I have tried to avoid too much of the ‘follow the hedge, take the second gate R, cross a field, turn L at the stile’ sort of description. This soon becomes confusing and ambiguous, however careful the instructions. I have therefore tended to quote directions (N, SW and so on), map references and the occasional grid bearing (do not forget to allow for the magnetic variation when setting your compass!). Bearings should only be regarded as approximate. Mountain paths usually twist and turn and so it is not always possible to give more than a broad indication, and you should always check directly with the map. (Note that where I use [say] N this is an abbreviation for any of north, northern or northerly, according to context.)
Maps and Start Points
My descriptions are not meant to be complete in themselves but should be read in conjunction with, and as a supplement to, careful study of the map. No one should venture on serious hillwalking unless he/she is fully adept at map reading and the use of a compass. In this respect the 1:25,000 series of OS maps, on which I have relied heavily for the areas for which it exists, is much preferred to the older 1:50,000 series.
As I am primarily concerned with the uplands I have generally started my routes from a convenient point on the nearest road on which a family car can sensibly be driven and parked. Parking may not always be easy, and late risers may sometimes have a slightly longer walk, but with this proviso parking is usually possible near the suggested starting points. Obviously this leaves open a multiplicity of approaches in the lower reaches; these I leave to readers' own ingenuity.
Access in Wales
The public has access to the countryside in Wales on public rights of way and various other paths. In addition, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000) established the Right to Roam on mountains, moorland, downlands and heath in Wales. It doesn't give walkers the right to walk over any countryside – only mapped access land. You can undertake activities on foot on access land, such as walking, running and climbing, but you are not permitted to go camping, cycling, horse riding or driving on the land. Farmers and landowners are permitted to temporarily close access land.
Access land may be signed on the ground with the access symbol and is shown on Ordnance Survey maps as these are updated. (See www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk for information and the most up-to-date open access maps.) Details of any local restrictions are available from local authorities and information centres.
Safety and Timing
All the walks are within the competence of a normally fit and active person (provided the weather is kind). However, in wintry conditions it is a different story and serious problems may arise. Walks that are simple enough in summer may turn out to be surprisingly hazardous when snow or ice is about. No one should venture out on the high ground in winter without being properly equipped and knowing how to handle the extreme conditions that may arise.
No climbing technique is called for. When I refer to ‘scrambling’ it only means the occasional use of hands to steady oneself on loose boulders or, very rarely, getting into a sitting position to ease oneself over a particularly awkward rock. Rather than being anything to worry about, elementary scrambling of this kind can often add zest to a day's outing. Having said that, most of my routes could be undertaken with hands in pockets all the way!
I have not given timing estimates. In my experience these depend on so many factors – weather, fitness, experience, size of party, morale, footwear, route-finding ability, use of camera and so on – that they are virtually meaningless when quoted in isolation. Most people soon learn from their own practical experience what they are comfortable with and how to judge a walk from the map. The only point I would make is the obvious one: until you know what you are capable of always err on the side of caution; hillwalking is more exacting than it seems.
The Hills Themselves
To many of their admirers the Welsh hills mean, if not just Snowdon, then at most Snowdonia (that popular area north of Porthmadoc and west of Betws-y-Coed). This is both natural and understandable, for therein lies all the very highest ground, including all 14 of the 3000-footers. Nowhere else in Wales is there such a concentration of raw rugged splendour, the feeling of latent power, as when one bestrides Snowdon itself, Tryfan, the Glyders, the broad rolling uplands of the Carneddau and their lower acolytes.
Yet there is much more in Wales: not another Snowdonia, not something better, not a lesser creation, but hills with their own unique charms. The Black Mountains with their expansive, whale-backed, grassy ridges; the precipitous escarpments of the Brecon Beacons; the strange uplands of the Cwmdeuddwr hills; Plynlimon and its unknown valleys; the heather-clad Berwyns.
Further north the hills start to shed some of their softness and assume the rockier profiles one associates with Snowdonia. The grassy tops of the Dovey and Tarren hills face the corries and cwms of Cader Idris; the east cliffs of the Arans yield nothing in severity to the Glyders. The Arenigs offer the walker the widest choice of all from the vast solitudes of the Migneint, through Arenig Fawr and the rolling moors of the Lliw Valley to the shapely top of Dduallt. Then there are the Rhinogs and the wildest land in Wales.
The point is not that these hills and the others in south and central Wales are in any sense ‘better’ than the mountains in the north, but that they are ‘there’, each with their own special attractions and each offering more grand days in the hills. It is for this reason and in the spirit of more worlds for the walker to ‘conquer’ that I cover these lesser-known hills as comprehensively as the better-known heights of Snowdonia.
How to use this Guide
To sum up, the structure of each of the chapters covering the 21 mountain groups is as follows:
List of the peaks and lakes in the group
Diagrammatic map
General overview
Main ways up each of the peaks
High-level walks
Lower-level walks
Walks for easier days
All routes are numbered. Each number begins with a two-letter prefix to identify the mountain group concerned (eg RG stands for the Rhinogs). The main routes are then numbered sequentially (eg RG1, RG2, and so on). Localised variations within routes are distinguished by numeric suffixes (eg RG2,1). High-level and lower-level/easy day walks are given H and L designators respectively after the mountain group code (eg in the case of the Rhinogs high-level walks are numbered RG H1, RG H2 etc).
The maps are diagrammatic and should not be regarded as a substitute for the proper OS map. Their purpose is to show the relationships between the various routes in the simplest and most uncluttered way. Details of towns, roads, streams and so on are therefore only shown where needed to give a general sense of location, and are not necessarily consistent between one map and another. To avoid congestion only the main ways up each peak are shown. The other walks are not marked, nor are the local variations indicated by numeric suffixes to their route numbers.
Each peak is considered in turn (the order in which they are treated has been chosen to minimise cross-referencing and is neither alphabetic nor according to height). Brief introductory notes on the peak itself come first, followed by descriptions of the routes on that peak. It is advisable to gain at least a general impression of each group as a whole before concentrating on any particular peak or route.
Taken together the walks include visits to all the lakes. Except in a few cases, where it would mean a rather artificial expedition of little interest to the majority of ramblers, this means routes to the very shoreline; otherwise it is to a nearby vantage point from where the really dedicated can make their own way. A glance at my diagrammatic maps will usually show