you pass between a rocky knoll L and what is now a much tamer and more friendly-looking Carreg y Fran. You even get a brief glimpse over Llynnau Gamallt to the Migneint. Such joys are short-lived as the harsher medicine of the Manod slate quarries starts to desecrate the scene. This is your signal to abandon the road and take to the purity of the hillside. Scramble up to the nameless lake at 727451. Here you will find a medley of playful little tracks, weaving between boulders and bilberries, and in minutes the top is yours.
Llyn y Manod route (FG2)
This is described in descent because it dovetails neatly with FG1 to provide a complete circuit of Manod Mawr (the round could just as well be done the other way).
Leave the summit cairns N, but bear slightly W after a few minutes to avoid the quarries. Soon, coming down the slope, you meet a quarry path, green with age, descending the mountain’s W flanks. The grim sight of Blaenau Ffestiniog is tempered with the quiet, mirrored calm of Llyn y Manod as it gradually unfolds below. Y Manod is a remarkable lake. Tucked in a hollow between Manod Mawr and Manod Bach, it is sheltered not only from viewers on the nearby hills but also from the ugliness that totally surrounds it – truly an oasis of peace and tranquillity.
Near the foot of the slope at 718446 is a prominent sheepfold where the path becomes sketchy for a time. However it soon returns, good as gold, hugging the cliffs of Clogwyn Candryll to drop down to the derelict homestead of Caecanol-mawr (720439). It bears R just after this and then, just short of a stone barn, bears L. From here you can freelance back to Cwm Teigl and FG1, but if you do be sure to locate the little stone bridge over the Teigl at 723436.
W face direct (FG3)
A cruel test of wind and limb!
From the sheepfold mentioned in FG2 it is possible to gain the summit by a rough scramble straight up the hillside, following a broken line of quartz. This is conspicuous from a distance (less so nearer to hand) where it seems to start along with a vague zigzagging grassy rake.
Nameless (Manod Mawr)
Names count for a lot in this world, and a peak to be nameless is almost to condemn it to oblivion. This only goes to show how unfair the world can be for there are three nameless peaks in my lists (Berwyns, Glyders, here) and all of them are well worth climbing. Indeed the view from this little top is scarcely inferior to that from Manod Mawr itself.
Note Be sure to consult your compass if the weather thickens. There are deep quarry workings nearby. The safest course is N to the quarry path skirting Llyn Bowydd; but if you must go the other way trend well E of S for Llyn Pysgod to avoid the quarries.
Cwm Teigl route (FG4)
Walk up Cwm Teigl as in FG1, but this time continue on to the quarry gates at 733456. Do not enter the quarry; instead turn sharp R (almost a U-turn) to join a slaty path that skirts round the E flank of the hill on its way to Llyn Bowydd. After a few minutes, where it levels off at 735459 just after passing an abandoned excavation, strike W up the hillside direct for the top. This is a few paces W of where a wire fence makes a R-angled turn. A short distance N, along the fence, is a curious stony edifice rather like an altar.
Llyn y Manod route (FG5)
Follow the green track mentioned in FG2 until it gets lost in the desolation of the quarry workings separating Manod Mawr from the nameless peak. Carry on E, skirting the N slopes of Manod Mawr, until you can climb up via Llyn Pysgod.
Crimea Pass route (FG6)
Park just below the top of Crimea Pass at 700487. Cross the road, go through a rusty old gate and stride out on 140° for a green track that is clearly seen rambling up the hillside. It narrows after a while but just about manages to keep going, leading round the flank of Moel Farlwyd to Llynnau Barlwyd. So far a very ordinary walk – then in a flash it comes alight as Moel Penamnen’s leonine crest suddenly arcs the skyline ahead, a dashing sight that transforms the view at a step.
It is 1.5 miles to the foot of the nameless peak. Either aim direct for the E shore of Llyn Bowydd across trackless heather, brilliant mosses and spasmodic bog (much frequented by flies in muggy weather), or strike out E of S to pick up a quarry road along the S shores of Llynnau Newydd and Bowydd (FG6,1). The final rise presents no problems.
Moel Penamnen
Moel Penamnen is a striking sight with its shapely leonine profile. On top its broad grassy back is more typical of the Howgills than Wales, neither fence nor wall nor rock intruding on a fine green sheen.
Moel Siabod towers majestically N and you will find few better viewpoints for the scarped ridge of Yr Arddu and the placid Vale of Lledr. The stretch of heather and marsh trailing away to Manod Mawr is like a mini-Migneint enhanced, on a sunny day, with just a glint of the elusive Llyn y Manod. That apart, however, the view is slightly disappointing with featureless moors, forest and quarries pre-eminent. Even so it is worth a 2hr foray from the Crimea Pass – when you have 2hr to spare!
Crimea Pass route (FG7)
There is little to add to FG6. From Llynnau Barlwyd stay with the track until you reach a fence beyond the more N of the two lakes. Cross this over a stile for a short, sharp slog up to the long summit ridge where a tiny slaty cairn perches right on the very tip.
High-level Walks
Manod Mawr/Nameless (FG H1)
Ascend the nameless peak on FG4. Leave the cairn, staying on about 160° until Llyn Pysgod comes into sight just beyond a quarry road, then proceed S to the nameless lake at 727451. The descent does not involve much height loss and it is then little more than a simple stroll to claim Manod Mawr. Return to base on FG2.
Ffestiniog Hills complete (FG H2)
The grand slam of the Ffestiniog Hills cannot easily (or pleasantly) be done without some backtracking.
There are numerous options. One of the best is to climb the nameless peak via Cwm Teigl on FG4 and then make a return trip to Moel Penamnen, setting out direct across the ‘mini Migneint’ and returning along the shores of Llyn Bowydd and Llyn Newydd as in FG6,1. Cross from the nameless peak over to Manod Mawr and then coast home above the blue of Llyn y Manod on FG2.
Lower-level Walks/Easier Days
Llyn y Manod (FG L1)
See FG2: what more need be said?
FFOREST FAWR
FFOREST
