Berwyn range

Location of Berwyn Mountains, Wales.

Cadair Berwyn, with Llyn Lluncaws in the foreground

summit of Moel Sych

Summit of Cadair Bronwen, looking towards Cadair Berwyn

The Berwyn range (Welsh: Y Berwyn or Mynydd y Berwyn) is an isolated and sparsely populated area of moorland located in the north-east of Wales, roughly bounded by Llangollen in the north-east, Corwen in the north-west, Bala in the south-west, and Oswestry in the south-east.

The Berwyn range also played its part in causing King Henry II of England to turn back during his invasion of Gwynedd in 1165. Rather than taking the usual route along the northern coastal plain, his army invaded from Oswestry and took a route over the Berwyns. The English invasion faced an alliance of Welsh princes led by King Owain Gwynedd, but there was little fighting - endless days of heavy rain forced the army to retreat.

Description

The area is wild and largely vegetated by heather about one metre thick, with some acidic grassland and bracken. It is not very popular for hill-walking or scrambling since the peaks are lower than those in nearby Snowdonia. However, the topmost peaks are rugged and have a distinctive character well worth exploring. Nearby towns include Llangollen and Corwen, which are popular tourist destinations.

The main summits are Cadair Berwyn at 830 metres (2,723 ft) above sea level, Moel Sych at 827 metres and Cadair Bronwen at 784 metres above sea level. The Berwyn range is crossed to the south-west by the B4391 Milltir Cerrig mountain pass at an altitude of 486 metres (1594 feet).

Cadair Berwyn is the highest point in the Berwyn range, and the highest significant summit in Wales outside the National Parks. Cadair Bronwyn and Cyrniau Nod to the west are the two Marilyns that form the Berwyn range.

The mountain lies on main ridge of the Berwyns which runs north–south. The eastern side of the ridge is characterised by steep drops and crags including Craig Berwyn north of the summit and Craig y Llyn to the south. Craig y Llyn forms the headwall of a cwm, and it is to this that the word cadair (chair in Welsh) presumably refers. Further north along the ridge is Cadair Bronwen, whilst to south the ridge continues to Moel Sych (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈmɔil ˈsɨːx], meaning 'dry hill').

It is often reported that Moel Sych, 1 km along the ridge, is of equal height, but Cadair Berwyn's spot height on the Ordnance Survey maps, where the trig point stands, is not the true summit. Cadair Berwyn's summit, 200 m south of the trig point, is three metres taller than Moel Sych. This summit is listed as Cadair Berwyn New Top on the Nuttall list.

Several other summits in the area are listed as Hewitts or Nuttalls, including Foel Wen ([ˈvɔil ˈwɛn], Welsh for white hill) and Mynydd Tarw ([ˈmɐnɨð ˈtæɾu], bull mountain).

The summit lies on the border between Powys and Denbighshire, and is the highest point in Denbighshire. The northern end Craig Berwyn is the highest point in Wrexham county borough.

There is a standing stone in the area, located near the summit between Cadair Berwyn and Tomle. This was re-erected in June 2008 by High Sports. The standing stone can be found at SJ080337[2] is the highest point in the Berwyn range, and the highest significant summit in Wales outside the National Parks.

Ecology

The area supports substantial populations of upland birds including raptors, such as the Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus), Merlin (Falco columbarius), and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) (about 14-18 breeding pairs of each species, 1%–2% of the total British population), and for this reason it is a Special Protection Area classified in accordance with the European Union's Birds Directive. Other wildlife include Short-eared Owl, Raven, Buzzard, Polecat and Golden Plover.

Etymology

The scholar T. Gwynn Jones suggested that a possible origin of the term "Berwyn" was "Bryn(iau) Gwyn (ap Nudd)", where the Middle Welsh word "bre" (hill) had mutated to Ber + Gwyn, Gwyn ap Nudd being the mythological King of the Tylwyth teg (Fair Folk, or fairies). A more likely etymology is "bar" (summit, crest) + "gwyn" (white).

Supposed UFO crash

Main article: Berwyn Mountain UFO incident

At 8.38 p.m. on 23 January 1974, an earthquake of magnitude 3.5 was felt over a wide area of north Wales and as far as Liverpool. Since earthquakes are uncommon in the UK, it was not generally recognized for what it was, and since a number of unusual lights in the sky had been observed the same evening, it was considered possible that an aircraft had crashed, or a meteorite had impacted. Further confusion was caused by lights seen on the Berwyn Mountains, which subsequently turned out to have belonged to poachers.