move again, I passed a little stone shack beside the track where I was greeted by three dogs who rushed out from the open door. Two were sheepdogs but the friendliest was a black labrador in a well-fitting winter jacket. The warm cosy smell of a coal fire hung in the air around the cottage but no human form emerged. A few hundred yards further on is the empty farm house of Cedryn, from where the sombre broken dam walls of Lyn Eigiau are visible.

Shortly beyond here I struck east on pathless ground onto the broad ridge which extends north east from Pen Llithrig y Wrach. This is a little-visited hilly wilderness a couple of miles long between the cwms of Eigiau and Cowlyd; a place that has perhaps always been more suitable for sheep than cattle. Whilst the way up from Eigiau is relatively gentle, on the far side there is an 800 ft drop down to Lyn Cowlyd which is best avoided.

Pretty soon I was astray amongst bog, heather and rocky outcrops. I found an area of open rough grassland crossed by ruined intake walls probably somewhere above Hafod y Rhiw, and continued meandering along threaded sheep tracks. This seems a place ripe for early settlement but the only signs I found were another wall and an apparently associated relict circular enclosure about 10m across, built against a rock outcrop. It looked pre-enclosure - perhaps a Post-Medieval sheep pen or stell (c.726644).

The terrain in this locality is confusing, with areas of overgrown quarrying and broken wet ground, but I found a col with a ladder stile beyond which the gloomy waters of Lyn Cowlyd soon materialised out of the mist. How different the llyn looked now in comparison to its sparking appearance from the pass at its southern end earlier that day. I heard voices although I didn't sense anyone near, and saw four tiny distant figures walking across the dam at the end of the lake, the sound amplified by the enclosed valley. I stopped on the concrete embankment of the dam to wring out my socks. Below, the huge black exit pipe slithered down the bleak and empty glen towards Dolgarrog. The Creigau Gleison ridge stands steep and high along the far side of the valley which is reached by a steep slog up rugged and stony terrain.

Nearing the first top, the cold swirling mist cleared momentarily to reveal a frightening drop down to the deep, cold lake and the steep face of Clogwyn Ddu rising from its far shore. Towards the Conwy valley on the east clouds hung like smoke over an unreachable expanse of woodland. At the next col a band of quartz, gleaming like snow, spills off in a spectacular funnel down to the llyn. Perhaps this inaccessible and splendid place was a source of some of the quartz found in various monuments in the region (c.733622).

The route is straightforward until after the main top (729615) but thick cloud masked the increasingly intricate topography and I clung to the path like a lifeline, desperately hoping I didn't lose it. Wide and eroded in places it suddenly disappeared on the descent of a steep little crag. Distance became impossible to judge in the mist and my sense of direction became scrambled. After paddling across a wide col I chanced on the path again. Daylight was running out so when I came to yet another col I decided it was time to descend.

Descent into a magical cwm near Lyn Crafnant, returning along the track over the watershed to Capel Curig and a road march in the dark back to Tryfan

Emerging from the swirling cloud-base, crags and hills spread away in all directions and it took several confused minutes to identify where I was. Following a wall down from the col I caught sight of Blaen y Nant, a white house above Lyn Crafnant, and then descended the steep little cwm below the crags of Castell y Gywnt.

As the gradient eased the grass became lush, and under the gaze of curious ponies and sheep I drank from the stream; for a few moments this secluded place seemed like Arcadia. Nearing the cottage environs in the faltering light I passed a monument consisting of a few large stones and an earth bank 15 metres across, terraced a little into the slope (c.738603), reminding me that this sheltered catchment above Crafnant has been a favoured settlement area site where long huts, other rectangular buildings and stone enclosures can be made out nearby in the long grass [note 5].

At last I reached the track to Capel Curig which winds uphill to seek out a cleft in the ridge; this is obviously an old trail but there is no sign of a marker cairn. Not bothering to use my headtorch I clattered blindly down the stony path beside the Nant y Geuallt, the enfolding hills animate and watchful in the darkness. The lights of Capel appeared in the distance below and I wandered back and forth trying to find my way across overgrown land and the stone-walled fields. I emerged at the farmhouse complex of Bryntyrch where a tethered dog barked at me and strained on its leash.

We are fortunate to have an illuminating description of the holding of Bryntyrch from a lease probably of the mid-16th century: It consisted of the following:

'4 a. arable, 40 a. moorish ground and meadow, 30. a. woodland, with the commodity of the mountains within the bounds of the said ffrith, containing by estimation 600 a. of ground but marvellous barren whereon is built 1 dwelling house and 5 cottages for cattle' (quoted in Davies 1979 25, 27).

This balance of different land-uses providing grain, hay, wood and summer pasture, is probably typical of a viable upland holding for a small community (e.g. an extended family) right back into prehistory. The presence of cattle in a landscape now largely given over to sheep is also significant.

From Bryntyrch it was a seemingly endless road march along the A5, periodically being dazzled by headlights. There are few inhabited buildings along here and even the presence of the busy road fails to remove the sense solitude in this immense mountainous tract. The lights from Tal y Braich Uchaf blinked out into the night, the Plough made a dim, fleeting appearance in the overcast sky and I sensed rather than saw Tryfan's serrated finback as I passed below it to reach the car.

Note 1: See RCHMW 1956 151-2 site 562 for standing stone (made of schist), and p557 for cairn and cist site] .

Note 2: The route along the west side of Llyn Cowlyd, over this pass and down to Capel Curig is noted as a minor packhorse track in RCHM 1956 1 p. lxxv. Also Cantrell and Rylance judge that this route has 'some claim' as a Roman route although not as the main Sarn Helen (1992 16, 42-7)].

Note 3: The SMR records a cairn in this vicinity (no.5181). I thought the structure was a Post-Medieval stock shelter but is possibly the site recorded as an undated hut in RCHMW 1956 76, site 219, and as in the SMR as a Roman long hut (no.3777)].

Note 4: The wall of the main enclosure near the farmstead is thickly built at the base and the ground it encloses is very uneven and littered with stones and boulders. It is similar in some ways to the prehistoric enclosures in the adjacent cwm at Pant y Griafolen, and I just wonder if it is a prehistoric compound rebuilt in the 18th century.

(4 cont.) The farmstead is recorded in RCHMW 1956 26 and fig. 45 where it is described as probably 18th century. Two sites I failed to notice were a round hut nearer the base of the bwlch at 712631 (p74, site 214) and a Medieval-type platform house at 710631 (p33)].

Note 5: RCHMW 1956 160-1 records various sites centred on 737601, sites 576-7 long huts, enclosures, and early sheepfolds.

See here for contents page, or here for the bibliography.

Note: This is part of an original series of articles written by archaeologist M M Robinson.

Contributor Bio for M_M_Robinson: Based in North of England, contributing since 2006. Occupation: Archaeologist.

<< Abandoned Landscapes - The Eastern Carneddau

Feature Articles

The Great Stone Circles – How they Work - Interlinked Contents Page >>