26.4.19 - Manod Mawr 661m, Manod Mawr North Top 658m and Moel Penamnen 623m .
Well here I was in the land of slate and rain parked in a car park in Blainau Ffestiniog in North Wales. Think Kabul without any arabs! I do like the place however, so full of history and the surrounding peaks are really rugged.
The weather forecast was pants and it was acted out in full…but I was here and I was going out!
Follow my trail out of town and you won’t go far wrong. I headed out of town on the distinct footpath at spot height 214 and followed it steeply uphill to the first river. From here I headed West on a sort of footpath until I started to head uphill on an old quarry tramway. This took me to the base of huge slate slag heaps and old disused buildings around Manod Mawr quarry. It was all very rustic however the rain was incessant so I just kept going.
From here I headed out on an obvious rising quarry road heading directly South and after a long corner I again left it to head South again and headed uphill across country to Manod Mawr where there is just a pile of stones on the summit. This had taken 1.5hrs to do less than 4kms with 460 height gain.
I then headed downhill (N) until I got to a wide track (footpath on the map) that skirted below the high cliffs to Manod Quarry. Eventually I was adjacent to the main quarry buildings (on the right) and there is a quarry road that I followed North. Follow my GPX trail and you will see shortly after the first bend I leave the road. Here it is quite rough but I soon joined a disused quarry road that heads West. Though I couldn’t see it but this road looks directly down into the void of Manod Quarry itself. It wasn’t long until I had to leave this road to find the cairn at spot height 658 which is Manod Mawr North Top. I didn’t take a photo as it was bucketing down.
Now came the long leg to Moel Penamnen. I headed towards a nearby fence and basically followed it North for a good undulating 2kms until I hit a forestry. The going was easy enough, boggy at times with a couple of fences to cross but no problems. After the forestry you hang a left, skirting the forestry by hugging a fence and then head West and steadily uphill on a myriad of trails until two kms later you get to the top of Moel Penamnen where there appears to be the concrete base of a TP. It had taken me 3hrs 30mins and 10kms to get here along with a total climb of 860m. All of it with no views what so ever and in drenching rain.
Off I went, the home leg. I headed back down MP a short while before heading due South off its steep but totally manageable slopes. I still couldn’t see more than 50m in front of me so I just headed towards some river junctions as markers on the way down (no footpaths). Eventually after about 2kms I came to a fence that took me to a footpath. Here instead of using the footpath I decided to head down to Maen Offeren Quarries along a steep old slate tramway. This section was the most interesting of the day with old bits of quarry workings dotted about everywhere including rail lines, bridges and buildings. Maen Offeren itself was literally quite huge with one old building as big as an aircraft hangar.
From here you follow an old quarry road West that again skirts a big void on your left. After about a km you have to leave the road on the left but you have to climb over a slate ‘hedge’. I didn’t see a footpath sign but I did find the path (yes I still could’nt see sweet nothing). The path goes steeply down hill and is marked by poles topped with yellow markers. You end up going through a never ending Rhododendron forest. You eventually get down to the quarry bottom where you follow the quarry road out that heads South. You are soon on a tarmac road that is heading back into Blainau town.
Route Summary: An industrial revolution historic pilgrimage through the slate workings of North Wales. A veritable trail of old workings, tramways and buildings. Open high mountains with few footpaths. Hugely interesting just wish the weather had been kinder!
Route Statistics: A very wet 5 hours to do 15.5kms with 900m of height gain.
GPX files:For gpx files go to the Peakbagger website by following this link and go to the bottom right hand of the page and click ‘Download this GPS track as a GPX file.’
Ascent Entry: Manod Mawr, Manod Mawr North Top and Moel Penamnen
Route overview using ViewRanger.
The car park near the swimming pool in Blainau Ffestiniog.
Blainau Ffestiniog, Kabul without any arabs!
On the way up to Manod Mawr.
Still on the way up to Manod Mawr.
Manod Mawr.
The pathetic summit of Moel Penamnen.
On the way down to Maen Offeren Quarries.
Still on the way down to Maen Offeren Quarries.
Maen Offeren Quarries.
Maen Offeren Quarries.
The huge quarry building at Maen Offeren Quarries.
The Rhododendrons on the way down to the bottom part of Maen Offeren Quarries.
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