Y Pellennig - The Remotest Hills of Wales - Daily Post article

WATCH: North Wales's remotest peaks revealed in book

 

Snowdon, Anglesey's Ynys Llanddwyn and a mountain on Bardsey Island all feature on a list of remote spots that are at least 2.5km away from the nearest paved road

Wales's remotest hills have been named and celebrated in a new book listing 166 of them - all far from madding crowds.

The booklet has been compiled by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams, who in 2013 published lists of the 400m hills in Wales and England entitled ‘Y Pedwarau’ and ‘The Fours’.

This time round they have researched 166 hills around Wales that are at least 2.5km from a paved public road.

These include a lonely sentinel on Ynys Llanddwyn off Anglesey, Mynydd Enlli on Bardsey island off the Llyn Peninsula in Gwynedd and the highest point in Wales,Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa).

A few of the hills will be practically unknown to many hill walkers and this publication represents their first appearance on a hill list.

Mr Phillips said: “Possibly the true meaning of remoteness is personally perceived, and therefore transient, thus making it difficult to quantify.

Cadair Idris, part of the gallery of photographs on view

“A simple, albeit generalised, method of defining remoteness could be based on the distance between the summit of a hill and the nearest paved public road.

“This at least is easy to ascertain and as the great majority of hill walks start from the convenience of public roads, it may facilitate a means of determining a critical aspect of remoteness.

“The summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) would feel more remote in the early morning of a cold winter’s day than it would on a bright and warm summer’s afternoon, with a horde of tourists disembarking off a newly-arrived train.

The list has been named ‘Y Pellennig: The Remotest Hills of Wales’, as the Welsh word pellennig means ‘distant’ or ‘remote’.

As the complete compilation includes 42 island hills with the majority of them out of bounds during the summer due to seabird nesting colonies, or their general inaccessibility.

A mainland-only list was also devised that would fulfil a challenge that was feasible for walkers to complete.

The remotest hill of mainland Wales according to the list is Tyle Garw in the Brecon Beacons National Park which lies a whopping 4.875km from the nearest road.

Dr Aled Williams said: “These distances are not great by Scottish standards, but the perception of remoteness is of course relative to a particular country.

“The remote land found in Siberia is on another scale when compared to the Scottish Highlands, and so are the Welsh hills when compared to the Highlands.

“The booklet will assist walkers in getting far from the madding crowd, visiting the loneliest, wild and scenic spots in Wales”.

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