| Arenig Fawr | |
|---|---|
Arenig Fawr from the A4212 to Ffestiniog. |
|
| Elevation | 854 m (2,802 ft) |
| Prominence | 479 m (1,572 ft) |
| Parent peak | Moel Siabod |
| Listing | Marilyn, Hewitt, Nuttall |
| Translation | Great High Ground (Welsh) |
| Pronunciation | Welsh: [aˈrɛnɪɡ ˈvaur] |
| Location | |
| Location | Gwynedd, Wales |
| Range | Snowdonia |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 124 |
| OS grid | SH827370 |
Arenig Fawr (English: Great High Ground) is a mountain located in Snowdonia, North Wales. The mountain, which is the largest in the area, lies close to Llyn Celyn reservoir alongside the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala.
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Arenig Fawr is the highest member of the Arenig range with Arenig Fach (English: Small High Ground), a smaller neighbouring mountain, lying to the north. It is surrounded by Moel Llyfnant to the west, Rhobell Fawr to the south and Mynydd Nodol to the east.
The easy-to-moderate climb to the summit takes about 2½ hours from Llyn Celyn. There are no readily identifiable footpaths but the route is marked by an old wire boundary fence. Beneath the mountain is Llyn Arenig Fawr, a reservoir which provides drinking water to Bala and the surrounding villages.
The summit, which is also known as Moel yr Eglwys (English: Church of the bare hill), has a trig point and a memorial to six American aircrew who died when their Flying Fortress bomber crashed into Arenig Fawr in 1943. Some of the crash wreckage is still scattered across the hillside 300m from the memorial location.
From the summit, with good weather conditions, it is possible to see several notable Welsh mountain ranges: the Rhinogs in the west, Snowdon to the northwest, Clwydian Hills in the northeast, east to the Berwyns, south east to the Arans, and southward to Cadair Idris. It is one of the finest panoramas in Wales.
Arenig railway station was a halt on the Bala Ffestiniog Line. It closed to passenger services on 2 January 1960 and freight services on 27 January 1961. The remains of the buildings have been totally cleared away leaving no trace of station.[1][2][3]
| Listed summits of Arenig Fawr | ||||
| Name | Grid ref | Height | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arenig Fawr South Top | 836 m (2,743 ft) | Nuttall Marilyn |
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| Arenig Fawr South Ridge Top | 712 m (2,336 ft) | Nuttall Marilyn |
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Arenig Fawr was the focus of attention for artists James Dickson Innes and Augustus John during their two years of painting in the Arenig valley around 1910. In 2011 it was made the subject of a BBC documentary titled The Mountain That Had to Be Painted.[4]
In Spencer’s The Fairy Queen (book i, canto 9), we find that the home of Timon, Prince Arthur’s sage foster-father “is low in a valley greene, | Under the foot of Rauran mossy hore.” Lloyd explains that Rauran “comes from Saxton's map of Merionethshire (1578), which places ‘Rarau uaure Hill’ (Yr Aran Fawr) where Arenig should be.”[5]