Route Notes : Y Fawnen (Bryn Du) From Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog

(That’s Llanarmon in the Ceiriog Valley, not Llanarmon-yn-Ial between Llandegla and Mold)

An easy to navigate route, to one of the Berwyn’s lower summits at 563 metres

Distance 8 km (5 miles), Ascent 300m, Start point : Llanarmon DC village, Grid ref SJ 157 328.

Llanarmon sits among the Berwyn hills and mountains, in a corner of Wrexham County Borough, and for me was a good place to head to during the pandemic in October 2020 when we were able to travel, but only within our own county.

Route :

From the centre of Llanarmon DC, by The Hand, head out of the village in Glyn Ceiriog direction, crossing the bridge. Just after the bridge, on the bend, a lane goes sharply uphill. Take this – the initial climb is a bit of a thigh-burner but after winding past a few farms it levels out and becomes a gentle climb along a track (part of the Upper Ceiriog Way)

After about 1.5 miles, and at the end of the wooded area on your right, you’ll reach a gate (straight ahead; not the one to your left). Go through this, then leave the Upper Ceiriog Way, and to avoid losing height, keep the fence to your left, and follow the faint paths to a grouse butt (in the photo above) where, just beyond (at grid ref SJ 153 361), the views to Llantysilio open up. The name Y Fawnen, peat bog, gives a clue as to the sort of conditions you’ll find underfoot, but as peat bogs go, it’s not the worst!

Either return back from here, or to reach the trig point near the highest point at the hill, cross the fence at the stile, turn left and follow the track to a gate on your left marked private (an out of date sign, the land has been Open Access Land since the CRoW Act of 2000). Cross the gate. The going gets tough here, but after 10 minutes of heading uphill through energy sapping heather, you’ll reach the trig point (at SJ 146 360), and views towards Cadair Berwyn and Cadair Bronwen.

From there, retrace your steps, or in good visibility head directly back to the corner of the wood, picking up a track which meanders a bit but will get you back.