Pen Pumlumon Fawr | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 752 m (2,467 ft) |
Prominence | 526 m (1,726 ft) |
Listing | Marilyn, Hewitt, Council top, Nuttall |
Coordinates | 52°28′03″N3°46′58″W / 52.4675°N 3.7828°W |
Naming | |
English translation | five tops, five beacons |
Language of name | Welsh |
Pronunciation | Welsh: [ˈpɛnpɪmˈlɪmɔnˈvau̯r] |
Geography | |
Location | Ceredigion, Wales |
Parent range | Cambrian Mountains |
OS grid | SN789869 |
Topo map | OS Landranger 135 |
Name | Grid ref | Height | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Pen Pumlumon Arwystli | SN815877 | 741 m | Hewitt, Nuttall |
Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan | SN799871 | 727 m | Hewitt, Nuttall |
Y Garn | SN775851 | 684 m | Hewitt, Nuttall |
Pumlumon Fach | SN787874 | 664 m | Nuttall |
Pumlumon Cwmbiga | SN830899 | 620 m | Deleted Nuttall |
Carnfachbugeilyn | SN826903 | 622 m | Unclassified |
Bryn yr Ŵyn | SN840927 | 502 m | Dewey |
Plynlimon, or Pumlumon in Welsh (also historically anglicised as Plinlimon and Plinlimmon), is the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales (taking a restricted definition of the Cambrian Mountains, excluding Snowdonia, the Berwyns and the Brecon Beacons), and the highest point in Mid Wales. It is a massif that dominates the surrounding countryside and is the highest point (county top) of Ceredigion (both the modern council area, and the historic county, also known as Cardiganshire).
The highest point of the massif itself is Pen Pumlumon Fawr, which is 752 metres (2,467 ft) above ordnance datum. Its other important peaks are Pen Pumlumon Arwystli, Y Garn, Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan and Pumlumon Fach. Bryn yr Ŵyn, or 'hill of the lambs', is a former Dewey in the foothills.
The longest river in Britain, the River Severn, has its source on the mountain, as do the rivers Wye and Rheidol.
Folklore says there is a sleeping giant in Plynlimon.
Plynlimon is anglicised from the Welsh name Pumlumon, [1] which is thought to mean "five tops" or "five beacons". [1] [2] The first element is Old Welsh pimp, meaning "five" (Modern Welsh pump), [2] and the second is llumon, "beacon", [2] an element whose Brittonic equivalent underlies the Scottish hill-names Lomond Hills and Ben Lomond. [2] [3]
The Plynlimon area is the source of the rivers Wye, Severn and Rheidol. Since 2007 the Wildlife Trusts of Wales have been working to improve the habitat as a "living landscape" project. This watershed area has been affected by loss of biodiversity, erosion of the peaty soils' structure, and accelerated drainage. [4]
Like most of the uplands across Wales, intensive land use activities have resulted in many habitats being either lost or degraded. Over-grazing of sheep has induced soil compaction, which has resulted in increased flooding of the lowland areas. The principal land cover within the project area is dominated by a complex mosaic of locally, nationally and internationally important habitats and species, such as dry and wet dwarf-shrub heathland, blanket bog, unimproved acid grassland and a number of oligotrophic lakes. Agriculturally improved grassland, broadleaved woodlands and forestry plantation are also characteristic features of the area.
The Plynlimon area is also important for breeding, wintering and feeding bird fauna particularly hen harrier, merlin, short-eared owl and red and black grouse, and a number of Red Data Book and UK BAP invertebrates. [5] The red kite also frequents the area. Golden plovers have declined by 92% since 1992. [6]
The Severn Way runs for 210 miles (337 km) along the River Severn between its source at Plynlimon and the mouth of the Severn at Bristol, England.
Dyfed is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel.
Powys is a county and preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham to the north; the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire to the east; Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Neath Port Talbot to the south; and Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion to the west. The largest settlement is Newtown, and the administrative centre is Llandrindod Wells.
Ceredigion, historically Cardiganshire, is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Aberystwyth is the largest settlement and, together with Aberaeron, is an administrative centre of Ceredigion County Council.
Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, Cymru. The term was not in use during the Roman or the early medieval period. After the Anglo-Saxon settlement of much of Britain, a territorial distinction developed between the new Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the remaining Celtic British kingdoms. Latin being the primary language of scholarship in Western Christendom, medieval writers commonly used either the older term Britannia, as the territory still inhabited by Britons, or Wallia, a term derived from Old English, to refer to Wales. The term Cambria is first attested in Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century as an alternative to both of these, since Britannia was now ambiguous and Wallia a foreign import, but remained rare until late in the Middle Ages.
Until 1974, Montgomeryshire was an administrative county in mid Wales, later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, which in turn was named after one of William the Conqueror's main counsellors, Roger de Montgomerie, who was the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.
Ben Lomond, 974 metres (3,196 ft), is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Memorial Park and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, property of the National Trust for Scotland.
The Cambrian Mountains are a series of mountain ranges in Wales. The term Cambrian Mountains used to apply to most of the upland of Wales, and comes from the country's Latin name Cambria. Since the 1950s, its application has become increasingly localised to the geographically homogeneous Mid Wales uplands, known in Welsh as Elenydd, which extend from Plynlimon (Pumlumon) to Radnor Forest in the east and Mynydd Mallaen to the south. This barren and sparsely populated 'wilderness' has been referred to as the Desert of Wales. The area includes the sources of the River Severn and River Wye and was unsuccessfully proposed as a national park in the 1960s and 1970s. The highest point of the range is Plynlimon, at 2,467 feet (752 m).
Mid Wales or Central Wales is a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd covered the unitary authority areas of Ceredigion and Powys and the area of Gwynedd that had previously been the district of Meirionnydd. A similar definition is used by the BBC. The Wales Spatial Plan defines a region known as "Central Wales" which covers Ceredigion and Powys.
The River Ystwyth is a river in Ceredigion, Wales. The length of the main river is 20.5 miles (33.0 km). Its catchment area covers 75 square miles (190 km2). Its source is a number of streams that include the Afon Diliw, located on the west slopes of Plynlimon on the border of Ceredigion and Powys in the Cambrian Mountains. The Ystwyth flows westwards before its confluence with the Afon Rheidol and the estuary at Aberystwyth to drain into Cardigan Bay.
Afon Rheidol is a river in Ceredigion, Wales, 19 miles (31 km) in length. The source is Plynlimon. Receiving an average annual rainfall of 40 inches (1.02 m), Plynlimon is also the source of both the Wye and the Severn.
The Black Mountains are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales, and extending across the England–Wales border into Herefordshire. They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons National Park, and are frequently confused with the westernmost, which is known as the Black Mountain. The Black Mountains may be roughly defined as those hills contained within a triangle defined by the towns of Abergavenny in the southeast, Hay-on-Wye in the north and the village of Llangors in the west. Other gateway towns to the Black Mountains include Talgarth and Crickhowell. The range of hills is well known to walkers and ramblers for the ease of access and views from the many ridge trails, such as that on the Black Hill in Herefordshire, at the eastern edge of the massif. The range includes the highest public road in Wales at Gospel Pass, and the highest point in southern England at Black Mountain.
The national parks of Wales are managed areas of outstanding landscape in Wales, United Kingdom where some forms of development are restricted to preserve the landscape and natural environment. Together, they cover 20% of the land surface of Wales and have a resident population of over 80,000 people. Each National Park Authority is a free-standing body within the local government framework.
Hafren Forest lies north-west of Llanidloes, an ancient market town in Mid Wales.
Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan is a subsidiary summit of Pen Pumlumon Fawr and the third highest summit on the Plynlimon massif, a part of the Cambrian Mountains in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. It is not named on Ordnance Survey walking maps.
Pumlumon Fach is a top of Pen Pumlumon Fawr on the Plynlimon massif, a part of the Cambrian Mountains in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. It lies on small ridge heading north-west from the summit of Pen Pumlumon Fawr.
Y Garn is a subsidiary summit of Pen Pumlumon Fawr and the fourth highest peak on the Plynlimon massif, a part of the Cambrian Mountains in the county of Ceredigion, Wales.
Pen Pumlumon Arwystli is the second highest summit on the Plynlimon massif, a part of the Cambrian Mountains in the county of Ceredigion, Wales.
The Cambrian Way, initially an unofficial long distance footpath in Wales running from Cardiff to Conwy, was officially recognised in 2019. Primarily a mountain walk, it runs over many of the highest and most scenically beautiful areas of Wales. It was pioneered in the 1960s and 1970s by walker Tony Drake, who later produced a guidebook of the walk.
The Elenydd is an upland area of Mid Wales, extending across parts of northern and eastern Ceredigion and Powys between Aberystwyth and Rhayader. Elenydd is also a name given to the medieval commote of Cwmwd Deuddwr which covered approximately the same area.